Passive and active voice are two different ways to structure sentences, and both have different effects on the tone and meaning of the narrative. Understanding how to use them effectively can make or break the pacing and mood of your writing, so understanding the difference is a crucial skill for your craft and storytelling style.

In fiction writing, while the active voice is certainly preferred to drive the action and create a sense of urgency and immediacy for the plot to better engage the reader, the passive voice slows things down.

Used sparingly, the passive voice provides a little air, giving the action and suspense room to breathe, but it also runs the risk of creating distance or detachment if done poorly. So although it can certainly be used as a tool, moderation is key.

A lot of new writers tend to default to passive voice, either as a result of skill level, or because of an ill-informed desire to create dramatic effect. Well, if passive voice makes up 10% or less of the narrative, it will have far more of a dramatic effect than if it is overused. Less is more when it comes to passive voice. Use it wisely.

What’s the difference?

So what is the active voice, and why is it so important? Let’s have a look, shall we? Here are some examples:

Active voice: The dog chased the ball.
Passive voice: The ball was chased by the dog.

The active voice places the subject (the dog) at the beginning of the sentence, emphasizing its action and energy, and creates more engagement. The passive voice puts the object (the ball) first, making the sentence sound more neutral, while creating a sense of distance between the reader and the subject.

Active voice: The storm destroyed the town.
Passive voice: The town was destroyed by the storm.

The action and the agent (the storm) in the active voice creates a sense of urgency and drama, while the passive voice emphasizes the result (the town’s destruction) and downplays the agent. In this example, we see how the passive voice can create a sense of resignation or fatalism. But we are starting to see how choosing one or the other can also be used as a tool… For instance:

Active voice: The burglar, not wanting to waste another moment futilely picking the lock, smashed the jewelry shop window before leaping over the threshold.
Passive voice: The window to the jewelry shop was smashed to crystalline shards by the burglar, too rushed to pick the lock.

Here you can get a better taste of how the voice impacts the narrative of the story. With the active voice, we are part of the action, in the moment with the character. We are present for the decision, and the result. With the passive voice in this example, however, we see how it emphasizes the result. I did my best to make it exciting, but it just does not have the same presence or urgency as the active voice.

So while the passive voice certainly has a place – and we will explore this more in the future – it’s a good habit to make a note of this with your writing. Do you tend to default to the passive voice? Or the active voice? Hopefully this explains the difference, and introduces you to how to create the desired effect for your narrative.