My proofreader, Allison, just loves this video. She's always talking about passive voice, wordiness, etc. This video should be viewed by all. It's not just applicable to us writers but to students writing papers, reports, and dissertations. Overall, great video, informative, and sticks to the point.
All I know is that it amazes me how many people do not know what it is that I am talking about when speaking of passive voice in writing. Do that many people forget?
Gene J. I didn't know what passive voice is until a few years ago when my spell check kept telling me to fix it. Is it really that big of a deal if someone uses passive voice? Is it objectively incorrect?
gmecomber Writing in an active voice makes the subject active giving the sentence a sense of immediacy. My proofreader says that writing in a passive voice can cause the loss of a reader's attention. That is why it is important that you write in an active voice whenever possible. Dictionary.com explains this so well and gives great examples.
Great Job!!.. A pleasure to watch and listen to you. Great camera and presentation appeal. .Really appreciate your help and information. Will go to your website for more. Thank you
Here is my summery for anybody whom wishes to keep it so you don't need to keep coming back to the video. - I highly suggest making your own Note Pad on laptop or by written hand of the 'do's and do dot's' of writing. (I have my own Word Pad on my laptop for do's and do not's of writing which I've entitled 'Writing Patterns'). Passive voice: I was hit by the ball. Subject = ball. Verb = hit. Verb and then the subject, WRONG. Active voice: The ball hit me. Subject = ball. Verb = hit. Subject and then the verb, RIGHT. Tense - (Stick to the same tense throughout your book(Unless the scene calls for a change)). Past: I ran, I was running. Present: I run, I am running. Perspective: Whom is telling the story, whose eyes are we looking through; via whose perspective is the story being told. (Stick to the same perspective throughout your book). Point of View- 1st: I did this, I did that. (Telling the story from your own perspective). 2nd: You did this, you did that. (A directive: serving or intended to guide, govern, or influence). 3rd: He said, she said. (Nuance: a subtle difference in or shade of meaning, expression, or sound.(Uses pronouns such as he, she, it, or they. 1st person uses pronouns such as I and me)). 3rd person is most common, though 1st person is the easiest POV for beginners. Cliché: Bright as the sun, sweet as candy. (To avoid Clichés one should widen one's vocabulary and use some older words which are not as common; write Interesting phrases and sentences which are memorable,metrical, or rhythmic(Avoid truisms, and banality: instead use witticism and epigrams)). Economy of Language: Do not say something with ten words if you can say it with only five. (Don't be overly verbose or loquacious, write tersely whilst still being descriptive. Again, be epigrammatic in style; be as compact as possible. In short: Write a statement with only five words but make it feel like it is written with ten. Modifiers: A word, especially an adjective or noun used attributively, that restricts or adds to the sense of a head noun (e.g. good and family in a good family house ). Adjectives: A word naming an attribute of a noun, such as sweet, red, or technical. Adverbs: A word or phrase that modifies the meaning of an adjective, verb, or other adverb, expressing manner, place, time, or degree (e.g. gently, here, now, very ). Some adverbs, for example sentence adverbs, can also be used to modify whole sentences. They are important - and that's just when you just use them, when they are needed. They are descriptive but once again, do not be verbose with them, be terse whilst informative. Example: The black camera focused. Does the adjective 'black' really need to be there? In short: One should try to write with the least words possible whilst still being descriptive, informative, expressive, visual, and lively. Write a page and then compress it down to half a page, if you feel half a page is far too terse to convey full expression and description then build it back up again, only with lesser words.
I liked the bit about each word serving a purpose, in economy of words, as a writer may use extra words, compared to what would be used in a business letter, to create, as she indicated, an effect. Some advisers insist on the ruthless cutting down of words without adding the creating an effect qualifier, which can be misleading for the writer.
+AntiAnto98...that's exactly why I'm here, to relax and fall asleep. Because English grammar bores the living crap out of me. I fall asleep every time.
