PTT
24th Feb 2002, 08:23
How to Write Good?
-Avoid alliteration. Always. . .-Prepositions are not words to end sentences with. . .-Avoid cliches like the plague. (They're old hat.) . .-Employ the vernacular. . .-Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc. . .-Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary. . .-It is wrong to ever split an infinitive. . .-Contractions aren't necessary. . .-Foreign words and phrases are not apropos. . .-One should never generalize. . .-Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know." . .-Comparisons are as bad as cliches. . .-Don't be redundant; don't use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous. . .-Be more or less specific. . .-Understatement is always best. . .-One-word sentences? Eliminate. Cease. Desist. . .-Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake. . .-The passive voice is to be avoided. . .-Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms. . .-Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed. . .-Who needs rhetorical questions? . .-Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
PTT
-Avoid alliteration. Always. . .-Prepositions are not words to end sentences with. . .-Avoid cliches like the plague. (They're old hat.) . .-Employ the vernacular. . .-Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc. . .-Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary. . .-It is wrong to ever split an infinitive. . .-Contractions aren't necessary. . .-Foreign words and phrases are not apropos. . .-One should never generalize. . .-Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know." . .-Comparisons are as bad as cliches. . .-Don't be redundant; don't use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous. . .-Be more or less specific. . .-Understatement is always best. . .-One-word sentences? Eliminate. Cease. Desist. . .-Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake. . .-The passive voice is to be avoided. . .-Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms. . .-Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed. . .-Who needs rhetorical questions? . .-Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
PTT