Twenty Rules for Good Writing

1. Prefer the plain word to the fancy.
2. Prefer the familiar word to the unfamiliar.
3. Prefer the Anglo-Saxon word to the Romance word.
4. Prefer nouns and verbs to adjectives and adverbs.
5. Prefer picture nouns and action verbs.
6. Prefer the simple sentence to the complicated.
7. Master the simple declarative sentence.
8. Never use a long word when a short one will do as well.
9. Vary your sentence length.
10. Put the words you want to emphasize at the beginning or end of your sentence.
11. Put statements in a positive form.
12. Use the active voice.
13. Use short paragraphs.
14. Use plain, conversational language. Write like you talk (while remembering that the demands of register and conciseness are usually higher in written expression).
15. Cut needless words, sentences, and paragraphs.
16. Write clearly.
17. Write to be understood, not to impress.
18. Avoid imitation. Write in your natural style.
19. Avoid gobbledygook and jargon.
20. Revise and rewrite. The rewrite again. Improvement is always possible.

Quotes About Writing

1. "Books aren't written; they're rewritten. Including your own. It is one of the hardest things to accept, especially after the seventh rewrite hasn't quite done it." Michael Crichton
2. "The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug." Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
3. "A man who uses a great many words to express his meaning is like a bad marksman who, instead of aiming a single stone at an object, takes up a handful and throws at it in hopes he may hit." Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), lexicographer
4. "Good writers are those who keep the language efficient . . . keep it accurate, keep it clear!" Ezra Pound (1885-1972), U.S. poet, critic.
5. "No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader ..." Robert Frost
6. "When something can be read without effort, great effort has gone into its writing." Enrique Jardiel Poncela
7. "How can I know what I think until I read what I write?" James Reston

Thirteen Rules for Successful Writing

(tongue-in-cheek, but useful reminders ...)

1. Avoid alliteration. Always.
2. Avoid clichés like the plague. (They're old hat)
3. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
4. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
5. Contractions aren't necessary.
6. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
7. One should never generalize.
8. Don't be redundant; don't use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous.
9. Be more or less specific.
10. One-word sentences? Eliminate!
11. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
12. Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
13. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.