From one writer to another, any inspirational writing tips I like to pass on! I thought these top 5 novel writing tips from successful authors, are equally applicable to many forms of writing, not just novels!
Have you got any tips of your own that you would like to share?
Until next time, stay quirky and write soon.
Sandra
Quirky Books 
Hello Sandra,
Here is a list, showing by example, how NOT to write!
Enjoy,
K
50 Tips on How to Write Good By Mark Nichol The contents of this post are an alphabetical arrangement of two lists that have been circulating among writers and editors for many years. In case you have missed out all this time, I’m sharing here the wit and wisdom of the late New York Times language maven William Safire and advertising executive and copywriter Frank LaPosta Visco.
1. A writer must not shift your point of view. 2. Always pick on the correct idiom. 3. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake. 4. Always be sure to finish what 5. Avoid alliteration. Always. 6. Avoid archaeic spellings. 7. Avoid clichés like the plague. (They’re old hat.) 8. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky. 9. Be more or less specific. 10. Comparisons are as bad as clichés. 11. Contractions aren’t necessary. 12. Do not use hyperbole; not one in a million can do it effectively. 13. Don’t indulge in sesquipedalian lexicological constructions. 14. Don’t never use no double negatives. 15. Don’t overuse exclamation marks!! 16. Don’t repeat yourself, or say again what you have said before. 17. Don’t use commas, that, are not, necessary. 18. Don’t be redundant; don’t use more words than necessary; it’s highly superfluous. 19. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.” 20. Employ the vernacular. 21. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc. 22. Eschew obfuscation. 23. Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed. 24. Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing. 25. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement. 26. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos. 27. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms. 28. Hopefully, you will use words correctly, irregardless of how others use them. 29. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is. 30. If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing. 31. It behooves you to avoid archaic expressions. 32. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive. 33. Never use a big word when a diminutive alternative would suffice. 34. No sentence fragments. 35. One should never generalize. 36. One-word sentences? Eliminate. 37. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary. 38. Parenthetical words however must be enclosed in commas. 39. Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of ten or more words, to their antecedents. 40. Placing a comma between subject and predicate, is not correct. 41. Poofread carefully to see if you any words out. 42. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with. 43. Profanity sucks. 44. Subject and verb always has to agree. 45. Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors. 46. The adverb always follows the verb. 47. The passive voice is to be avoided. 48. Understatement is always best. 49. Use the apostrophe in it’s proper place and omit it when its not needed. 50. Use youre spell chekker to avoid mispeling and to catch typograhpical errers. 51. Who needs rhetorical questions? 52. Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.
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Hi K, thanks for this, I presume some of these things are a joke (I saw the “errors”, misspelling) ? Because they are simply not true of certain types of writing in the 21 century. In fact they are the opposite. In copyrighting a lot of the norms go out the window as it were. Analogies and quotes are used in many personal and professional development books and in courses, to good affect. Years ago I was taught not to put a comma before an and but the rules have changed today on that and you can. I have a friend from India who is a blogger and Author of a book in which she changes her voice throughout the book, speaking in first person, second person, and third person – I have never read a book like it before, while I would not necessarily say that is a good thing to do usually, it was very interesting to see how that was done. It’s out on Amazon and I reviewed it quite a long time ago. I think it’s good to be experimental with writing and think outside the box. I created Quirky Books as a publishing name to be different. So I enjoy crossing over genres that usually are not crossed over, and I like writing in a different style, and presenting the information in a different way, and being unconventional.
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I got what I need.
Thank you very much.😊
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You are very welcome.I think it is always good to get some motivation from others who are successful. Every writer is a success though, because they pick up a pen and get to work on making words become a reality.
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