J9withdogs Posted November 22, 2010 Posted November 22, 2010 HOW TO WRITE GOOD by Frank L. Visco My several years in the word game have learnt me several rules: 1. Avoid alliteration. Always. 2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with. 3. Avoid cliches like the plague. (They're old hat.) 4. Employ the vernacular. 5. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc. 6. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary. 7. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive. 8. Contractions aren't necessary. 9. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos. 10. One should never generalize. 11. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said: "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know." 12. Comparisons are as bad as cliches. 13. Don't be redundant; don't use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous. 14. Profanity sucks. 15. Be more or less specific. 16. Understatement is always best. 17. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement. 18. One-word sentences? Eliminate. 19. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake. 20. The passive voice is to be avoided. 21. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms. 22. Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed. 23. Who needs rhetorical questions?
malc d Posted November 22, 2010 Posted November 22, 2010 And I was taught at school that you should never start a sentence with the word 'and' ;-)
Brambles Posted November 22, 2010 Posted November 22, 2010 And so was I. I was also taught that the word 'that' is never needed, and that it is an ugly word and not required. In so much that, if you remove every 'that' from a sentance it rarely make a difference to the meaning or grammer of that sentance, although sometimes needs to be replaced with another word in that sentance. e.g. I was also taught () the word 'that' is never needed, and () it is an ugly word and not required. In so much (), if you remove every 'that' from a sentance it rarely make a difference to the meaning or grammer of (the)sentance, although sometimes needs to be replaced with another word in (the) sentance.
Brambles Posted November 22, 2010 Posted November 22, 2010 Tracker - 2010-11-22 9:34 PM So that's that then? So, is this it then?
Brambles Posted November 22, 2010 Posted November 22, 2010 Anyway never mind about that (oops!), I am more bothered I reversed into a wall this afternoon, I just tapped it gently but you now how fragile rear bumbers are on our Motorhomes. Looks bad, but I think I can repair it quite easily with hardest part matching the colour. So annoyed as only moved the M'home so I could get into garage for some bits I discovered I did not have anyway. Arrrrrrrgh.
Patricia Posted November 22, 2010 Posted November 22, 2010 Brambles - 2010-11-22 10:57 PM Anyway never mind about that (oops!), I am more bothered I reversed into a wall this afternoon, I just tapped it gently but you now how fragile rear bumbers are on our Motorhomes. Looks bad, but I think I can repair it quite easily with hardest part matching the colour. So annoyed as only moved the M'home so I could get into garage for some bits I discovered I did not have anyway. Arrrrrrrgh.[/quote Oh dear. Sounds like when I tapped my side panel last winter and had to wait until June for it to be fixed! Hope you have better luck. However, re your problem matching the colour - if you do a search there was the name of a firm which supplied the exact colour for each motorhome. I saved the link but unfortunately do not have it with me.
Brambles Posted November 23, 2010 Posted November 23, 2010 Hi Patricia, I remember someone mentioning a link but never bothered to save it. The bumper is very close to the RAL colour Agate Grey, but a slight shade darker. I should get away with a close match as can take it up to the join with side panels and some details in the moulding round the light fitting. With weather being so cold just now it will have to wait a bit anyway, so I have time to try and get some paint to match. Jon.
Tony Jones Posted November 23, 2010 Posted November 23, 2010 Avoid too much repetetetetition. e.g.: Teacher commenting on the layout of a title: "There's too much space between 'Jack' and 'and' and 'and' and 'Jill." (5 consecutive "ands") Disagreement about use of tenses: 'John, where Fred had had "had," had had "had had." "Had had" had had the teacher's approval.' (No less than 11 consecutive "hads.")
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