Active and Passive Voice - Does Passive have a Purpose?

 We've all heard varying ways to identify active voice from passive voice. And at one point or another you might have been exposed to a clip art similar to this one:

Okay the last picture probably wasn't necessary but I thought it was funny. But the rule goes that if a zombie can do it, it's in the passive voice. 

"All the strawberries were picked last night (by zombies)." - This is a passive voice.

"I picked all the strawberries last night (by zombies)." This doesn't make sense, and because there is a                                                                                                   subject at the beginning it is active.

Active voice seems to be the most commonly encouraged voice. It has a specific subject and is often more engaging for the reader. So passive voice can get pushed to the back and forgotten about. Passive sentences just don't seem as exciting as active ones. Likewise passive voice can seem boring and usually reads like an instruction manual or a legal contract. But this might actually be on purpose. 

Passive voice is used more when you want to focus on the object of the sentence rather than those who are doing the action. 

Another example for the purpose of passive voice that my professor shared with me is that you should:

Use passive voice when you want to be ambiguous and avoid being rude or sued!

When you use the passive it takes the attention away from the people performing and puts the attention on the act itself. 

Ponder that, now that the post is written. (By zombies...)

What I've Learned about Editing

 Oh my gosh, where to begin?

I've learned several things this semester about the process of editing from a personal project that I've been working on for class. I think my favorite was finding out that typos are not always bad and they can even be intentional, and they shape our society around us pretty much daily. Language is constantly changing, so there are so many ways to edit, nowadays. As much as it is contested, not all typos are bad! They can actually serve a purpose. For example we've all driven down the freeway to see a sign like this:

There are typos, but it give the cows a voice and a sort of personality, these simple typos are the face of and the main advertising for the company. So after you correct the spelling errors in your head with a laugh, you'll realize that Chick-fil-A actually sounds pretty good and you'll go buy some chicken nuggets!

They also change the voice of children's books and some poetry. The authors or poets will create some fun words that the reader has never seen before and it draws them in as they try to imagine is, it builds a bit of popularity. Dr. Suess, the "Jaberwocky" by Lewis Carroll, etc. 

Then there's some unintentional typos that can make a popular book a sort of collectors edition. A typo might normally cheapen the look of a new book, but J. K. Rowling may have benefited from an embarrassing mistake where the publisher misspelled her name on her first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. “JA Rowling." It sold for about £10,000. I don't know about you but I have never seen a mistake profit that much. 

Even the accidental mistakes can draw attention and publicity. These auctioneers drew even more wild attention to those typos, making this book more rare and bringing it to the forefront of the minds of the early fans as many likely tried to get their own copy. 

People ask if I'm a 'grammar nazi' when I tell them I'm an English major, and maybe I was a little growing up but spelling errors happen all the time, and typos are actually becoming a functioning part of society. So now when people ask I can show them this research.

If you're interested, here's the sources I used:

Works Cited

Carroll, Lewis. “Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll.” Poetry Foundation, Random House, 1983, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42916/jabberwocky. 

Kean, Danuta. “Misprint the Legends: Famous Typos from James Joyce to JK Rowling.” The Guardian, 16 June 2017, www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2017/jun/16/misprint-the-legends-famous-typos-from-james-joyce-to-jk-rowling. 

Simmons, Martha. “Use Grammatical Errors to Your Advantage.” Spin Sucks, 2 June 2015, spinsucks.com/communication/use-grammatical-errors-to-your-advantage/.

Sins of Syntax

 I often get stopped by people who hear that I love writing. Then they either tell me that they hate it with a passion or that they love it but say that they aren't very good.

Sure, it's possible to be good at writing and not like it very much, but I believe that much of their problem is just that their syntax doesn't agree.

Here's a definition that my professor provided to explain syntax:

"Syntax states the rules for using words, phrases, clauses and punctuation, specifically to form sentences. Correct syntax examples include word choice, matching number and tense, and placing words and phrases in the right order." -- yourdictionary.com

Little situations like this don't seem important when you first start but have you ever read a piece that didn't do these things? It's cringey and difficult to read. It drops your proficiency and degrades your writing in any situation. You want your syntax to agree when you're writing a presentation, an essay, or even just fanfiction. 

