Some Golden Rules

I don’t want to tell you what to do, but there are some things that good writers do and don’t. They are good precisely because they do or don’t do these things, you see.

Humans are not perfect. They will fall into habits and make mistakes. So will you, unless this is the future and you are a machine, which, and lets face it, is unlikely. It is important you identify what you like about certain types of writing and emulate it.

Writing is seen as a personal act, like a masturbation for the ego. In reality, it is very much a public thing. The writing, that is. People have to read it. Ultimately, of course, unless you are writing a diary in which case you are going to write it any old way you want, the aim is to be published or receive good grades-whatever. The point is the audience is all important, and are going to pick and fuss over everything you produce, as is their right as consumers.

If you are lucky enough to have an audience, you will probably have followed a set of unseen rules about the style and form and presentation of your writing. People expect certain things from writing and these expectations have hardened over the years into accepted spelling, structure and grammar. Whether this standardisation is a bad thing, who can say? But people receive your ideas in a certain framework or format.

The following is from a class from when I was at Wolves university (about when the football team were winning cups in Europe). It is a list compiled by mere students in a Creative Writing class taught by a lecturer called Jackie Pieterick (2005). They are some pretty good rules to follow, and most things on the shelves follow these conventions.

Guidelines for Good Writing

Subject and verb always has to agree.

Do not use a foreign term when there is an adequate English quid pro quo.

It behooves the writer to avoid archaic expressions.

Do not use hyperbole; not one writer in a million can use it effectively.

Avoid clichés like the plague. (Pay attention, Tom)

Mixed metaphors are a pain in the neck and should be thrown out the window.

Placing a comma between subject and predicate, is not correct.

Parenthetical words however must be closed in commas.

Consult a dictionary frequently to avoid mispelling. (Also, on a personal note-do not trust the spell checker. It lies)

Don’t be redundant.

Don’t repeat yourself or say what you have before.

Remember never to split an infinitive.

The passive voice should not be used.

Use the apostrophe in it’s proper place and omit it when its not necessary.

Don’t use no double negatives.

Proofread carefully to see if you have any words out.

Hopefully, you will use words correctly, irregardless of how others use them.

Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.

Avoid colloquial stuff.

No sentence fragments.

Remember to finish what

If you spotted the mistakes, and incumbent irony, then you are heading in the right direction. If not, you have come to the right place…writing arena.com!

We are all guilty, without exception, to some forms of bad writing. If you can identify what your mistakes and how they can be improved upon, chances are you will produce better copy.

The most important rule of all is to read. The more texts you read, the more you realise what you like, and what you do not like. Stephen King, for example, uses the instance of reading the word “zesty” in a science fiction novel and becoming inoculated to using it. Rightly so, I think.

Reading is as an important constituent to your development as a writer as sitting down at a desk. You will never be a good writer if you do not read. It helps to vary your reading. Try different genres, different forms and new writers. A love of language, on open and inquiring mind, and a heap of creativity helps as well, but we’re only human.