More Writing Guides I

Henry Miller (from Henry Miller on Writing)

       1.  Work on one thing at a time until finished.

       2.  Start no more new books, add no more new material to “Black Spring.”

       3.  Don’t be nervous. Work calmly, joyously, recklessly on whatever is in hand.

       4.  Work according to the program and not according to mood. Stop at the appointed time!

       5.  When you can’t create you can work.

       6.  Cement a little every day, rather than add new fertilizers.

       7.  Keep human! See people; go places, drink if you feel like it.

       8.  Don’t be a draught-horse! Work with pleasure only.

       9.  Discard the Program when you feel like it–but go back to it the next day. Concentrate. Narrow down. Exclude.

    10.   Forget the books you want to write. Think only of the book you are writing.

    11.  Write first and always. Painting, music, friends, cinema, all these come afterwards.

George Orwell (From Why I Write)

       1.  Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.

       2.  Never use a long word where a short one will do.

       3.  If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.

       4.  Never use the passive where you can use the active.

       5.  Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.

       6.  Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

William Safire (the author of the New York Times Magazine column “On Language”)

       1.  Remember to never split an infinitive.

       2.  The passive voice should never be used.

       3.  Do not put statements in the negative form.

       4.  Verbs have to agree with their subjects.

       5.  Proofread carefully to see if you words out.

       6.  If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be by rereading and editing.

       7.  A writer must not shift your point of view.

       8.  And don’t start a sentence with a conjunction. (Remember, too, a preposition is a terrible word to end a sentence with.)

       9.  Don’t overuse exclamation marks!!

    10.  Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or more words, to their antecedents.

    11.  Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.

    12.  If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.

    13.  Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors.

    14.  Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.

    15.  Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing.

    16.  Always pick on the correct idiom.

    17.  The adverb always follows the verb.

    18.  Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague; seek viable alternatives.

From http://www.openculture.com/2012/01/writing_rules.html