1. Word choice effects meaning and tone

This clears up definitions in your writing. When you're reading in a textbook and the writer is trying to explain to you that there is something wrong with the epidermis, you might just sit back and be like, "What even is that?" There might be some context clues but that's not usually enough for a clear understanding. Often definitions need to be explained to the reader at least once that when you use that word or other jargon. So when your science textbook says epidermis, remind the reader that is the surface of the skin.

There is also a time and place for jargon. Listen, we know you're smart. But if you're writing a fiction scene and the hero just dramatically took an arrow above the clavicle, it takes you out of the scene. Because now most readers will either be struggling to dig for context clues or will have to stop and look up what that is when it would be equally fine to just say "collar bone." 

Obviously there are exceptions, there will be times to use language like that, but it changes the tone in your story. One word over another can change the reader's perception of a character. 

2. Agreement

This is all about subject and verb agreement. If there are plural subjects you need plural verbs. 

    Each of the strawberries have little green stems. Or Each of the strawberries has a little green stem. 

In this case we would use 'has' because we are talking not just about the strawberries, but we are talking about each one individually. Who has a little green stem? Each strawberry.

Another important example is person switching, make sure when you're writing that you don't switch your what point of view you're using randomly in the middle. They often get confusing. No, sorry I'm kidding. It gets confusing.

3. Verb tense

There are a lot of ways to explain this, but mainly just watch your time. When you choose to write in the past, present, or future tense make sure you stick to it, especially with verbs. 

    John will work hard on his project while his daughter played on the swings. 

There's all kinds of tenses here, we'd rather pick one and say:

    John works hard on his project while his daughter plays on the the swings. 

4. Placing modifiers

Modifiers are words that change and describe something about a subject. But it matters what order they go in. And we often do it without realizing it!

In a tweet from Mathew Anderson, he shows this quote:

While I sip tea from my purple I made three hours ago round from the microwave cup and saucer, you can think about how true this is.

Are Common Misspellings Actually Typos?

 A few weeks ago I talked about the t-shirts that were sold at my old high school with the wrong 'who,' right? But so many people still bought them, why is that? Just because it was common and most people didn't notice the difference should it be allowed to go unnoticed?

Or here's another example. All over the internet, etc. I have been coming across 'alot' of misspellings. A lot is two words, yet so many people still do it. Is this okay? Can we just turn a blind eye to the fact that it might just be the language evolving? After all, words like 'okay' became 'ok' for simplicity. My argument for 'okay' is that A) 'ok' has that well known red squiggle under it as I type this now. And B) 'ok' is easier to type for sure, but it comes across as more casual. 

But 'alot' and other misspellings are technically two words that can function on their own. You can use them separately or together and don't change meaning when they are together. I would call this a definite typo. And just because it's common, doesn't mean that it isn't one. Like using the incorrect who on a t-shirt, they all sound the same when spoken, but they all have distinct meanings, even it they are minorly different from each other. 

An even worse example is at the book store I work at. We had a Christian book that was being sold for several months before one day someone came in and pointed out that there was a major typo. And sure, maybe no one had noticed until then, maybe the reader's brains had just auto-filled the correct statement. But everyone knows that Jesus didn't come "to bring to pass the [immorality] and eternal life of man.” (Improperly quoted Moses 1:39, obviously.) One simple letter, yet the book wasn't corrected for a couple weeks, we just added basic loose leaf notes until they gave us corrected copies. But just because the typo wasn't noticed for an extended period of time, shouldn't make it acceptable. (Or in this case morally correct.)

Text Book Review

 This week I'm going to be reviewing the textbooks we read for class this semester and give a little bit of background on the ones that I recommend. 

The Workplace Writer's Process by Anne Janzer was a good read. 

The main audience is writers that want to improve but feel stuck where they are. This book clears up some of the myths of writing and provides clear instruction for ways to improve their skills and manage their time effectively. It also tells the reader now to stress out over their work, writing takes practice and effort, you'll get there, and I think I appreciated that message the most. 

The Great Typo Hunt by Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson was just okay.

