@calunderlines
elmore leonard's 10 rules of writing (2001)
10 items
- 01Never open a book with the weather.
- 02Avoid prologues.
- 03Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue.
- 路路7 more entries
15005
orwell's six rules for writing
from Politics and the English Language, 1946. the sixth one is the whole point
01
Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
so most of the ones that come to mind first. that's the tell
02
Never use a long word where a short one will do.
03
If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
reread this one every time I edit anything
04
Never use the passive where you can use the active.
05
Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
(check the attribution on this one before you quote it at a dinner party, people mangle it)
06
Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
the rule that gives you permission to ignore the other five when they'd make you sound worse, not better
Or start a list of your own. Free, it takes a minute.