Thank you, Justine, for the lovely concise video. Please, could you do a video for technical writing? Cliches are not used in technical writing. Much appreciated. Thumbs up and subscribed.
For some this might seem basic, but most content writers don't utilize and apply these tips properly, thats why they cant write better articles. Good job on this.
At first, I felt as though it would be more captivating to see words on screen correlating to your examples and tips. In the end, I was left more inspired to write.
When I read "After what seemed like an eternity," I just shake my head and wonder why this author was so complacent that he/she had to use THIS SAME EXACT PHRASE WORD FOR FREAKIN' WORD!!! man, I guarantee you, read just about any novel in the last 50 years... you will want to set it on fire when you read that same exact phrase the 50th time. Find a new way to say it! Or I'll burn your novel! :) Thanks for the tips! I've been dabbling with writing. Prob have over 40 short stories.
I enjoyed your video. The information was helpful and your presentation style was professional. I have subscribed to your channel and look forward to watching more of your videos. (My first draft of this comment had both present and past tenses, after reading my comment I made the changes....working already!)
I really enjoyed this video, thank you for making it! My only complaint is that sometimes it's okay to be wordy, just not too much. Sometimes to amplify a sentence you need to be a bit wordy, and that's okay. My only complaint, but I still really enjoyed the video.
Perspective is actually different than Point of View.. Perspective is thought, feelings and actions of characters. Point of View is 1st person, 2nd person and 3rd person like who is telling the story in literature.
a question for anyone with helpful advice: i've always loved writing. ever since kindgarten when i learned how to spell some of my first words it's been my passion. now that i'm older, i seem to struggle with keeping the inspiration and steam built up to write my stories. so my question is, how do you stay inspired/motivated to write? (even when i have an idea that i love, i struggle with this often)
So, the first one to avoid the use of "by the" because it is most likely that is a passive voice. I read the book "Aura" and it is written in the second person. Which is rare. Usually is first person. The second person was fun because I was inside the story. At the present moment: Now. Avoid Adverbs. Read or listen to "On writing" from Stephen King.
Pretty good. Not sure I follow on keeping tenses though, especially in fiction. Maybe, keep tenses where applicable. If you kept the same tense you wouldn't be able to start with second person perspective, in past tense, and have the character "you" start giving dialogue, which acts as a spring board for the narrator to dive into a 3rd person omniscient! Or is that even possible? lol.
Jessica Watts There are many websites, where you can find this information. For example, this information is available at different blogs and forums for students. In addition, there are many blogs for writers, for instance, blog.pro-papers.com.
Oh hey! I assume you must be running out of stuffs to do. Incidentally, there is nothing wrong having a woman showing off her attractive side, so stop ranting about something that is totally irrelevant. Secondly and more importantly, her tips were very informative, it helped me numerous times in the past and that is something that she should be respected for. So suck it up! :)
Justine Tal, Nice! What is your take on the use of “I think” and “I believe.” Where do they fall and could you elaborate. I posted this comment on a blog. “Mr. Lewis is a gem as is Mr. Leeden but the former peppers his commentaries with ‘I think’ and ‘I believe’. It is a conjunction reflex common in politicians that dims the throw of the commentary. Historians have no excuse.”
I think it's a great informative video...thank you. Although I do see some are a little upset by all the likes you got ;) lol...There will always be someone who wants to try and make others look bad, not realizing it's making themselves look bad. keep up the great work.
In literary fiction the passive voice is preferable because it invites the reader into the construction of meaning...active voice is preferable for genre readers because they are lazy fools.
![ค้างคืนโรงเก็บกระสวยอวกาศร้างกลางทะเลทราย [Around The World Ep. 3]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/E5bWZQhABJE/mqdefault.jpg)
A very crisp video on issues most of us face in our writings. Listening to it is the simple part. Putting it into practice is the hard part. :)
Mostly, working on passive voice.
My proofreader, Allison, just loves this video. She's always talking about passive voice, wordiness, etc. This video should be viewed by all. It's not just applicable to us writers but to students writing papers, reports, and dissertations. Overall, great video, informative, and sticks to the point.
