Episode 46: Passive Voice
“What do you want for dinner?”
“Whatever.”
“Hotdogs okay?”
“Fine.”
Chances are, you read aggression in the voice of one or more of the above characters, and chances are, also, that you’ve been a party to such a conversation yourself, and in that moment thought, “(S)he is obviously upset, and not saying so. I wish (s)he would just tell me what the problem is, already!”
Just like no one likes passive aggressive behavior, very few readers can get down with a work that is loaded up with passive voice. Often, the trick to eliminating passive voice from your writing is identifying it in the first place, because it isn’t always as obvious as an attitude being flung at you by your spouse or your teenager.
Join us on the Christian Indie Writers’ Podcast this week as we discuss how to identify passive voice in your writing, how to fix it, and if it is ever a good idea to just leave it alone.
See you there,
Jamie
Episode 39: Short Story Guidelines
This 100 word story (aka a “Drabble”) was written in honor of today’s episode. We started out sending out thoughts and prayers to Jen, who was absent due to an incident on the ball field.
(Way to put your heart, and face, into the game, Jen!) Honestly, though, we missed her and hope she is feeling better. We then discussed the benefits of writing short stories. Finally, we
listened to 8 pieces of short story writing advice from Kurt Vonnegut. If you’d like to take a stab at writing your own Drabble using our prompts, we’d love to read it!
–
Jamie
Episode 36: Giving Voice to Your Story
This week on the podcast we explore Point of View as it pertains to writing. The following is a tribute to the woefully underutilized second person point of view.
It is ten am on Thursday – time for your favorite podcast to go live. You sit down at your computer, a mug of your favorite beverage at hand. You click play. You hear Jamie’s unreasonable-for-ten-am level of perky chatter. You grit your teeth, and sip from your mug. The mellow, honeyed tones of Jenifer’s voice fill the room. “Ahh, better,” you sigh.
Tina chimes in with some acerbic wit and you narrowly avoid performing a spit-take. Rhonda’s infectious laughter is missing today, and you suddenly realize why the podcast has felt a bit less than “complete” – it’s not quite the same without her. Still, as the trio of hosts finish their discussion about point of view, you find yourself nodding your head as you tap your chin thoughtfully.
“Hmm,” you think, “perhaps I should try writing my current work in progress in a different point of view, to see if it helps me with the trouble I am having with the piece.”
Satisfied, as usual, with your Christian Indie Writers’ Podcast listening experience, you open up your current project and set to work.
-Jamie
