For Writers 3:

The following informations I gathered from Writer's Relief,Inc and I thought it's helpful for any writer who would like to know more about Active and Passive Voice, and Do's and Don'ts of Dialogue.

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Active and Passive Voice:

Many writers are confused by the terms active and passive voice. Contrary to their sound, the terms have nothing to do with the tense of verbs. Rather, they refer to the performer of the action in a sentence.

Active Voice: the subject of the sentence performs the action.

Example: A member of the high school's National Honor Society planted trees in the park.

Here, the subject of the sentence, member, is performing the action, planted.

Passive Voice: the subject becomes the receiver of the action.

For example: The tree was planted in the park by a member of the high school's National Honor Society.

This time, the subject, tree, is not performing the action. Instead, it is the receiver of the action. A clue that this is a passive voice sentence can be found in the prepositional phrase that occurs at the end (by a member of the high school's National Honor Society). Many passive voice sentences contain prepositional phrases beginning with by.

Consider the following sentences. Are they active or passive?

1. Gleefully stomping in the puddles, the little boy ran down the sidewalk.

2. The band was applauded by the audience.

3. The story is being written by a member of the historical society.

4. The robin, searching the sky for its mate, perched on a branch of the pine tree.

The first and fourth sentences are active. In each, the subject is performing the action of the verb-the boy is doing the running, and the robin is doing the perching.

The second and third sentences are passive. In each, the subject of the sentence is the receiver of the action. To check, simply look at the sentence and ask yourself if the subject is performing the action. In the second sentence, is the band doing the applauding? No, so that sentence is passive. In the third sentence, is the story doing the writing? No. That sentence is also passive.

To make these sentences active, simply rewrite them so that the subject performs the action. In sentence two, the audience is doing the applauding, so in the active voice, the sentence should read: The audience applauded the band. In the third sentence, the performer of the action is a member of the historical society, so we can rewrite the sentence as follows: A member of the historical society is writing the story. (Notice that in both cases the subject is found within the prepositional phrase.)

Consider the following sentence. Is it active or passive?

5. Problems were solved.

Since the problems aren't doing the solving, we know that this sentence is passive. To make it active, simply add an appropriate subject.

For example, the sentence could be rewritten to read: We solved the problems. Now the sentence is active because the subject, we, is doing the solving.

Is active voice always preferable? Not necessarily. Active voice sentences are usually more forceful and precise, and if you want to emphasize the subject, you should use active voice. However, passive voice is best if you want to call attention to the receiver of the action.

DO'S AND DON'TS OF DIALOGUE:

One of the toughest tasks for a new writer is mastering the art of writing effective dialogue. It sounds easy enough-just add some quotation marks and write down that conversation between your characters! But it's not always easy to write realistic conversation, and poorly written dialogue can sabotage even the most clever and engaging novel or short story.

Dialogue sets the tone and scene of the story, revealing the personalities within the characters and creating dramatic intent. Well-written dialogue should stimulate the reader's curiosity or create tension. It should move the story along, rather than bogging it down. And it should provide important information without sounding mechanical or forced. The trick is to convey a natural, realistic conversation while loading your dialogue with meaning, rather than wasting words on mundane exchanges.

"Hi, Laura. How are you?" asked Bob.

"Hi, Bob. I am fine," said Laura.

"That's good to hear," said Bob.

You get the drift. Not only is the dialogue bereft of any meaning, insight, or pertinent information, but the speech tags (he said, she said) are boring and repetitive. And this idle chatter, while realistic, is a waste of the reader's time.

Better to create some tension:

"Hi Laura. It's been a while! How have you been?"

"Oh, Bob, I didn't see you..." Laura mumbled.

Laura didn't answer Bob's question, possibly implying that things are not well. She sounds distracted, causing the reader to wonder what's on her mind. Using a little subtext allows your readers to discover meanings that aren't laid out in black and white for them, reducing the possibility of boredom. Dialogue should be realistic but more revealing than everyday chatter between real people.

Dialogue between characters can also be used to present some history or back story to the reader. Rather than relying solely on narration, let the characters reveal what you're trying to tell the reader, and it'll be a lot more interesting. Make it natural, however, or it will read something like this:

"Oh, Edith! It's so good to see you! I heard your husband went to prison for killing his secretary's husband. And they were having an affair, too, right? It must be hard to be forty years old and living in Chicago all alone, especially now that you've been laid off from work!"

This one-sided interchange is obviously designed to give the reader as many details as possible in a single paragraph, but it's an awkward and transparent ruse. Give the characters time to interact, and allow details of their personalities and the plot to come through gradually...and naturally.

Speech tags (he said, she said) are often unnecessary and can clutter up your dialogue. If you've clearly defined your characters, the reader will already be able to identify the speaker. You can be a bit creative with the speech tags you do use, but be careful not to overdo it and draw attention to them. The dialogue itself should be the focus. Experiment with the rhythm of your sentences: vary the placement of speech tags or intersperse action instead.

"Laura, it's so good to see you!"

"Er...you, too, Bob," replied Laura, a bit less enthusiastically.

"I haven't seen you around much. Have you been out of town?"

"No." Laura placed her hand on Bob's forearm. "In fact, Bob, I'm afraid I've been avoiding you."

And avoid redundancy, which often means eliminating adverbs:

"I am furious with you!" she cried furiously.

"Me? Why, I'm the one who ought to be furious!" he replied indignantly.

Finally, read your dialogue out loud, eliminating the narration and speech tags. Does it sound natural and realistic? Dialogue should sound like people talking together, although, as the author, you have eliminated the normal stutters, pauses, "er's" and "ummm's" that often plague real speech. Consider the following:

"Mikey, you just have to get out of here. Julio's gang will be here any minute."

"I know, man, but I can not just run away. That would be cowardly."

"Cowardly, yes. But would you rather die?"

Would two gang members really speak this way? If it doesn't sound realistic to you, it won't sound good to your reader, either. And that's who you need to impress.