WHO doesn't learn about passive voice in highschool? WHO?
All I know is that it amazes me how many people do not know what it is that I am talking about when speaking of passive voice in writing. Do that many people forget?
Gene J. I didn't know what passive voice is until a few years ago when my spell check kept telling me to fix it. Is it really that big of a deal if someone uses passive voice? Is it objectively incorrect?
gmecomber Writing in an active voice makes the subject active giving the sentence a sense of immediacy. My proofreader says that writing in a passive voice can cause the loss of a reader's attention. That is why it is important that you write in an active voice whenever possible. Dictionary.com explains this so well and gives great examples.
I apologize for offending you all.
Great Job!!.. A pleasure to watch and listen to you. Great camera and presentation appeal.
.Really appreciate your help and information. Will go to your website for more.
Thank you
This is terrific. Right to the point. Thanks. Very helpful for beginners, which I'm not, but shared this with a friend. I'll check your other videos.
Answered tons of questions for me. Great video, thanks.
Me too.
I took a stylistic writing course and a lot of the main principles were covered in this video...great job!
you are definitely right. keep going and let's spread your help.
You speak very well. I love your videos
Thank you for posting....OUTSTANDING information!
Informative, well presented and easy on the eyes to boot! I have difficulty with passive voice in my writing. I'll look for it more in my stories now!
Thanks for the tips! They helped immensely.
WRITE IT RIGHT, my peeps, can't stress that enough!!!
Sometimes the things we see in front of our face don't register in our minds.
Thanks for the tips these are great!
This video is very helpful. Thank you!
Some very useful advice. As a new author I appreciate your sharing.
Here is my summery for anybody whom wishes to keep it so you don't need to keep coming back to the video. - I highly suggest making your own Note Pad on laptop or by written hand of the 'do's and do dot's' of writing. (I have my own Word Pad on my laptop for do's and do not's of writing which I've entitled 'Writing Patterns').
Passive voice: I was hit by the ball. Subject = ball. Verb = hit. Verb and then the subject, WRONG.
Active voice: The ball hit me. Subject = ball. Verb = hit. Subject and then the verb, RIGHT.
Tense - (Stick to the same tense throughout your book(Unless the scene calls for a change)).
Past: I ran, I was running.
Present: I run, I am running.
Perspective: Whom is telling the story, whose eyes are we looking through; via whose perspective is the story being told. (Stick to the same perspective throughout your book).
Point of View-
1st: I did this, I did that. (Telling the story from your own perspective).
2nd: You did this, you did that. (A directive: serving or intended to guide, govern, or influence).
3rd: He said, she said. (Nuance: a subtle difference in or shade of meaning, expression, or sound.(Uses pronouns such as he, she, it, or they. 1st person uses pronouns such as I and me)).
3rd person is most common, though 1st person is the easiest POV for beginners.
Cliché: Bright as the sun, sweet as candy. (To avoid Clichés one should widen one's vocabulary and use some older words which are not as common; write Interesting phrases and sentences which are memorable,metrical, or rhythmic(Avoid truisms, and banality: instead use witticism and epigrams)).
Economy of Language: Do not say something with ten words if you can say it with only five. (Don't be overly verbose or loquacious, write tersely whilst still being descriptive. Again, be epigrammatic in style; be as compact as possible.
In short: Write a statement with only five words but make it feel like it is written with ten.
Modifiers: A word, especially an adjective or noun used attributively, that restricts or adds to the sense of a head noun (e.g. good and family in a good family house ).
Adjectives: A word naming an attribute of a noun, such as sweet, red, or technical.
Adverbs: A word or phrase that modifies the meaning of an adjective, verb, or other adverb, expressing manner, place, time, or degree (e.g. gently, here, now, very ). Some adverbs, for example sentence adverbs, can also be used to modify whole sentences. They are important - and that's just when you just use them, when they are needed. They are descriptive but once again, do not be verbose with them, be terse whilst informative.
