Active voice is the subject performing an action, whereas passive voice occurs when someone receives an action.  To strengthen your writing, try to use active voice/ action verbs rather than passive voice/ passive verbs.

To accomplish this, eliminate as many “to be” verbs as you can ( for example, am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been, become, became).  Although challenging at first, it will become second nature once you train your mind.

Example:

Active voice:  Tony smashed the baseball over the fence and into the parking lot.

Passive voice:  The baseball was smashed over the fence and into the parking lot by Tony.

See the difference!  Now you try!

Christa Riddle, All About Writing, Howell, NJ, www.allaboutwritingconsulting.com