What I learned about Passive Writing

Well for the most part I learned that it is supposed to be tabboo to write in the passive voice. Oh, dear, that could be a problem considering I have 5300+ words written in passive voice.

But I also learned that it is not necessarily a bad thing either. There are authours who wrote novels in the passive voice and they sold. Someone told me Kipling is one such authour.

So what did I come away with? Here's my attempt at an example:

Passive: "The walls were painted green with a large tree in the corner."

Active: "The artist painted her version of a large old tree that encompassed the whole corner, while the surrounding walls bore a bright shade of green."

Now, my story isn't reading like a "Dick and Jane" story. I do use descriptions and dialogue as it comes to mind. I usually end up adding to the scenes as I read through for spelling and grammar. I just happen to use a lot of "was" and "were".

Can't help how the words flow out of my head. I have two choices, well maybe three. A) Edit what I have and change to an active voice; B) Leave it alone and keep it passive, or C) Leave what I have to edit later and try to continue in the active.

What will I do? Probably option B. But hey, it's my story right.