Example: The black camera focused. Does the adjective 'black' really need to be there?
In short: One should try to write with the least words possible whilst still being descriptive, informative, expressive, visual, and lively. Write a page and then compress it down to half a page, if you feel half a page is far too terse to convey full expression and description then build it back up again, only with lesser words.
Very Positive.
Thank you for sharing
xxx
Thank you for the video. You provided great information on how to correct problems that I find in my own short stories.
The information was very informative and I will refer back when needed.
Wrote all this down in my writers journal. Amazing tips! Thank you.
I liked the bit about each word serving a purpose, in economy of words, as a writer may use extra words, compared to what would be used in a business letter, to create, as she indicated, an effect. Some advisers insist on the ruthless cutting down of words without adding the creating an effect qualifier, which can be misleading for the writer.
sweet and simple I wish all writing was like this...
Wow I think this video just completely fixed my writing
I just realized this video is from PsycheTruth... I followed this channel for the ASMR videos, but there's much more to explore, now that I see it!
AntiAnto98 We have made probably 2600 videos in the last seven years. There is a huge range of videos.
+AntiAnto98...that's exactly why I'm here, to relax and fall asleep. Because English grammar bores the living crap out of me. I fall asleep every time.
+PsycheTruth nu
Wow,she can teleport!!!!
Thank you, Justine, for the lovely concise video. Please, could you do a video for technical writing? Cliches are not used in technical writing. Much appreciated. Thumbs up and subscribed.
For some this might seem basic, but most content writers don't utilize and apply these tips properly, thats why they cant write better articles. Good job on this.
Point of view shifts. Heh. I find them surprising and interesting.
Nothing is "out of whack" with passive voice. It is a perfectly natural thing to use if you know when it should be used.
Great to touch up on the basics. Beautiful. I could also say: Great to touch up on the basics, beautiful. ;)
THANKS FOR THIS! I can now feel a higher grade in my creative non fiction writing course :)
Great info! Thank you.
I am looking Forward For More Videos
At first, I felt as though it would be more captivating to see words on screen correlating to your examples and tips. In the end, I was left more inspired to write.
IF she were my teacher / professor there would be a definite intimidation factor to overcome. She's great
On her bookshelf behind her is the Grout/Palisca A History of Western Music!!
very useful will gladly look at your other notes on being better
Thanks for the tips on passive voice. I always have trouble with that. Looking for more tips.
Good information. Thank you.
This is very helpful! Great tips :D
-Sarah
(Author, Blogger, Writing-Tutorial-Maker)
Great work, thanks.
Thank you, that was very helpful.
When I read "After what seemed like an eternity," I just shake my head and wonder why this author was so complacent that he/she had to use THIS SAME EXACT PHRASE WORD FOR FREAKIN' WORD!!! man, I guarantee you, read just about any novel in the last 50 years... you will want to set it on fire when you read that same exact phrase the 50th time. Find a new way to say it! Or I'll burn your novel! :) Thanks for the tips! I've been dabbling with writing. Prob have over 40 short stories.
Wow past tense and present tense.. I never thought I would have to use any of those.
LOL I know this is a guide for retards to write novels that will never be published I guess.
Very helpful. Thank you.
Well done Justine! great video #ffgrtz
I like her green hair. Thanks for this vid! Very helpful :)
I enjoyed your video. The information was helpful and your presentation style was professional. I have subscribed to your channel and look forward to watching more of your videos. (My first draft of this comment had both present and past tenses, after reading my comment I made the changes....working already!)
I really enjoyed this video, thank you for making it! My only complaint is that sometimes it's okay to be wordy, just not too much. Sometimes to amplify a sentence you need to be a bit wordy, and that's okay. My only complaint, but I still really enjoyed the video.
Great video. I learned much. And she's beautiful. (I hate to be that guy, online. But the desire to state the obvious is overwhelming)
Brilliant, Thx!
Great stuff!!
