Active vs passive voice

Definition

In fiction revision, the question isn't "active good, passive bad" but who does what, and who knows. Active voice ("Marc closed the door") speeds reading and anchors agency. Passive voice ("the door was closed") erases the agent, slows, institutionalizes — useful when the character is dispossessed of action or when the author wants to delay a reveal. Stative verbs ("he was sad") are neither active nor passive in the narrative sense: confusing them leads to "corrections" that degrade the text.

What it's for

In revision, tracking systematic passive often reveals a deeper problem: a endured protagonist, omnipresent institutions, or an author describing consequences without showing choices. Conversely, forcing active everywhere can sound telegraphic or accusatory. The tool calibrates Author voice and Show, don't tell: a scene where everything happens "to" someone without knowing by whom asks for active rewrite; a bureaucratic office scene sometimes gains from staying passive.

Variants by genre

• Crime / thriller: active dominant in action; deliberate passive in reports, minutes, scenes where the hero is trapped by the system.
• Romance: active on committing gestures (look, touch, leaving); passive to mark shock or imposed rejection.
• Fantasy: active on hero's choices; passive rare except ritual, curse, or institutional voice (decree, prophecy read aloud).
• SF: active on crisis decisions; passive acceptable in technical briefings if the agent (system, AI, protocol) must stay vague — without confusing it with Technobabble.
• Literary: deliberate passive for dispossession (Ernaux, Duras); erasing the agent is the subject.

Common pitfalls

• Passive by academic or administrative habit: the whole chapter sounds like minutes.
• Over-correction to active that tortures syntax ("the storm swept the house" when no one truly acts).
• Confusing passive with stative verbs — "she was exhausted" isn't passive to "fix."
• Systematic active making every sentence heroic: fatigue and loss of nuance.
• Passive to hide narrative blur ("he was wounded" without knowing by whom or how) instead of choosing ellipsis.
• Ignoring passive in reported speech: "I was told that…" can be more accurate than "someone told me."

Examples

• George Orwell — Politics and the English Language: a case for clarity, not for banning passive voice.
• Annie Ernaux — passive and impersonal forms to speak silence imposed by institution.
• John le Carré — active (field) / passive (office, jargon) alternation structuring espionage narrative distance.

Writing tips

• Aim for 80-90% active voice in narrative fiction: systematic passive slows and distances. Passive stays useful to spotlight the victim or hide an agent.
• Run a dedicated "was + past participle" pass on revision: "was seen", "was pushed", "had been spotted". Every occurrence deserves a conscious audit.
• Use passive intentionally in 3 cases: unknown agent, secondary agent ("the vase was broken" when you don't want to name who), procedural tension.
• Ban double passive: "he was seen being pushed" is clunky, no exception. Always rewrite.

Learn more: 5 Daily Exercises to Practice Show, Don't Tell and How to Write Realistic, Punchy Dialogue (Without Heavy Exposition).

Revision checklist

• Do my passive passages choose to erase the agent, or hide laziness?
• Does the protagonist act in key scenes, or does everything happen to them?
• Have I confused stative verbs and passive in my corrections?
• Is passive voice concentrated where it serves tone (Author voice), not everywhere?
• Would a passive passage gain from becoming a Show, don't tell scene?