Seven Articles on Passive Voice

My friend/editor said she thought she knew what was getting to her about my story. I was a little deflated that something was getting to her at all, but I wanted to know what it was that bothered her. How could I fix it, otherwise?

Then she announced that I used a lot of passive voice in my writing.

My first response was "huh?" my second response was "what in the world is that??" I vividly remember my confusion; she had to pull up articles explaining it, because she couldn't make sense of it for me (I was still confused, by the way). I felt quite stupid; it seemed like something an author should be well acquainted with, but I had never heard of it.

And that's why I put this together. One, so I could make sure I understood it myself, and two, to help other people who might be having similar problems. So I found a bunch of informative articles on it, including some stuff on the proper use of passive voice (turns out there is a way to use it correctly), what it is, how it compares to active voice, and some examples on how to switch from passive to active in your writing.

You might be wondering why passive voice is important (or, rather, not using it often is important). Passive voice is like a roundabout way of saying something. That's how it reads to me, anyway. In the first link below, the first example of passive versus active voice reads like this:

Harry ate six shrimp at dinner. (active)
At dinner, six shrimp were eaten by Harry. (passive)

The second example doesn't seem right, does it? It sounds rather stilted, and it distances you from what's going on. That's one of the reasons why you don't want to use it too much in your writing. You want your reader right there, involved in what's happening, and active voice is more likely to do that.
If you're not sure what passive voice is, here are a few examples:

Examples of Active and Passive Voice

The differences between passive and active voice:

Active Voice Versus Passive Voice

This gives some examples on using the passive voice appropriately:

Passive Voice

Some simple tips and tricks to help you avoid using passive voice:

How To Avoid Using the Passive Voice

Here are seven examples and how to fix them:

7 Examples of Passive Voice (And How to Fix Them)

A look at passive voice and identifying it:

Passives

A handout found on UNC's website:

Passive Voice
Do you have a tendency to use passive voice?