Editing Demon #3: The Passive Voice

This is the first in a series of three posts about my major editing needs - the three bad habits that follow me from WIP to WIP, that I have to consciously read for in editing, and which my editors still inevitably have to smack me for. I am working on them, but bad habits are hard to break - especially when, half the time, you don't realize you are doing them, and your grasp on how/why you are wrong is hazy at best because they feel so natural to you.

The first is the compulsive use of the passive voice/tense.

Definition: When you place the object of an action in a sentence as the subject of the sentence.

The Problem: While passive is not always a grammatical error, it is a less energetic way of phrasing activities - it is also a lot less clear, concise and attractive. It also denotes a lazy writer and a lack of careful authorial attention, which is not a good image to give your readers!

The Allure: Passive sounds so dang fancy! I have a very bad impulse to pretend that I am Jane Austen when I write, which generally leads to an over-abundance of antiquated sentences and convoluted constructions. While Jane Austen was a master of the narrative and characterization, there are much better gurus to look to for grammar and editing inspiration. (I love the passive verb clauses, as you can see in this post.)

The Fix: Round upon round of editing until I weed the little buggers out and clean up all that sloppy, purple prose! With the passive, recognizing I have a problem is half the battle, and nothing can be done but re-reading and tweaking. Sadly, auto-check can't really be relied upon (or, I guess I should say, auto-check is not reliable...?). The only thing to be done is to edit it by hand with an eye towards active rather than passive. sigh.

Still not sure what the problem is?

If you are still confused, I feel your pain. I don't always recognize the passive as problematic, either, when I am reading. It has only been a serious of resounding "No! Bad Writer! Bad!" corrections from editors that has forced me to read specifically for the passive.

Perhaps a common example will help...

The road was crossed by the chicken.

Naturally, we know this sounds weird. We usually say this as "The chicken crossed the road."

Why? Because placing the doer instead of the object of the action in the driver's seat of the sentence is a much more engaging and clean way to say it. Putting the horse in front of the cart, if you will.

Another example:

After she was shoved down, Suzy cried.

This sentence fails to tell us who shoved Suzy down, as it is missing the doer. "Tommy shoved Suzy down, making her cry" is better.

Try this one:

These truths are held by us to be self-evident...

That certainly lacks the sparkle of "We hold these truths to be self-evident" doesn't it?

Exceptions to every rule...

Sometimes, the passive is not only perfectly fine, but preferable, making it even harder to edit for them.

For example:

Baby Kate was born at 8pm today!

Clearly, Baby Kate is the star of that sentence, and there is no one else that need be mentioned as important as her. "Dr Phil Winthrop delivered Baby Kate today..." is not only needless but a lot less interesting. Even Dr Winthrop would likely agree that he's much less important than Baby Kate at her own birth.

This is what Strunk and White say:

The need of making a particular word the subject of the sentence will often... determine which voice (active or passive) is to be used.

However, the section on "Use the Active Voice" ends with a typical Strunkian assertion to "omit needless words," reminding us that:

...Brevity is a by-product of vigor.

And so it is.

***

There are many much better explanations and discussions about the passive online, so I won't go on. But, suffice it to say, this is a problem with which I continue to struggle, though I am improving. My early writing would likely make me cringe with all the passives, but I am seeing fewer and fewer of them all the time, except where the sentence demands it. I keep several how-tos bookmarked for easy reference during editing, so I can keep my mind on track.

The quick trick:

1) Re-read with an eye to subjects and objects.

2) Consider the meaning and where the emphasis needs to be.

3) Revise to make sure the correct thing/person is driving the sentence.

4) Repeat again and again until you are sick of the term "passive voice."

Good luck is wished... I mean, I wish you good luck!

Brand your name, don’t promote your book

A Guest Post by Author Joanne Troppello

That’s a strong statement, I know, but I wanted to capture your attention.

Stephen King, J. K. Rowling, Dean Koontz, Nora Roberts, Michael Crichton, James Patterson, Anne Rice, Mary Higgins Clark…we all know those names or at least a good portion of them. So what’s my point? Just that…we know their names; we don’t all remember the names of their books.

