Writers Unbound

Top Ten Things Writers Should Know but Sometimes Forget

1. Capitalize the first letter of every word in a title, except for conjunctions or prepositions fewer than five letters long.
2. The dash - a mark like this - is meant to be used in pairs (like parentheses). If you want a single setting off punctuation mark - not a set of dashes - you should use a colon: thus.
3. Use the serial comma when your items are meant to be separated: sausage, cheese, and milk. Drop the serial comma when you want to create a subtle pairing: toast, bacon and eggs.
4. A paragraph is meant to present one idea. It should include only one main topic sentence, not three. The other sentences in a paragraph should somehow support, illustrate, or expound upon the main topic.
5. Sentence openers like “I think” and “I believe” and “My opinion is” are redundant and weaken the strength of your article. If you’re the one writing it, then it’s obviously what you think or believe or hold as an opinion. That’s understood.
6. Cliches are evil. They are like sporks: always available, always unhelpful. Don’t use them. (I will wait eagerly for someone to point out the cliches I’ve used in my own articles. Yes, yes, I know. I sometimes forget, too.)
7. Metaphors are helpful, as long as they aren’t cliches.
8. Concrete images are even more helpful, especially if you’re talking about an abstract idea. If you can’t picture it, it’s hard to remember it. So put a picture of a jagged-edged, rough block of concrete in your head. It’s gray; it has a piece of plaster stuck to one edge; you just stubbed your toe on it. Now remember that picture, and remember to use concrete images.
9. The proper method of emphasis is using italics or underlining, not using ALL CAPITAL LETTERS LIKE THIS. Or, of course, you can use bold, as I do in my headings. I suggest you limit the bold to your paragraph headings, and use italics and underlining to put emphasis within your text. Nobody likes getting yelled at by a row of screaming capital letters.
10. It’s okay to break the rules, as long as you know that’s what you’re doing. And you should have a good reason for it, of course. Know what you’re getting into. (I just started a sentence with a conjunction and ended another with a preposition. Bad writer. I know I did it, though. Do you?)