Good writing depends on a solid understanding of grammatical terms and
rules for composition. The 10 simple rules below can help make your
writing stand out.

1.  Prefer the simple description to the elegant:
*    --She was chubby with small and pale hands.
     --She was fusby with diminutive and colorless hands.

     * Keep it simple and to the point.

2.  Prefer the familiar word to the exotic:
*    --He held the wine flask carelessly.
     --He held the ampula carelessly.

     * Though wine flask is the same as the arcane ampula most
     readers will not be used to this term.  What about "fusby"
     under rule #1?

3.  Prefer ordinary writing style to the romantic style:
*    --His kiss was tender.
     --His lips gently bushed her pouting mouth.

     * Unless you are writing a romance keep your descriptions
     short.

4.  Prefer nouns and verbs to adjectives and adverbs:
*    --As she hangs the picture over the desk she feels tender
     thoughts of Walter.
     --Hanging the picturesque painting high above the red
     lacquered desk, she held heart-swelling and passionate
     thought of Walter.

     * Use clear statements.

5.  Use picture nouns and actions verbs:
*    --In Portland it is to be expected that August will be hot,
     but under the blue and white striped table umbrellas shading
     Jonathan Adams, the heat became all but intolerable.
     --It was a hot summer day but under the umbrella Jonathan
     Adams could deal with the heat.

     * In some genre's descriptive sentences are preferred.

6.  Never use a long word when a short one will do as well:
     --"It was serendipitous to me, Watson."
*    --"It was news to me, Watson."

     * Again it's better to write simply than to simply write.

7.  Master the simple metaphor:
*    --She was built flat as Kansas.
*    --He was tough as a year in jail.
*    --The finish was smooth as driftwood.

     * Descriptions do not have to be boring.

8.  Prefer the simple sentence to the complicated:
*    --The existing world's food production can be increased with
     the use of common chemicals.
     --The way to increase the world's production of food from
     existing acreage is through the application of relatively
     inexpensive chemicals that can be mass-produced in
     factories.

     * While both examples say the same thing one is easier to
     "read" than the other.

9.  Vary your sentence length.
     --The President called in his advisor.  They talked about
     the foreign options.  The options were  bleak and risky.
*    --The President called in his advisor to discuss the options
     they had to resolve the foreign crisis.  The options were
     risky.

     * Good writing varies the sentence length.


10.  Use the active voice.
*    --Congress set the budgetary limits and the Union fought the
     new contract.
     --Budgetary limits were set by congress and the new contract
     was fought.

     * Active voice animates the story. A verb with a direct
     object is in the active voice.

© D. Roberts is a.k.a. Derek Sanzhiel, the author of 15 mystery/action adventures 
of Harrison Lloyd, Private Investigator, published by Cedar Bay Press LLC.

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