Monday, November 9, 2009
Writing Wisdom from a Master
"Great Rules of Writing"
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
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Too freaking funny, that Bill Safire is. Funny ideas about writing he has, yeah they're really funny.;-)
ReplyDeleteOh, I love this.
ReplyDeleteLord...I almost started looking up words, trying to figure out if I violated some of these rules.
ReplyDelete*hangs head*
"Trendy locutions" and "flaky" in the same sentence. Gads!
ReplyDeleteI love this!
ReplyDeleteperfect!
ReplyDeleteI'm passing this along to every high school senior whom I've ever helped write a college admission essay. :)
ReplyDelete