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Keep your article under 800 words.
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Combine adjoining sentences that have the same subject.
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Change sentences written in the passive voice to the active voice.
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Prune wordy sentences. Squeeze the life out of an offending sentence
until the sentence springs to life.
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Shorten paragraphs that reiterate a common theme. In the main, keep
your paragraphs short, so as to not discourage the reader.
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Follow the rules for punctuation. Please don't join the lost-comma
brigade simply because you don't know the rules. See "Extended
Rules for using Commas."
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Overuse.
Don't use a comma unless you can cite the rule for its use.
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Properly used, commas enhance clarity, readability, style and rhythm.
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The
more precise the simile, the more elegant the sentence. "Secondary NCAA violations are as commonplace in college football as
are the absence of mea culpas in prison yards, Steve
Sarkisian incurring three of them in his first year at Washington."
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Don't get carried away with metaphors. A couple are enough. "Football
was served alfresco on a bed of rocks on rainy days at the 'Dobie
Cafe.'"
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Establish a writing style. See the "Elements of Style," By William Strunk, Jr.
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Use
simple, declarative sentences. Wordy: There are many good writers
who live in Humboldt County, and they are too numerous to mention.
Better: Many good writers live in Humboldt County, too numerous to
mention.
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Establish your writing skills early in your manuscript without
getting carried away. To establish your credentials, one good
sentence upfront is all that is necessary. Example: "The dreary day added to
Gilmour's sourness, and you could likely hear his shouting, almost as
loud as the 'Varsity Bell,' all the way up to Denny Hall, where the
bell still sits in its belfry, ringing on homecoming day as a
nostalgic reminder to alums of its creaky wooden floors and the
old-bookish smell of its library."
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Improve your writing skills
by reading good literature.
ESPN blogger Ted Miller recommends reading Don Dellilo's
Underworld.
He says, "It's a dense, 800-plus-page read, so it won't be
everyone's favorite brew, but the first 60 pages are set around
Bobby Thomson's home run -- "The shot heard round the world" -- to
beat the Brooklyn Dodgers and win the New York Giants the 1951
National League Pennant...Go to a bookstore and read those 60 pages.
It's some of the best writing you will ever read." Also, check
out a "Moveable Feast," by Ernest
Hemmingway.
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Chose your words carefully
and check their definitions when in doubt.
Learn one new word each day.
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Keep a thesaurus on hand.
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Vary your sentence
structure. See
Figures of speech in college football. Also, reference (jokes).
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Have someone you trust read
your work. Your eventual goal is to produce a first draft absent typos,
misspellings and grammatical errors. Know the difference between its and
it's and lie and lay. Watch out for your and you're, who's and
whose, and theirs and there's.
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Research your articles. Verify your facts with at least two sources.
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Write, rewrite, rewrite, and rewrite.
