WRITING ADVICE: Twenty Tips on Writing Better

VINTAGE POST: First posted in March 2012





1. Avoid alliteration. Always.



2. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.



3. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.



4. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.



5. One should never generalize.



6. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know."



7. Don't be redundant; don't use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous.



8. Be more or less specific.



9. Understatement is always best.



10. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.



11. One-word sentences? Eliminate.



12. The passive voice is to be avoided.



13. Don't never use a double negation.



14. Proofread carefully to see if you words out.



15. If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.



16. A writer must not shift your point of view.



17. And don't start a sentence with a conjunction. (Remember, too, a preposition is a terrible word to end a sentence with.)



18. Don't overuse exclamation marks!!!



19. Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors.



20. Avoid cliches like the plague.

With thanks to Jokes About Writing