Short of going out and buying Strunk and White (actually, I should) and memorizing everything in it, here’s a random link I found through my feeds that I’m going to try and think about as I start the set of night posts.
>* What am I trying to say? >* What words will express it? >* What image or idiom will make it clearer? >* Is this image fresh enough to have an effect? >* Could I put it more shortly? >* Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly? >* Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. >* Never use a long word where a short one will do. >* If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out. >* Never use the passive where you can use the active. >* Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent. >* Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
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