TEN RULES FOR WRITING GOOD
(reprinted without permission)
1. Avoid alliteration. Always.
2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
3. Avoid cliches like the plague. (They're old hat.)
4. Employ the vernacular.
5. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
6. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
7. It is wrong to ever, ever split an infinitive.
8. Contractions aren't necessary.
9. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
10. One should never generalize.
1. Don't quote quotations. Emerson said, "I hate quotations. Tell me
       what you know."
2. Comparisons are as bad as, or worse than, cliches.
3. Don't be redundant, saying things twice; three times is even worse.
4. Consolidate. Don't belabor a point already made. It's repetitive and
       redundant.
5. Understatement is not always best.
6. One-word sentences? Eliminate.
7. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
8. The passive voice is to be avoided.
9. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
10. Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
11. Who needs rhetorical questions?
12. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
13. DON'T WRITE LIKE SAM KINNISON TALKED!!!
14. Use ellipses only to ... .
15. Do try to be a bit less dramatic.
16. Be more or less specific.
17. Cuteness is a tad annoying.
8. Don't use oxymoron, unequivocal paradox or self-contradicting
       reversal.
9. Street expressions suck. Yknowmsayin?
10. Don't talk down to the idiot who has to read this.
Our Professional Writers' Guidelines
This is how our staff writers bring clarity
and style to our dialog with the world.
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