Rules to Live/Write By

Do not put statements in the negative form.
And don't start sentences with a conjunction.
If you reread your work, you will find on rereading that a
great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.
Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.
Unqualified superlatives are the worst of all.
De-accession euphemisms.
If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague.

~William Safire, "Great Rules of Writing"

5 comments:

Snowbrush said...

May I call you my goddess of writing good?

Anonymous said...

haha I love this! every rule goes against itself. nice!

A. J. Spindle said...

Ha ha! Nice :)

Lacey J Edwards said...

Oh, Snow, I wish you could! lol I didn't make these up but I just had to share. I'll share some of my favorite quotes in a few.

Anonymous said...

This is wonderful advice. I try my best to follow whatever I can.

I finally have a new blog post up if you're interested at all. Hope you like it. Take care!

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