Thursday, March 14, 2013

HOW TO WRITE GOOD






Last month my sister and her husband spent a long weekend in Oregon. Of course, Powell’s in Portland was one of their must go to stops as it always is. It’s a fantastic bookstore. One day they also went to another town where they discovered a store for writers, and they found the perfect poster for a writer. They bought it and sent it to me which puzzled me at first until I started to read it.  I think the following advice might come in handy for all of you who have faced depressing rejections of your written work. The title was “How to Write Good.”

1.          Avoid alliteration always
2.          Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
3.          The passive voice is to be avoided.
4.          Avoid clichés like the plague. They’re old hat.
5.           It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
6.           Writers should never generalize.
Seven  Be consistent
       8.        Don’t use more words than necessary. It’s highly superfluous.
       9.        Be more or less specific.
       10.      Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.     

What writing advice would you add to this list?

9 comments:

  1. 11. Never, ever, use absolutes.

    12. Relay on spellcheck four all you’re editing kneads.

    ~ Jim

    ReplyDelete
  2. 13. Show actions and emotions completely, extenuatingly and continually by carefully and thoughtfully avoiding the use of adverbs while trying not to split infinitives seriously and conscientiously.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love it, Jim and E.B. You've both given me my first laugh of the day. That means the day is off to a good start. I thought it started with a crisp early morning walk in the woods, but your comments were the dessert.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Don't have an ending that just trails o
    f
    f
    .

    ReplyDelete
  5. I like that, Warren. Good use of the space key!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Gloria, what tense would you recommend to be wrote in today?
    Lane Stone

    ReplyDelete
  7. I just finished reading Current Affairs, Lane. Hope to see you at a Chessie meeting sometime.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Lane, whatever you want. I personally prefer reading and writing in past tense.

    I enjoyed your book, CURRENT AFFAIRS, Lane. I meant to email you, but life got in the way, as usual. Will Leigh, Tara and Victoria be returning soon?

    ReplyDelete