1. Do not put statements in the negative form.
2. Remember to never split an infinitive.
3. It is incumbent on one to avoid archaisms.
4. The passive voice should never be used.
5. Proofread care-fully to see if you words out.
6. If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.
7. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.
8. Unqualified superlatives are the worst of all.
9. A writer must not shift your point of view.
10. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
11. Don’t overuse exclamation marks!!
12. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
13. Never, ever use repetitive redundancies.
14. Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or more words, to their antecedents.
15. Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.
16. Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors.
17. Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing.
18. Always pick on the correct idiom.
19. The adverb always follows the verb.
20. Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague.

(Source: The New York Times)

Comment on this article

Similar Articles:

• Instant Writing Fix: Get Rid of the Warm Up – You can almost always make your writing instantly stronger by chopping out the first paragraph or so…
• The Book on Bears and Bulls – "The average man doesn’t wish to be told that it is a bull or a bear market. What he desires is…
• Word to the Wise: Pleonasm – "Pleonasm" (PLEE-uh-naz-um) – from the Greek for "greater" – is the use of more …
• Why Use Big Words? – “Make yourself a solemn promise right now that you’ll never use ‘emolument’ when you mean ‘tip’ and …
• Another Round of Confusables – As a lifelong blooper spotter and collector, I’m accustomed to encountering the most bizarre and amu…
• The Language Perfectionist: Use These Words Effectively – In a major business publication, I found this sentence: "Is the slowing economy effecting how b…
• The Language Perfectionist: Avoid Adverbial Awkwardness – Consider these three sentences, found in articles I clipped from newspapers: "The poet Phillip …

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 14th, 2008 at 5:10 am and is filed under Copywriting .