I don't want to be rude but if I'm being honest I never understood the purpose of this book because it doesn't really teach you about typos. The authors are crossing the country acting as though they are heros on the hunt for typos and act as though they are saving the greater good because of it. And it talks about each typo as though it were so obvious to begin with. 

The language of this book could not have been more flowery and it felt like a riddle just trying to understand some of his wild phrases and complex imagery. It's basically an oddly fictional sounding, non-fiction novel. The audience has to be someone bored and really invested in the idea of weirding people out with their hero complex and over enthusiasm for grammar, (which I found I have less of than I previously thought). It had visuals of the typos, I appreciated that. And if you have to read it, I would suggest a buddy to read it with so you can have a good laugh. 

A World Without Whom by Emmy Favilla is amazing.

I felt that this book had the greatest impact on my writing. Favilla is the Buzzfeed Copy Chief, so I already know she has experience I can trust. And Favilla's tone was so normal and that of a regular human being. I loved that it was both professional without being convoluted. There was some colorful language here and there in the name of the natural tone, but the tips were so straight forward, so the audience is probably at least high school writers and above. If just tells you that language changes often and there are many ways to do the same thing, so be flexible. And it tells you to be direct with political correctness. For example, 'dark skinned' could just be offensive, it's okay and probably best to refer to their skin color as 'black.' 

I would definitely recommend this book. In fact, please read this one. It's so packed with clear and important information.

Editing is Everything

Perhaps it is my ADHD, but I have always had the hardest time editing my own work. I agonize over just starting it for days, because what if it's not perfect? But that'st the thing, there could always be something you could potentially do different to your work. The main things is to get the basics down and get over a fear of editing. It's okay if your paper or story isn't perfect the first time, that's what the first draft is for!

Here's 4 steps of editing inspired by Anne Janzer talks about in her book, The Workplace Writer's Process 113-114).

1. Objective

What is your main message of your writing? Is your point coming across? Are the plot points coming through? What is the purpose of writing this piece and does your writing fulfill that purpose? This has to do with writing structure and content, make it loud and clear for the reader.

2. Flow 

This is how your language sounds. How does your piece flow? Do your points connect? Are there transitions that make sense? Are your sentences written clearly for your audience? This makes the piece easy to read and your points easy to follow. 

3. Details

Grammar time! Clear up your comma splices, and your spelling. Place all punctuation in the proper place. Make sure your data is accurate. Check your tone for your piece. 

4. Proof reading

This part is so helpful, read your work out loud. Have someone else read for you even, you've been working hard on this piece and there are likely still a few mistakes still hidden that you may have missed since you've been staring at it for so long. This fine tunes all the above steps.

Editing can be tedious but it is so worth it for that perfect professional paper you've been after.

Anticipating Antecedents

 I have a friend (shocking, I know, stop) that once told me about a story she wrote that was in the first person. But the story had 7 points of view, that means 7 individuals all trying to tell their story at the same time. But the different people and point of view isn't what made it confusing, she said what made it confusing is the fact that they were interchanging mid paragraph and she could rarely tell who was talking. My friend really the story but she couldn't tell what was happening with some of the pronoun antecedents. The pronouns in a sentence have to agree with the antecedent in order to know who is talking or what the subject of the sentence is.

Lets make some examples so we know how to fix those.

As John and Sherri watched the ducks, Sherri assumed they liked them very much. 

Who did the liking in this sentence? It's unclear, two "they's" in a row can be confusing. We don't know, but if we get a little more specific with pronouns like this:

As John and Sherri watched the ducks, they assumed the ducks liked them very much.

See what we did there? Now the antecedent and the pronouns agree in the sentence so we can tell that it is the ducks that like John and Sherri.

Another example is object pronouns. Object pronouns (obviously) belong to objects but they also need to agree in a sentence in order for it to make sense. But when you aren't specific they can sometimes be confused with regular pronouns:

He set his alarm so he would wake up in the morning he did. 

Let's see, there are too many pronouns so if we specify:

Jason set his alarm so he would wake up before his Dad did.

Now we know that the second he was Jason referring to himself and and his father. 

So make sure you have your pronoun antecedents agree with each other, so that your readers will agree that your writing is great.