Will Fly.: We could add these to Orwell's 6 Rules: • Verbs has to agree with their subjects. • Prepositions are not words to end sentences with. • And don't start a sentence with a conjunction. • It is wrong to ever split an infinitive. • Avoid clichés like the plague. (They're old hat.) • Also, always avoid annoying alliteration. • Be more or less specific. • Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually) unnecessary. • Also too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies. • No sentence fragments. • Contractions aren't necessary and shouldn't be used. • Foreign words and phrases are not apropos. • Do not be redundant; do not use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous. • One should NEVER generalise. • Comparisons are as bad as clichés. • Don't use no double negatives. • Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc. • One-word sentences? Eliminate. • Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake. • The passive voice is to be ignored. • Eliminate commas, that are, not necessary. Parenthetical words however should be enclosed in commas. • Never use a big word when a diminutive one would suffice. • DO NOT use exclamation points and all caps to emphasise!!! • Use words correctly, irregardless of how others use them. • Understatement is always the absolute best way to put forth earth shaking ideas. • Use the apostrophe in it's proper place and omit it when its not needed. • 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 correctly. • Puns are for children, not groan readers. • Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms. • Even IF a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed. • Who needs rhetorical questions? • Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement. • The passive voice should never be used. • Do not put statements in the negative form. • Verbs have to agree with their subjects. • A writer must not shift your point of view. • Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences of 10 or more words, to their antecedents. • Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided. • If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is. • Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors. • Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky. • Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing. • Always pick on the correct idiom. • The adverb always follows the verb. • Be careful to use the rite homonym. • Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.
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