Don't let your words be couch potatoes...

One of the most important things about story telling is helping the readers feel like they are part of the action. To do this, we need to make sure that we are writing in active voice. Active voice means that the verbs are action verbs. I know. Does anyone really teach grammar any more? Well, yes. Every day! And it does matter! Unless your book is like my good friend Robert's "Life in a Text," which is only written in a stream of texts, you need to know the rules of making a good sentence. (FYI - if you want to find his book, you can find it here https://amzn.to/3TQzP02 [my Amazon store link gives me bonuses]).

Example:

1. Active voice: Uses Active VERBS - Run, Jump, Slice, Peel,

Henry ran to the tree, and jumped to reach the ripest apple. He peeled and sliced the apple with the wind singing through the tree branches overhead. He ate each slice with gusto. (I wrote this.)

2. Passive voice: (Beware the forms of BE - Am, Are, Was, Were, Be, Been, Being)

The tree was run to by Henry, and the ripest apple was jumped for. The apple was peeled and sliced by him, with the wind singing through the tree branches overhead. Each slice was eaten with gusto by him.

Does every sentence have to be in active voice? No. You will use passive voice when you need to. The real trick, however, is knowing your when and why. For instance, I might use it in dialogue to show that a character is insecure about a topic. Someone wiser than me once said, you need to learn the rules so you know how, when, and why to break them.