Sin and Syntax: How to Craft Wicked Good Prose

by Constance Hale

“One pearl is better than a whole necklace of potatoes.”

Verbose is not a synonym for literary.

The first step in learning how to write evocative scenes is to increase your powers of observation.

Keeping pronouns straight is to the writer what keeping a firm hand on the tiller is to sailing. If your pronouns drift away from their antecedents, your entire meaning will get lost at sea.

Adjectives embellish their companions, defining the qualities of the person, place, or thing they’re escorting, and sharing relevant details whenever possible.

That’s the alchemy of adjectives: boiling down an excess of ideas to the essence of a thing.