"The best writing is rewriting." - E.B. White
Seven Simple Rules for Good Writing
by
Jan Peck
“A few strong instincts, and a
few plain rules” are all you need to write well, according to
William Wordsworth.
Well, here’s a list of plain writing
rules from respectable sources including: E.B. White, George Orwell,
and myself:
1. Be specific.
Examples of
specific: Siamese
General: cat
specific: five pickles
General: some pickles
2. Use active voice.
Examples of
Active: The car hit the tree.
Mother braided Sissy's hair.
Passive: The tree was hit by the car.
Sissy's hair was braided by Mother.
Note the "to be" (was, is, had
been) verb form of passive sentences. Use of active voice creates
dramatic writing.
3. Use parallel structure.
Example: Parallel structure - Government of the people, by the people
and for the people.
As you can see, parallel
structure makes memorable, easy to read copy.
4. Vary sentence
structure and length when not using parallel structure. Writing a
short sentence after a couple of long ones gives the reader a
punch. It keeps him awake. Sentences starting with
subject-verb every time can get boring.
An example of varying sentence structure and length: She ran to the
house and opened the door. "Mom! Mom!" she screamed. No one
answered.
Same sentence structures and length: She ran to the house. She
opened the door. She screamed for her mom. Her mom was not
there.
5. Prefer strong
nouns and strong verbs over adjectives and adverbs.
An example of strong verb: She stammered.
Weak adverb: She spoke hesitantly.
An example of a strong noun: Porshe
Weak adjectives: a shiny, expensive sports car
6. Avoid cliches.
Example:
Every Tom, Dick, and Harry,
Sometimes change the cliche to
make it funny.
Example: Every Trey, Dylan, and Harold Fredrick.
7.
Stay in one viewpoint.
Pretend you are a camera inside your character's head, You can see,
hear, taste, smell, think, and feel for that character, but not for any
others. It's like real life.
An example in one viewpoint: Marilyn petted her dog. His hair
felt sticky on her fingers. “You need a bath, old fellow," she
said. "You smell like a skunk."
An example of change of the viewpoint: Oh no! thought the dog.
Gotta run!
Now here's a rule about rules: If
you know the rules, you can bend them. Rules are only ways to
analyze and think about your writing. Try the rules and see if
they work--you'll find most of the time they do! But remember: don't
let the rules override your strong writing instincts!