Rules how to write good
- Verbs HAS to agree with their subjects.
- Prepositions are not words to
end sentences with.
- And don't start a sentence with a conjunction.
- It is
wrong to ever split an infinitive.
- Avoid cliches like the plague. (They're
old hat.)
- Also, always avoid annoying alliteration.
- Be more or less
specific.
- Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually)
unnecessary.
- Also, too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies.
- No
sentence fragments.
- Contractions aren't necessary and shouldn't be
used.
- Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
- Do not be redundant; do
not use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous.
- One should NEVER
generalize.
- Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
- Eschew ampersands &
abbreviations, etc.
- One-word sentences? Eliminate.
- Analogies in writing
are like feathers on a snake.
- The passive voice is to be
ignored.
- Eliminate commas, that are, not necessary. Parenthetical words
however should be enclosed in commas.
- Never use a big word when a diminutive
one would suffice.
- Use words correctly, irregardless of how others use
them.
- Understatement is always the absolute best way to put forth
earth-shaking ideas.
- Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I
hate quotations. Tell me what you know."
- If you've heard it once, you've
heard it a thousand times: Resist hyperbole; not one writer in a million can use
it correctly.
- Puns are for children, not groan readers.
- Go around the
barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
- Even IF a mixed metaphor sings,
it should be derailed.
- Who needs rhetorical questions?
- Exaggeration is a
billion times worse than understatement.
- Proofread carefully to see if you
any words out.