Writing Passive: The Zombie Way

Zombies can help me figure out when I write passive or not. Who really knew this? I sure as heck did not. I love zombies. I watch the films of old to current while reading books on them. Granted the movies of this time frame make zombies more smarter than their counter parts of the past.

I do not always know when my writings are passive. That is one of the reasons I adore my editor and my writer groups that I am a part off. For they know, unlike me, when I am doing it wrong.  If I paid better attention or made a conscious effort to learn I might be able to do it. But again as I mentioned a few times before I am more interested in writing and leave it at that. But I came across this gem on FB. At first it made me laugh simply because I love zombies

Can it be as easy as this? I did put it into a few of my sentences, got a good giggle out of it and did find some that made sense versus those that did not. Though I would have to go through my entire WIP to know for sure on how often I did this. But I thought it was a cute little tip to pass on to others.

All you have to do is insert zombies in your sentences.

“She was killed [by zombies.]” <—- Makes sense? Yes. It’s passive voice.

“Zombies killed [by zombies] her.” <—- Makes sense? No. It’s active voice.

Hopefully this will help someone .

 

 

P.S. I actually own this book

 

 

Very Inspiring Blogger Award

Recently I received this award from fellow author Gale Martin, http://galemartin.squarespace.com

Gale thank you so much this is the first time my blog has won this award. Things like this do make me smile. It is nice to know people read my ramblings.

Well as with some awards come rules.

Here are the Rules of the Award Blog:

-Display the award logo on your blog post.
-Link back to the person who nominated you.
-State 7 things about yourself.
-Nominate 15 bloggers to the award. (Rules can be broken and this is one of them. Do what works for you)
-Notify those bloggers of the nomination by linking to one of their specific posts so that they get notified by ping back. With so many forms of communication this can be adjusted to however you notify the winners.

Seven things about me

1- I love sweet ice tea. As a New Englander raised on hot tea this was a true treasure when I moved to the South.

2- I can’t grow pansies. It does not matter if they are seeds, seedlings to full-grown plants. I can grow just about any plant around unless it is a pansy. The plant just does not like me.

3-I am an avid sports fan much to the frustration of my family.

4- I am left-handed.

5- I am of French origins.

6- My birds own me I can be honest about that.

7-I have two short stories published in an anthology. Something I am still proud off.

Now that was not so bad was it?

Ok now to think who to pass this on to. I will be mixing it up. Some of the links below are to people I love to hear from to my new followers. I want to thank them both for reading the topics I write about.
Melonie

http://meloniekydd.wordpress.com

Shannon

http://shannonathompson.com/

Tiffany

http://tiffanyawhite.wordpress.com

Merry

http://merryfarmer.wordpress.com

Susie

http://susielindau.com

Tracy

http://tracyjamesjones.wordpress.com

Rosemary

http://rosemaryarmel.wordpress.com

Pen Names

 

How many of us as writers have pen names?  A fellow writer friend who has done rather well for herself with her ebooks has several, one for each series she writes. As I am starting to get some of my work out there I wonder about the pros and cons to having a different name. Researching this online I came across the basic good and bad points from other authors.

Pros

-If your name is hard to spell

-You are shy and it is a way to hide behind a new name

-You are trying a different genre that is outside of your comfort zone thus giving you freedom

-Privacy

-You can write about any topic

Cons

-No one will know it is you

-You can get lost in the shuffle between social medias of your pen name versus your real name

-Less credibility as an author

-Confusion between the pen name and your name for family and friends. Especially if you have more than one.

These seemed to be the main reasons to have or not have a pen name.  When I approached one of my writing groups about it one of them said it plainly.

“You are just starting out. No one knows you or your work yet.”

But now that I think on it that could be in the pro list. As I go about the edits and book covers I realized though once they are released I would either have to inform people it is me through the social platform I have in place or start from scratch. But in doing that I might lose the contacts I have made over the last two years.  I am truly not sure what I am going to do. The thought of a pen name excites me it’s just so cool in my mind. I have even played around with what names I would use if it ever came to that.

I will have to think hard on this for I am honestly not sure at the moment.