TYPOS, GRAMMAR, ETC:
One purpose for revising is to spot and eliminate typos, missing or excessive commas, missing periods, etc.
“Father” not “fat her”
“Farther” not “fart her”
“Friends” not “fiends” …but around Halloween you may want “fiends” not “friends.”
Typos and grammar errors distract the reader from the ideas. Words should convey images, not draw attention to themselves.
As second problem with typos is that the editor has to correct them before loading your text into his/her document. If you include typos you make the editor’s work more difficult.
Don’t make the editors’ life difficult.
REVISE TO USE ACTIVE, NOT PASSIVE LANGUAGE:
Active voice helps picture the scene – it is easier for reader to see him/herself doing something.
Descriptive verbs help you stay in active voice
Active voice shortens your document, thus saving paper, time, effort, and money
Active voice is easier for children to comprehend
The basic form for active voice is: subject+verb. For example:
Often indicated by helping verbs combined w/ another verb, for example:
Examples:
"The house is being built by a family
"That call was not made by me.
"Our mail carrier was bit by the dog.
"My computer has been fixed twice already
Sometimes passive is helpful. Consider my sentence “You may have to ask old uncle Jiggs what “percolate” means.” Here is a passive form of that sentence: “You may have to ask old uncle Jiggs what is meant by the word “percolate?” This passive sentence has the advantage of putting the key word “percolate” at the end of the sentence. Used sparingly, passive voice can be helpful.
Passive voice is commonly used in scientific and academic writing. Active voice is preferred in newspaper, magazine, media, and popular writing
STRONG DESCRIPTIVE VERBS:
These words do double duty: they label action and describe the context in which the action occurred. Thus, they help you stay in active voice.
For example,
“In the morning the children raced to the Christmas tree.”
Or, two young adult sisters whisper to each other on Easter morning:
“Let’s catch up while the children search for eggs.”
Or, describing a bright child’s response to school:
“She remembered the poems and stories she read.”
In The Tree Lady, trees are said to have “reached” toward the sky; branches said to be “stretched wide” to “catch” the light; and Balboa Park is described as a place “where people grazed cattle and dumped garbage.”
RULE OF THREE:
Note that in the sentences above from The Tree Lady I gave three examples of strong descriptive verbs. Writers, painters, and other artists have learned that the human mind seems to prefer groups of three. So, it is helpful if you name items in threes, for example,
During the Christmas season I enjoy the lights, the music, and the smiles.”
Of course there are times when you must ignore the rule of three. For example,
“Grandpa has lost his sight but he still enjoys holiday food with their delicious smells and tastes.”
So helpful! Thank you thank you Joe!
One purpose for revising is to spot and eliminate typos, missing or excessive commas, missing periods, etc.
“Father” not “fat her”
“Farther” not “fart her”
“Friends” not “fiends” …but around Halloween you may want “fiends” not “friends.”
Typos and grammar errors distract the reader from the ideas. Words should convey images, not draw attention to themselves.
As second problem with typos is that the editor has to correct them before loading your text into his/her document. If you include typos you make the editor’s work more difficult.
Don’t make the editors’ life difficult.
REVISE TO USE ACTIVE, NOT PASSIVE LANGUAGE:
Active voice helps picture the scene – it is easier for reader to see him/herself doing something.
Descriptive verbs help you stay in active voice
Active voice shortens your document, thus saving paper, time, effort, and money
Active voice is easier for children to comprehend
The basic form for active voice is: subject+verb. For example:
- The girl remembered…
- The children raced…
- The meat sauce bubbled…
Often indicated by helping verbs combined w/ another verb, for example:
- is,
- am
- are,
- were,
- was,
- been
Examples:
"The house is being built by a family
"That call was not made by me.
"Our mail carrier was bit by the dog.
"My computer has been fixed twice already
Sometimes passive is helpful. Consider my sentence “You may have to ask old uncle Jiggs what “percolate” means.” Here is a passive form of that sentence: “You may have to ask old uncle Jiggs what is meant by the word “percolate?” This passive sentence has the advantage of putting the key word “percolate” at the end of the sentence. Used sparingly, passive voice can be helpful.
Passive voice is commonly used in scientific and academic writing. Active voice is preferred in newspaper, magazine, media, and popular writing
STRONG DESCRIPTIVE VERBS:
These words do double duty: they label action and describe the context in which the action occurred. Thus, they help you stay in active voice.
For example,
“In the morning the children raced to the Christmas tree.”
Or, two young adult sisters whisper to each other on Easter morning:
“Let’s catch up while the children search for eggs.”
Or, describing a bright child’s response to school:
“She remembered the poems and stories she read.”
In The Tree Lady, trees are said to have “reached” toward the sky; branches said to be “stretched wide” to “catch” the light; and Balboa Park is described as a place “where people grazed cattle and dumped garbage.”
RULE OF THREE:
Note that in the sentences above from The Tree Lady I gave three examples of strong descriptive verbs. Writers, painters, and other artists have learned that the human mind seems to prefer groups of three. So, it is helpful if you name items in threes, for example,
During the Christmas season I enjoy the lights, the music, and the smiles.”
Of course there are times when you must ignore the rule of three. For example,
“Grandpa has lost his sight but he still enjoys holiday food with their delicious smells and tastes.”
So helpful! Thank you thank you Joe!
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H. Joseph "Joe" Hopkins lived for many years on a houseboat on the Columbia River in Portland OR. Joe came to writing through a series of happy accidents after retiring from life as a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP). Joe's picture book, The Tree Lady, illustrated by Meg McElmurry, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2013 and has won numerous awards from librarians and groups interested in biography, sustainability, environmental science, and the lives of independent women. The Tree Lady is a picture book biography of Kate Sessions, an independently minded woman who spent her life bringing plant color to San Diego and Balboa Park in Southern California. Reactions by reviewers children and parents have been uniformly positive and passionate. Sales have been brisk and The Tree Lady has reprinted three times. Contact Joe at Josephhopkins65@gmail.com
12 comments :
Thanks, Joe for these reminders of tightening and improving our words.
Thanks for your inspiring post Joe! These are great points to keep in mind when revising.
Joe, congratulations on the success of The Tree Lady! Thank you for planting the active seed of revision, the use of passive voice where needed, and the rule of three.
Once again, such helpful advice for revisions - thanks Joe!
Thank you for the reminders and helpful examples, Joe!
Great post, Joe! Thank you for reminding us about active and passive voice, as well as the “rule of three”
The typos made me laugh! My suggestion is to have someone else read your story, many times we can't see our own typos.
Thanks, Joe! These are great reminders. I have a tendency to use too much passive voice in my drafts. Thanks for the reminder to revise using active voice with strong descriptive verbs.
Thanks, Joe for this wonderful post!
I always struggle with the passive voice, and finding just the right descriptive verb. Thanks so much for the help, Joe!
Another great post. It is always helpful to remember these pointers for revising. Thanks so much!
Thank you again, Joe. I always appreciate good examples to get a point across!
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