Writing in active voice is like painting words on a page. You are creating a picture, not just typing a bunch of words. Painters apply their strokes with loving care. Writers should compose their words with the same loving touch.
Active verbs become the paintbrush to conjure images and tell stories that journey to universes in our brains that mere syllables of words cannot reach.
A well-planned canvas of sentences draws viewers through the details of the story, taking viewers on a purposeful journey and emphasizing what’s important. Active-voice writing provides directness to passages that sustains interest and moves along the story line.
Like artists, writers value negative space in their work to draw attention to the main subject. They don’t fill every inch of their written canvas with extraneous diversions, deadwood words and nonessential punctuation, which only distract attention.
Active voice is as relevant for business prose as creative writing, both of which require stoking interest and offering something of value, while entertaining the eye of the viewer’s brain.
Active voice is audience-centric, with writers appealing to the wants and wishes of viewers in the S-curve design of their narratives. They convey clarity without obscuring their picture with a maze of clunky sentences, verbose phrasing and talking in circles. They don’t waste their readers’ time.
By the choice and arrangement of words, active-voice writers create verbal strokes with arresting eye appeal that engage, not bore viewers. They employ vigorous verbs, clever turns of phrase and disciplined amounts of description to add color and verbal spice.
Active-voice writers are sensitive to the cadence of their sentences, where possible making their words dance instead of plod. The active voice infuses energy into sentences, rather than sucks the life out of them.
If they are truly honest, painterly writers know when to write and when to tell a story another way – visually through a chart, photograph, infographic or video. The goal is to connect and sometimes words, no matter how masterfully composed, aren’t as good as a picture.
Active voice is as relevant for business prose as creative writing, both of which require stoking interest and offering something of value, while entertaining the eye of the viewer’s brain.
The excuse that a subject is dry is just that – an excuse. Painters for centuries have made flower vases, portraits and landscapes fetching. Andrew Wyeth’s Christina’s World features a woman lying in a field looking at a house on a hill – an ordinary scene turned extraordinary.
Not every piece of writing needs to be a masterpiece. But every piece of writing, if cast in active voice, can be dynamic, colorful and purposeful. Active-voice writing also can be persuasive.
Every piece of writing, like every painting, leaves an impression. It’s your job as a writer to ensure it’s a positive impression by writing like a painter.
