A passive Jane Austen? The power of the occasional adverb and the passive voice.

‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.’

 

Imagine Jane Austen’s opening sentence from Pride and Prejudice with the 'rules' applied. 

This famous line breaks at least three hobgoblin 'rules':

'It is' makes a weak opening for a sentence.

Avoid adverbs

Avoid passive voice

‘All things were created through Him…’ 

Imagine John without the mysterious agency of the ‘passive’ voice.

Using adverbs and the passive voice should not be universally banned from your writing armoury.  It depends entirely on the effect you're trying to create.

Just saying. 

(Sorry, I have a bit of a thing about rules being applied today.)