Your fans are not going to always be able to spout off the titles of all your books, but if they like your work and if you’ve become popular, they will remember your name. If they know your name, they can easily find you online or in the bookstores. When they find your website, then they can look up your books. When they go to the bookstores, they can find your specific titles.

As an author, hopefully you will continually be writing more books. Your readers may not always know your current works, but they’ll keep track of what you’re working on and when your new releases come out. So, how do you (and I), as up and coming authors waiting for the day you’ll be on the best seller lists, brand your name and market yourselves as authors?

That question being put out there, you still, of course, need to work hard on marketing each of your books, but the way to really become popular is to market your name.

One of the best ways to brand yourself is to have a website. You always need to have an online presence; that includes branding yourself in the social media networks. Another good idea is that you should always try to write articles in your trade, and post them in free online writing networks. Usually, you just need to register and then you can begin posting articles; sometimes certain sites will need to review your articles first. These sites will allow readers to link to your profile, where they can follow a link to your website. Other online article posting sites allow you to list a byline with a direct link to your website.

You must remember that you are your greatest fan and you need to take advantage of that fact and promote yourself wherever you go. Of course, some people may feel this is taking you down to ego-land, but there are ways to promote yourself and your work without seeming to be overbearing. I don’t usually like to be in the center of attention, but as my husband mentioned the other day, I’m an author now and I’d better get used to it.

Join writers groups and other writing associations and always attach your byline in everything that you write and have your “elevator speech” prepared and ready to use at all times. So what’s an elevator speech? It’s a short pitch on something you’re trying to market and since you’re trying to market yourself, be prepared to tell people that you are an author and when your next book is going to be released. Be ready to hand out a business card or at least be able to give out your website.

Blogging is another way to brand your name. You always want your readers, potential readers and the press to go to your website. You can do this by offering them something. How do you do that? You need to provide good content that is always updated. That’s why it’s good to have a blog directly on your website or if you have it through another online service, to at least have the blog link prominently displayed on your site. You can even create a newsletter. This will be a bit more time consuming than writing a daily or weekly blog, but it is something that you can think about as you get farther along in your writing career.

Don’t forget to keep on promoting your name. You are your biggest fan! Make your marketing count!

***

Joanne Troppello is an author of mystery and inspirational romance novels. Her second novel, Mr. Shipley’s Governess, was recently released by Wild Horse Press. She is at work on her next novel, a romantic suspense. She is married and loves spending time with her husband and family.

Joanne had me over to her blog this week, as well, so go pay her a visit.

Doing Interviews - From Both Sides

I've looked at interviews from both sides now - from asking and answering, from posting to linking... and still somehow, it's interviews' illusions I recall. I really don't know interviews at all.

Or something like that, anyway.

On this blog, I have posted several interesting interviews with authors who have very nicely given their time, and I've even done a few myself for other sites. So, why do we do them, and how is a good interview asked/answered?

Now, I admit that I cheat a little - I have pre-set questions that I send to the author, and leave it pretty informal and up to them which they answer and how they go about it. I figure, being authors, they know how to come up with interesting stuff with only slim prompting. I try to give a mix of advice/craft questions and random interest stuff, while still giving them the chance to talk about their books - which, after all, is why most authors do interviews. It is good exposure, we all hope.

This week on Facebook, I posted an open invite to authors to post their advice and opinions on interviews, and got some good tips.

In terms of answering, Stephanie Beck, author of David's Angel, recommends authors answer in ways that are "not a constant book pitch (no one wants to read that), not super trite (readers want to get to know you at least a little), and not choppy or left un-spellchecked (your writing style translates more than just into actual books)." I concur! I think a well-written interview is an important step in convincing potential readers your books are enjoyable - otherwise, they might be counter productive.

And self-promotion is really what interviews are about. Robert C. Roman, author of Road Mage, puts it well when he says, "The more places you put your information out, the more places people see it. Cross pollination of fanbases, so to speak."

Yet, conducting author interviews is also a form of promotion, if the truth is told. There are other reasons, of course - I need the regular content, so interviews are a big help there, and I also find it is a great way to make friends, get to know other authors, and to generate good karma for yourself in the community, as people tend to appreciate the chance to talk about their work, even on little blogs like mine. And I like doing things that people appreciate.