Thanks. But any ideas on things to write about?
Thanks, that was helpful.
if your chractrer is having a flash back is it okay to swap from present tense to past tense
Yes, that's fine.
Thanks.
I thought that to be sarcasm.
this was very helpful and easy to understand. thank you : ) I subscribed!
I'm really trying to write something, this helps a lot, thnx girly, make more videos plz!! :3
Perspective is actually different than Point of View.. Perspective is thought, feelings and actions of characters. Point of View is 1st person, 2nd person and 3rd person like who is telling the story in literature.
nice video, thanks! here from Puerto RIco..
a question for anyone with helpful advice:
i've always loved writing. ever since kindgarten when i learned how to spell some of my first words it's been my passion. now that i'm older, i seem to struggle with keeping the inspiration and steam built up to write my stories. so my question is, how do you stay inspired/motivated to write? (even when i have an idea that i love, i struggle with this often)
Second person POV of a previous life, seems like an awesome story (Starting with a character explaining it as if you've forgotten)
So, the first one to avoid the use of "by the" because it is most likely that is a passive voice. I read the book "Aura" and it is written in the second person. Which is rare. Usually is first person. The second person was fun because I was inside the story. At the present moment: Now. Avoid Adverbs. Read or listen to "On writing" from Stephen King.
Pretty good. Not sure I follow on keeping tenses though, especially in fiction. Maybe, keep tenses where applicable. If you kept the same tense you wouldn't be able to start with second person perspective, in past tense, and have the character "you" start giving dialogue, which acts as a spring board for the narrator to dive into a 3rd person omniscient!
Or is that even possible? lol.
Awesome!
Cathypuff, how bout, reply-answer-stated-concluded-spoke-are some that I used!!!! Enjoy!!
Thank you !!
Thank you!
That smile we can often see on your face is what I like the most about you so far. :-)
The background is a green screen, get over it, if it keeps distracting you that just means you have the attention span of a 2 year old.
I'm a 2 year old and I find that offensive!
I thought they were just REALLY big books.
thanks for this !
Awesome vid!
tanx for da tips..!
love it!
Thank you so much, i have always though my english class is the hardest class because it's my third language thank you so much
So informative
Thank you.
Does Justine have any published books? I want to read one and scour it for mistakes.
Thanks for posting this video! I really liked it) Where I can read more about academic writing?
Jessica Watts There are many websites, where you can find this information. For example, this information is available at different blogs and forums for students. In addition, there are many blogs for writers, for instance, blog.pro-papers.com.
Oh hey! I assume you must be running out of stuffs to do. Incidentally, there is nothing wrong having a woman showing off her attractive side, so stop ranting about something that is totally irrelevant.
Secondly and more importantly, her tips were very informative, it helped me numerous times in the past and that is something that she should be respected for.
So suck it up! :)
Very nice j
diggin the green hair
Would you suggest writing each chapter as a separate word document? or all in one file?
Thank you for this i really needed this! :D
They could find a better size for that bookshelf, yes. :)
yes it is
my gosh, I want an editor as passionate and educated as she is.
GREAT VIDZ
thanks love
Thank you
Justine Tal, Nice! What is your take on the use of “I think” and “I believe.” Where do they fall and could you elaborate. I posted this comment on a blog.
“Mr. Lewis is a gem as is Mr. Leeden but the former peppers his commentaries with ‘I think’ and ‘I believe’. It is a conjunction reflex common in politicians that dims the throw of the commentary. Historians have no excuse.”
What about using future tense?
helpful thanks
I think it's a great informative video...thank you. Although I do see some are a little upset by all the likes you got ;) lol...There will always be someone who wants to try and make others look bad, not realizing it's making themselves look bad.
keep up the great work.
That green scene didn't work.
Bright as you.
In literary fiction the passive voice is preferable because it invites the reader into the construction of meaning...active voice is preferable for genre readers because they are lazy fools.
thnx 4 info
brilliant
looking forward to the grammatical errors
Please more writing tips