Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Editing Tips to Improve Your Writing Immediately



In keeping with the idea of "Study to show thyself approved . . . ," I will be posting about the mistakes I see most frequently when I am editing. Be sure to visit Write Pathway every Thursday to get the newest tip. Your writing will start to improve with the first tip. Learning to self-edit will save you money when it is time to hire an editor to polish your manuscript for an agent or publisher.

Editing Tip #1

Passive voice vs Active voice: The voice of a verb indicates whether the subject of the sentence is acting or being acted upon. Active verbs are preferred because they show things in motion. The subject is performing the action. Your reader is there when it happens and feels like he or she is participating in the action.

Passive voice verbs are less desirable because they show that the action has already taken place. The reader isn’t there when it happens and therefore, it makes less of an impact on the reader’s mind. Passive verbs also “encourage wordiness.”

Example:

I was impressed by your class presentation. (passive, past tense)
Your class presentation impresses me. (active, present tense)
Your class presentation is impressive. (active, present tense)
Your class presentation impressed me. (active, past tense)

1 comment:

  1. Hello sister Ann Knowles. I am a Pastor from Mumbai, India. I am glad to stop by your profile on the blogger and the blog post. I am also blessed and feel privileged and honoured to get connected with you as well as know you and about your interest in writing, missions, being a speaker, helping those who are in need and Bible studies. Though I have no interest in writing yet going through your blog post on Tips To Improve Your Writing Immediately, I am so benifited by the tips to improve my writing. Thank you for sharing those tips. Your interest in missions has encouraged me to comment on your blog post. My church had several teams and individuals from different denominational background from the West worked with us. I love getting connected with the people of God around the globe to be encouraged, strengthened and praying for one another. I have been in the Pastoral ministry for last 40 yrs in this great city of MUMBAI A CITY WITH a great contrst where richest of rich and the poorest of poor live. We reach out to the poorest of poor with the love of Christ to bring healing to the brokenhearted. We also encourage young and the adults fromt he west to come to Mumbai to work with us during their vacation time. We would love to have you come to encourage women in the body of Christ as a speaker. I am sure it would be a rewarding time for you and also enriching and strengthening time for the body of Christ. We would also love to have your young grown up children or young people from your family, friends circle or from church who are interested in missions. Looking forward to hear from you very soon. God's richest blessings on you, your family and friends. My email id is: dhwankhede(at)gmail(dot)com and my name is Diwakar Wankhede.

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