Are you chasing book sales, rankings, or five-star reviews? What happens when the applause fades?

In this clip, we share a hard truth every author needs to hear: if you’re in it for recognition, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. But if you’re playing the “long game”—writing to change lives, not for the praise of others or for profit—then the end is in the future.

This video is for every writer who’s felt unseen, #discouraged, or ready to give up. Don’t quit. Refocus. The mission is bigger than the metrics.

👉 Watch now and be reminded why you started writing in the first place.

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Main Theme: The podcast episode “How to Win Over the Acquiring Editor” focuses on the importance of using active voice instead of passive voice in writing, both in fiction and non-fiction. It explains why passive voice is detrimental to engagement and offers practical advice on identifying and correcting it.

Key Ideas & Facts for How to Win Over the Acquiring Editor:

1. The “Green Smiley” Metaphor: The podcast uses a visual metaphor of “green smileys” to represent good writing, specifically writing that avoids passive voice. Websites and search engines often flag passive writing with “red,” “orange,” or “neutral” (not green) indicators, highlighting the importance of this issue for writers who care about online reach.
2. Defining Passive Voice: The hosts explain that passive voice occurs when the subject of a sentence receives the action, rather than performing it. Examples include:

• “The room was cleaned.” (Who cleaned it?)
• “The flowers were cut.” (Who cut them?)
• “The lights were turned on.” (Who turned them on?)
• Quote: “when you don’t have a attached person to the action where there’s anonymity where there’s well who cleaned the room… you don’t want to just slap on a Band-Aid you want to you want the sentences to uh bring something to the story.”

1. The Problem with Passive Voice: Passive voice creates a sense of distance and anonymity, and ultimately reduces engagement. It leads to:

• Lack of Character Agency: When actions are passive, characters feel like they’re being acted upon instead of driving the plot.
• Loss of Reader Interest: Passive voice can bore the reader, slowing down pacing and failing to create emotional connection with characters and/or situations
• Lack of Emotional Depth: The writer fails to convey the character’s thoughts or feelings, which can also fail to move the story forward
• Lack of Confidence: In non-fiction, passive voice undermines the writer’s authority by making them appear unsure of their statements.
• Quote: “when you’re writing in a passive voice you are allowing someone else to drive the action that’s kind of the bottom line of what this is”
• Quote: “if you don’t care the reader’s not going to care about Maria either she’s just a prop prop in the story”

1. Moving to Active Voice: To fix passive sentences, the writer needs to clearly identify the person or thing performing the action and make that the subject of the sentence.

• Passive Example: “The room was cleaned by Maria.”
• Active Example: “Maria bustled around the room, huffing as she cleaned.”
• Quote: “Maria bustled around the room huffing as she cleaned it you know well we’re getting some emotion something about Maria we’re it’s it’s oh she’s she’s bustling around huffing she’s upset about something you know it gives us a clue and it’s like you said Eddie it moves the story forward”

1. Pacing and Story Movement: Active voice contributes to better pacing and moves the story forward. Avoiding unnecessary details, like long descriptions of travel, keeps the reader engaged. The source points out that readers want to get to the main, exciting parts of the story and may give up on a piece of writing if it lags unnecessarily.

• Quote: “you never tell anybody how to get from point A to point B unless there’s a a unique way to get from point A to point B that nobody’s ever done before and they need to know it”

1. Passive Voice in First Drafts: Passive voice often appears in first drafts, as writers are exploring the story. Recognizing this, they must edit these sentences out in subsequent drafts. The need to ‘kill your darlings’ is emphasized.

• Quote: “in the second draft you’ve got to cut it and I think beginning writers they they’re afraid to cut things and and they fall in love with their words”

1. Identifying Passive Sentences: The hosts provide practical tips for identifying passive voice:

• Look for sentences where there is no clear subject performing the action.
• Identify and replace words like “was,” “were,” “would,” “could,” “have,” and “has.”
• Use technology, such as chatGPT, to help identify and rewrite passive sentences (though they clarify the technology tends to default to passive, requiring the writer to still ask for it in active).
• Quote: “look for sentences that belong to no one no person… look for words like would was was W first thing I I just search for was and look for was and figure out a way to just Flip Flip it into an active into an active sentence”

1. Active Voice = Authority In non-fiction particularly, writing in the active voice signals to readers that you are an authority on the subject, not merely ‘thinking about’ it.

Takeaways for How to Win Over the Acquiring Editor:

• Active voice is crucial for engaging writing in all genres.
• Passive voice creates distance, slows pacing, and reduces reader interest.
• Writers should be proactive in identifying and correcting passive voice in their work.
• Editing and rewriting, including ‘killing your darlings,’ is necessary to achieve clear, active writing.
• Writers can use tools like ChatGPT to help rewrite passive sentences.

Conclusion:

This podcast emphasizes the importance of active voice in writing and provides writers with strategies for improving their craft. The use of metaphor and accessible language makes a complex topic easy to understand and apply.

In this podcast episode, Eddie and Diana explore the spiritual foundation of success for Christian writers. They provide faith-based encouragement and practical insights for authors seeking to build their platforms while honoring God’s purpose for their work.

Key Takeaways:

1. Trust God’s Plan for Your Writing Journey
The hosts emphasize Proverbs 3:5-6 and Jeremiah 29:11, reminding listeners to rely on God for guidance and trust His timing. Success stems from obedience to His calling, not just personal ambition.

2. Consistency and Diligence Pay Off
Drawing from Proverbs 21:5, Eddie and Diana highlight the importance of showing up daily and putting in the work. Persistence, they argue, is key to long-term growth.

3. Embrace Generosity
Based on Proverbs 11:25, they encourage writers to refresh others through positive reviews, mentorship, and celebrating others’ successes. Generosity builds community and enriches personal growth.

4. Prayer and Wisdom
They urge writers to pray for wisdom (James 1:5) and for those who can open doors of opportunity. Worry is not prayer—trust God to provide clarity and direction.

Why Listen?

This episode offers actionable insights and scriptural encouragement for Christian writers striving to align their craft with God’s will.