The following advice on writing is by Frank L. Visco and William Safire. They set valid rules and break them in ways that aren’t wrong, yet they want the readers to only stick to the rules:
1. Avoid alliteration. Always.
2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
3. Employ the vernacular.
4. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
5. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
6. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
7. Contractions aren’t necessary.
8. Foreign words and phrases are not a propos.
9. One should never generalize.
10. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said: “I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.”
11. Don’t be redundant; don’t use more words than necessary; it is highly superfluous.
12. Profanity sucks.
13. Be more or less specific.
14. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
15. One-word sentences? Eliminate.
16. The passive voice is to be avoided.
17. Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
18. Who needs rhetorical questions?
19. Remember to never split an infinitive.
20. The passive voice should never be used.
21. Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague. (They’re old hat).
BUT, I DON’T GIVE A HOOT!
