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Rules to improve your writing

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Rules to improve your writing

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  1. Avoid alliteration always.
  2. Never use a lengthy word when a diminutive one will do.
  3. Employ the vernacular.
  4. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
  5. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
  6. Contractions aren't necessary.
  7. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
  8. One should never generalize.
  9. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph waldo Emerson said, "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know."
  10. Comparisons are as bad as clichés.
  11. Don't be redundant; don't use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous.
  12. Be more or less specific.
  13. Understatement is always absolutely best.
  14. One-word sentences? Eliminate.
  15. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
  16. The passive voice is to be avoided.
  17. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
  18. Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
  19. Who needs rhetorical questions?
  20. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
  21. Don't never use a double negative.
  22. capitalize every sentence and remember, always end it with a period
  23. Do not put statements in the negative form.
  24. Verbs have to agree with its subject.
  25. Proofread carefully to see if you words out.
  26. If you reread your work, you can find on rereading that a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.
  27. A writer must not shift your point of view.
  28. And don't start a sentence with a conjunction. (Remember too, a preposition is a terrible word to end a sentence with).
  29. Don't overuse exclamation marks!!!
  30. Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of ten or more words, to their antecedents.
  31. Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.
  32. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
  33. Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors.
  34. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
  35. Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing.
  36. Always pick on the correct idiom.
  37. The adverb always follows the verb.
  38. Last but not least, avoid clichés like the plague; they're old hat; seek viable alternatives.

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