When I finished my master’s thesis and showed it to my advisor, the first thing he did was mention that my opening sentence was in passive voice. I told him I knew it. I said I started the sentence with the piece I wanted to emphasize.
I’ve encouraged journalists to avoid passive constructions by telling them to make it clear who’s to blame. “Council members voted to …” versus “An ordinance was passed … .” (And, yes, I know that’s a sentence fragment.)
Be a concious writer. Use your verbs wisely.
Here’s a longer discussion of passive and active voice.
This Itch of Writing: What is passive voice, and why are you told to avoid it
sharon p. lynn 