Back to Basics: Passive vs Active

How you tell a story says everything. You want to keep readers invested in what’s happening and not lose their interest. It’s important to know how you want to write your story, which means you need to know how to tap into your voice. In this Back to Basics course, we’ll talk about both active voice and passive voice.

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What is active voice?

Before we lay out a definition it’s important to remember a little bit about sentence structure. We’re not in grammar school or anything so don’t worry but remember sentences are composed of subjects and verbs. Active voice is a style of writing where the subject is doing the action of the verb. Basically that means we know who’s doing what right away.

Example: Batman throws a batarang.

From this example, we know Batman’s throwing out a batarang. Pretty simple. Active voice just gets right to the point. The writing has immediacy to it, and it also flows very smoothly. It’s a style of writing that has a lot of benefits. 

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What is passive voice?

Passive voice is, well, basically the opposite of active voice (if we want to put it simply). But to clarify, passive voice is a style where something is being received. To better understand what that means we’ll need to go back to sentence structure. Basically, passive voice is where the subject gets or receives whatever the verb’s action is.

Example: The batarang was thrown by Batman.

From this example, we know that the batarang has been thrown by the Caped Crusader… but it takes a little extra effort to get there. That’s because passive voice does things a little bit differently than active voice. The batarang and physical action of throwing get more priority in this sentence than Batman does. There’s more emphasis on the object and verb than the "person" noun.

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Which voice is best?

It’s true that both styles of voice have advantages but they both have disadvantages too. If I have to pick one over the other, I prefer active voice in most instances. When we’re writing stories, we want to keep the action going, even in a character-driven story. We really want to keep readers in the moment most of the time… but we don’t want to overdo it and drown the reader with too much action either. 

Active: 

Batman punched the Joker.

Batman drives the Batmobile.

Batman battled the Riddler. 

Passive: 

The Joker was punched by Batman.

The Batmobile was driven by Batman.

A battle was had between Batman and the Riddler. 

Just from these short examples using active and passive voice, the differences in focus are clear: active keeps moving even in past tense. It’s concise and to the point about what’s happening, when. Passive voice has its place too, especially with that last example sentence. Phrasing like this can be used for dramatic effect, to create tension and build anticipation. It’s also a great way to show comedic style.

Now that you know the difference between passive and active voice, try the challenge. 

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The Challenge:

A couple is breaking up! 

Write the same short scene three times. Try it once in passive voice and once in active voice. Then try it again using a combination of the two. 

Aim for less than 500 words in each version. 

You can submit your challenge for free feedback through the

Back to Basics Dropbox.

Thanks for joining us for this Back to Basics course! If you tried this month’s challenge, you can share it on our discord or on social media using #WWB2B. 

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About the author:

Izhan Arif is an English graduate from the University of Illinois, Chicago. His interests tend to revolve around all things superhero, whether it be comics, shows, or movies! He also loves to write (go figure) and when he's not working on Back to Basics, he's also writing videos for WatchMojo!