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General Grammar
- Verbs has to agree with their subjects.
- Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
- And don't start a sentence with a conjunction.
- Remember to never split an infinitive.
- Don't use no double negatives.
- If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
- Have a good reason for Capitalizing a word.
- Watch out for irregular verbs which has crope into our language.
- Use words correctly, irregardless of how others use them.
- Correct spelling is esential. Consult a dictionery for correct spelling.
- Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
Punctuation
- Eliminate commas, that are, not necessary.
- In letters themes reports articles and stuff like that we use commas to keep a long string of items apart.
- Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually) unnecessary.
- Never let a colon separate: the main parts of the sentence.
- Reserve the dash - which is often overused - for emphasis.
- Avoid un-necessary hyphens; divide words only between sy-llables.
- Use the apostrophe in it's proper place and omit it when its not needed.
- Use a semicolon where needed, use it properly; and never where not called for.
- Kill all exclamation points!!!
Style
- Avoid cliches like the plague. They are an old hat.
- Also, always avoid annoying alliteration.
- Also too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies.
- Be more or less specific.
- No sentence fragments.
- Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
- Do not be redundant; do not use more words than unnecessary; it's highly superfluous.
- One should never generalize.
- Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
- A writer must not shift your point of view. When a writer has chosen a point of view, you should stick to it.
- One-word sentences? Eliminate.
- Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
- The passive voice is to be avoided.
- Never use a big word when a diminutive one will suffice.
- It behooves us to avoid archaisms.
- Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
- Don’t use trendy words whose parameters are not viable.
- Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
- Always pick on the correct idiom.
- Profanity is for assholes.
- Understatement is always the absolute best way to put forth earth shattering ideas.
- Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know."
- If you've heard it once, you've heard it a thousand times: Resist hyperbole; not one writer in a million can use it effectively.
- Puns are for children, not for groan readers.
- Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
- Who needs rhetorical questions?
- Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
Proofreading
- Proofread every space and letter carefully to see if you any words out.
- If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.
- Remember to finish what you sta
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