9 reasons to avoid the passive voice

I worked for 9 years at a university, and for much of that time, I edited a lot of content written by academics. One of the habits rampant in academic writing is the tendency to write in the passive voice.

The passive voice isn’t bad grammar per se, but it is often a sign of weak writing. Here are 9 reasons you should avoid the passive voice in your writing:

1. It sounds weak.
2. It can be awkward.
3. It’s often vague.
4. It’s wordy.
5. It’s easy to leave out the subject.
6. It skirts responsibility for actions.
7. High school dropouts find the passive voice more difficult to understand.
8. It makes your message boring.
9. It’s less engaging.

Read “Passive voice: what it is and how to avoid it” to find out what the passive voice is and what to do about it.