Passive Verbs........Show, Don't Tell.....

As a writer, we hear the phrase "Show, don't tell," a lot. Using passive verbs will not get you there, although sometimes it can't be helped. A passive verb is when the subject is receiving the action of the verb. That's telling. How do you show vs tell? By rewording the sentence so it's not passive.

News reports are written by reporters

or

Reporters write news reports

But that's not the only way to show. Using the 5 senses will also help show the story. How does the character feel? What's going on around them? Using the setting around the character can help too. Show the character working against the setting. It's raining so having your character wipe the rain off of their face several times put them into the scene and shows the reader that it's raining. Other senses: smell, hearing, etc. Using them puts the character in the story and will help the reader put themself in the story as well.

It's not enough to find all the right words, putting them in the right order is what matters. As a reader, we don't see the lengthy process a writer takes to create the beautiful story he/she has made. Learning what goes into the story gives me so much respect for all of the writers out there. Being one of them, I know the challenge that it takes to write daily.