Stand Up to Passive Voice!

To be, or not to be?  Easy!  Not to be!

I know. It brings back junior high school English.  Conjugation! Yikes.

Grit your teeth!  Here's your refresher:

'To Be' ~ the ultimate in passivity!  Bolded here in an ironic twist:

I am
you are
he, she, or it is
we are
you (plural) are
they are

Just get rid of those milk-toasty, shoulder shrugging passive forms!  Save no quarter for was and were, either!

To wit ~
     Beth Ann was hungry and looked in the fridge.

Vs.

     Famished, Beth Ann searched the shelves of the fridge.

Or ~
     Henry and Joe are mad.  They are ready to fight.

Vs.

     Fighting mad, Joe and Henry stood toe-to-toe.

And, not to get too personal ~

                                   Grandpa’s feet are stinky. 

     Vs.

                                   Grandpa’s feet stink.

While we cannot extinguish the nefarious 'state of being' verb, we can shrink its status to that of a pesky flea in line for extermination.

Kill it before it kills your writing!

Make it 'Sweep #1' when you polish your work.  Scan and rewrite to cast off the passive and weave in the active.

And Write, Dream Writers!  Write!