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How to Become a Better Writer

by | 46 comments

 

Tips

People often ask me how to improve their writing. The old adages apply: read, read, read, write, write, write, and rewrite, rewrite, rewrite some more. I’m a huge fan of Strunk & White and The New Yorker for great writing. The first tells you what to do (and what not to!) and the latter demonstrates it beautifully.

I also stumbled upon this gem from Frank L. Visco called, “How to Write Good.” I hope you enjoy and learn.

  • 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 once 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.
  • Profanity sucks.
  • Be more or less specific.
  • Understatement is always best.
  • Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
  • One-word sentences? Eliminate.
  • 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?

*Photo courtesy of here

46 Comments

  1. Monica Ayers
    Monica Ayers on June 8, 2010 at 11:57 am

    For a wannabe-writer currently experiencing writer’s block, this is perfect to lighten the brain a bit. 🙂 Thanks for that!!

  2. ellen stevens
    ellen stevens on June 8, 2010 at 12:33 pm

    witty, wise and write! loved it.

  3. Tim Jones
    Tim Jones on June 8, 2010 at 10:48 pm

    Love the list – what a classic piece of literary brilliance! I hated having to use Strunk & White in high school, but the AP Writing teacher used it like the Bible. I am very glad he did. My writing skills improved dramatically over the course of that year.

    Thanks for the continued inspiration. God bless you!

  4. Jana
    Jana on June 9, 2010 at 1:48 am

    I may have to disagree with the alliterations bit. I love alliterations.

    Very nice use of the word “eschew” 🙂

  5. amber
    amber on June 9, 2010 at 3:07 am

    Brilliant.

    Oops.

  6. shari
    shari on June 9, 2010 at 6:21 am

    While Strunk and White have guided me since high school, in recent years Spunk and Bite have infiltrated. I confess, they’ve made writing more fun. Still, I believe one must Strunk before one can Spunk. Please pardon the contraction. It was only used to communicate in the vernacular.

  7. Margaret
    Margaret on June 9, 2010 at 8:26 am

    Shari,

    That’s hilarious–I didn’t know about Spunk & Bite :). Too funny!

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