concise writing

Understand active and passive verbs once and for all

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You’ve heard the advice: passive verbs are a big no-no and active verbs are essential to good writing. But do you know the difference? Can you spot active and passive verbs in your own writing? Do you know when passive verbs should be used? Knowing active verbs are usually better than passive verbs is one … Read more

Are -ing words really that bad?

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A reader sent in a question about -ing words: “OK, you said no question was stupid. So, I have been told not to use ing words in fiction writing because it is not the right tense. Why?” Have you heard this advice? Have you wondered about it? We use words that end in -ing all the … Read more