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PRW Newsletter, March 28, 2006 -
Is Your Press Release Passive?
In this Issue:
- Featured Article - Is
Your Press Release Passive?
- PRW Introduces Brand New
Book To Assist Self-Published Authors
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Is Your Press Release Passive?
Active verbs breathe life into an otherwise dead press
release. Strong verbs dance on the page and leap off the
computer screen. Although there are times when passive
verbs are unavoidable, shun them at all costs.
Lets start at the basics. A sentence is essentially a
subject - something performing the action, followed by a
verb - which is the action, and usually there is an object
- something that receives the action. For example, She
twirls batons. She is the subject, twirls is the verb,
and batons is the object.
Sentences written in passive voice lack the basic
subject-verb-object pattern, rendering the sentences a
jumbled mess of boring confusion. Take the example
sentence, She twirls batons. Now lets muddle up the
sentence by making it passive, The baton was twirled by
her, or even worse, The baton was twirled.
Yuk! We dont even know who did the alleged twirling in
the last example. The subject is conspicuously missing.
And as for the other one, its probably best described as
clunky. Of course, we all know that press releases cant
live on simple sentences alone, but for the purposes of
this lesson, lets just stick to the basics.
Passive voice is the opposite of active voice, which uses
action verbs. Passive voice uses be verbs such as am,
is, was, were, be, being, and been. On the other hand,
action verbs spin, skip, and plunge do something other
than just exist on the page. Active
voice basically means that the subject is first and does
the action. He sang a song, not, The song was sung by
him.
Passive voice is wordy. Why? Well, it takes two or three
words to say what one action verb can communicate in a
single bound. For instance, compare these two sentences:
The tall building has been leapt by the man, versus The
man leapt over the tall building.
How can you go about eliminating the dreaded passive voice
from your press releases? Start by going through your
draft and highlighting all the be verbs. After rooting
out the sneaky little critters, dig in and find a way to
eliminate at least half of them. Make the conversion from
passive voice to active voice by finding the subject of
the sentence and putting it first. Dont be afraid to mix
it up a bit. Combine sentences, rewrite dull sentences,
execute those that are only dragging your press release
down into the muck.
Dont become a passive voice maniac by eliminating all the
be verbs. They do serve a valuable purpose and are
definitely necessary. However, we all lean on be verbs
like a worn out crutch. Remember, theres a world of full
of sparkling actions verbs that will shoot off the page.
Take the time to find them.
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PRW Introduces Brand New Book To Assist Self-Published
Authors
Due
to the overwhelming demand of self-published writers
seeking answers to their unique publicity concerns,
Press-Release-Writing.com (PRW) is now offering the
downloadable booklet, "Powerful Press Releases for the
Self-Published Writer." This how-to guide will succinctly
take the writer step-by-step through the often confusing
world of book publishing, distribution, and promotion.
With a sample press release, writer's resources, industry
standards and terminology, and press release writing and
formatting advice, this downloadable booklet is a
must-have for every self-published writer. In addition to
the press release promotion information, the guide also
explores other simple, low-cost options for marketing your
self-published book.
A properly-written and properly-distributed press release
campaign will give your self-published book the
third-party credibility needed for bigger sales without
breaking the bank. To order click here:
http://www.press-release-writing.com/prw-books-special-reports/
Click
here if you missed the past issues of the PRW Newsletter.
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