I bet almost everyone has been scolded for using passive voice, either by a teacher, a writing buddy, or an editor. Software designed to help you improve your writing, like Grammarly or Microsoft Word’s spelling and grammar check, often flags text as “passive voice” and encourages you to revise.
Dialogue should be sharp and serve to move a scene forward. It should also reflect the way people speak to one another.
How many times have you actually said, “As you know . . .”
Story elements are the building blocks of a story.
Specifically, characters, plot, and setting are the foundational pieces. No character? No story. No plot? No story. No setting? No story.