But, I can't lie and say blogging interviews is not without its promotional element, as well. Not only does it increase posts (which updates my Facebook) and therefore hits, I also hope many authors will pass the link to their interview on to their fans, which increases my name recognition (even a little) - all of those factors are good reasons to do author interviews. That and, of course, you want your blog to be interesting to book people, and readers like reading about authors, and find new books.

However, there is more to blogging interviews than just asking, "So, what are you selling?" I am still new to the game, so my questions aren't really refined yet, but I am working on it. It is important to ask good questions and to post interviews that attract readers.

So, what makes a good interview? Beck suggests matching the tenor of the questions to the nature of the author - funny, serious, dramatic, etc. This is a fine suggestion, though it requires some research on the part of the interviewer - but it makes for a stronger interview that is more interesting to read. Roman recommends not forgetting to let the author improvise, and not to ask questions that are too narrow - and to let them talk about their books. He also suggests that questions should be a mix of serious and fun. All very important things for making the interview not only interesting to read but more pleasant for authors to answer.

More than any who responded to my plea for advice, though, romance writer Jasmine Aherne is concerned with keeping the interview interesting for the readers. Her suggestions are, "Ask interesting questions, keep it fun. Make it ocassionally random. Post lots of pictures." All sound advice for keeping your blog visually and mentally stimulating, which ends up being better promotion all around. (And her concerns for fun, stimulating media are clearly reflected in her author site - one of my favourites!)

In sum, when you are author/book blogging the important thing to remember is that just doing it on autopilot is not always better than not doing it at all. If you are not interviewing in such a way that draws readers or in ways unpleasant to your authors, this would reflect poorly on your blog. In turn, when answering interviews if you don't put your best foot forward, you might be turning off potential readers rather than promoting yourself in your best light. Robert Roman is absolutely correct when he urges authors to be honest in asking/answering, but there are many ways to be honest while still being interesting and/or fun.

I will keep working on my interviews, both giving and conducting, and I hope you all continue reading! I'd love to hear what you think on this week's topic - feel free to leave a comment!

~*~

If you would like to do an interview for this blog, please email me at anneholly2010@gmail.com.

Stacey Thompson-Geer on Co-Writing Fiction!

I asked fellow WHP author, Stacey Thompson-Geer, to come explain to me (and us) how it works to co-write fiction, which is something I have not tried, and couldn't even really visualize. For me, writing is a solitary act, and I have enough trouble agreeing with myself when it comes to creative decisions!

Stacey, it seems, has it down pat, and all laid out for us, right here:

Co-Writing Can Work For You

A lot of writers are not sure about the whole co-writing thing. They may think it’s not going to work because writing is such a personal thing. The problem with this kind of thinking is you could lose out on a great project with a lot of creative minds.

Know Who You’re Working With

One of the biggest things to a good co-writing project is being able to trust the writers you are working with. This often comes down to reading what they may have already done for work or being good friends with them. If you don’t know their style, then you won’t know how your writing is going to mesh with theirs.

Come Up With a Plan

The futuristic Fantasy Octavia, my co-writer, and I have been working on is written in a way that gives us each control over our own characters set in the same kind of world. While these two main characters interact, they also have their own way of thinking and viewing the story the reader is going through. We came up with this plan early so we each could have our own storyline set within the main one. So far it has worked out well.

On a different type of co-writing project, we all came up with a main theme and have written stories based around that theme. This helps to keep us in line with each other, but also helps us to keep something fun and different in each of our stories.

Don’t Be Afraid Of the Twists and Turns

When I started writing the futuristic Fantasy book with a good friend of mine, I didn’t know what was going to happen each time I sent the manuscript to her. She had her own ideas that took the story to places I probably wouldn’t have thought of. This can be great for the story and for the readers. They may think something is going to happen and be surprised when something totally different happens instead.

Co-writing is nothing any writer should be afraid of. It can open up new ideas and new doors for everyone involved and are a ton of fun. Just remember to talk and keep everyone involved floating on the ideas. That way you and the other writers will have a book that is great and have fun doing it.

Stacey Thompson-Geer is an author and a mom. You can find information about her work at her website: www.staceythompsongeer.com.