Active and Passive Voice in Creative Writing

April 8,2026

1. Why do you think “use the active voice” is both excellent advice and frequently misunderstood?
   
   Model response: Because people treat it as a moral rule (“passive is bad”) instead of a craft choice. The article argues it’s a strong default: active voice is usually clearer and more energetic, but passive can be purposeful.

2. In structural terms, what is the difference between active and passive voice—and what’s a quick way to spot passive voice?
   
   Model response: In active voice, the subject performs the action (“The girl rode the pony”). In passive, the subject receives the action (“The pony was ridden by the girl”). A common clue is a form of “be” + past participle (e.g., “was planted”), often with a “by…” phrase.

3. How does the “zombie test” work, and what does it reveal about why passive voice can feel sluggish?
   
   Model response: If you can add “by zombies” after the verb and it still makes sense, it’s passive (“The book was written… by zombies”). It reveals that passive voice often hides the doer, making readers work to reconstruct who did what.

4. The article claims passive voice increases “cognitive friction” for readers. Where have you felt that friction in real reading experiences?
   
   Model response: In instructions, policies, or academic prose where the actor is unclear (“Mistakes were made”), you pause to decode responsibility. Active voice tends to reduce that decoding step and keeps momentum.

5. How does voice choice affect character agency in fiction—and why might readers “stop caring” if passive voice dominates?
   
   Model response: Active voice frames characters as decision-makers (“she investigates, confronts, escapes”). Too much passive voice makes them feel acted upon—like events happen to them—so they seem less driving and less engaging.

6. Walk through the article’s three-step method for fixing a passive sentence. What step is most important, and why?
   
   Model response: Steps: (1) identify passive construction, (2) infer tense from the auxiliary “be,” (3) make the performer the subject and adjust the verb. The most important is step 3—promoting the real actor—because it restores clarity and energy.

7. When is passive voice the smarter choice? Identify at least two situations from the text and explain the purpose.
   
   Model response: (1) When the receiver is the focus (“The puppy… was found…” in a puppy-centered narrative). (2) When the doer is unknown/irrelevant/obvious (“She was sentenced…” where the judge isn’t the point). (3) For objectivity or social delicacy (academic/journalistic hedging; Austen-like politeness). (4) To vary rhythm and avoid nonstop “marching” active sentences.

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