| Rules
For Better Writing
1. Verbs HAS to agree with their
subjects.
2. Prepositions are not words to end
sentences with.
3. And don't start a sentence with a
conjunction.
4. It is wrong to ever split an
infinitive.
5. Avoid clichés like the plague.
(They're old hat)
6. Also, always avoid annoying
alliteration.
7. Be more or less specific.
8. Parenthetical remarks (however
relevant) are (usually) unnecessary.
9. Also too, never, ever, use repetitive
redundancies.
10. No sentence fragments.
11. Contractions aren't necessary and
shouldn't be used.
12. Foreign words and phrases and bon
mots are not apropos.
13. Do not be redundant; do not use more
words than necessary; it's highly superfluous.
14. One should NEVER generalize.
15. Comparisons are as bad as clichés.
16. Don't use no double negatives.
17. Eschew ampersands &
abbreviations, etc.
18. One-word sentences? Eliminate.
19. Analogies in writing are like
feathers on a snake.
20. The passive voice is to be ignored.
21. Eliminate commas, that are, not
necessary. Parenthetical words however
should be enclosed in commas.
22. Never use a big word when a
diminutive one would suffice.
23. Kill all exclamation points!!!
24. Use words correctly, irregardless of
how others use them.
25. Understatement is always the absolute
best way to put forth earth shaking ideas.
26. Use the apostrophe in it's proper
place and omit it when its not needed.
27. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo
Emerson said, "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know."
28. 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.
29. Puns are for children, not groan
readers.
30. Go around the barn at high noon to
avoid colloquialisms.
31. Even If a mixed metaphor sings, it
should be derailed.
32. Who needs rhetorical questions?
33. Exaggeration is a billion times worse
than understatement.
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