I can feel the end of the semester coming. It’s creeping this way, like the small spiders emerging in my garage, anticipating a fabulous summer and fall of freedom.
It’s not quite here yet, though. This week it’s all about giving advice on final lab reports that are due on Friday — my entire afternoon is going to be spent reading drafts and checking the math on genetics papers, so that their final submission will be perfect and will possibly save their grades (I write evil exams, I’m sorry to say, and the students look slightly traumatized and shocked right now.)
And then I find some writing advice on the internet, which might be just barely in time!
I anticipate that most of what I’ll be reading today will be in the passive voice. I might just recommend trying passive-aggressive voice, or conspiracy voice, or if they’re really daring, active voice.
Pretty funny, although if the Clickbait Voice was done by a “Science Communicator” they would add something like… “as scientists make the greatest discovery ever. This is going to change everything we know.”
I liked the Passive-Aggressive voice. LOL
My advice would be to be fully awake rather than half asleep when writing. To be a good typer and / or use spellcheck and perhaps type in word or elsewhere and edit first. It also helps if your hands aren’t stuffed and the computer doesn’t seem to switch letters around on oyu.
I suck at taking my own advice and my hands are pretty stuffed and clumsy these days and I seem to be permanently tired,usually struggling to sleep properly. Sigh.
Easier to know what should be done than it actually is to do it – by far.
Goombah voice:
Samples? Did anyone here say anything about samples?
Why are you interested in samples, anyway? What’s it worth to you?
I tell you what, meet me at the docks at midnight and I might be able to tell you something about some samples.
Even though I usually hate the passive voice, I guess it has to be used in scientific writing.
But the way the passive voice is frequently used in politics and business, is to deny or evade blame and responsibility, ensure anonymity, or suggest that an action or change is immutable.
But that chart is realistic and hilarious. Especially “Passive-Aggressive” and “Clickbait.”
I dislike passive-aggressive people. At least most of the ones I worked with over the years.
Clickbait, yes, clickbait, what drives the world.
As a former Latin teacher, I love this!
This is one that I would have posted in my classroom!
Passive voice isn’t passive enough. It needs more copspeak:
“Collections tested in clashes with student-involved lab equipment, officials say.”
That’s stupid, beholder. No police releases have “officials say” in them, that’s newspeak.
@9
Man on street corner alleging “That’s stupid” could not be reached for comment. Cries heard of “Nuh-uh”, some sources say “you are”.
Show me a police release with “officials say, if you care to attempt to try to sustain your stupid claim.
It is not ‘copspeak’.
(We’re both on the very same street corner, but only one of us is alleging bullshit)
The passive voice has the advantage of being shorter than the active – unless the active voice is shortened to “We collected and tested samples”. Considering how often it’s a struggle to meet a page or word limit, brevity should be taught. Usually, it also makes the text clearer.
Advertiser’s voice:
“Grap our amazing introductory offers NOW, and review them online!”