5 Every Day Writing Tips from the Pros

Typos and grammar errors aggravate even those who don’t consider themselves “writers.” Just ask the two-man Typo Eradication Advancement League and all their followers.

Regardless of how much you write — whether you only write emails or are a published novelist — some writing rules always apply. Just ask these pros…

Writing Tip #1

In a recent interview between Stephen King and Writer’s Digest, King stated that no one should end sentences with a preposition. Here’s an example: That’s what she thought of.

By the way, if you haven’t read King’s book, On Writing, I recommend you do. Even as a non-writer you might find some fascinating tidbits about King’s life as a writer.

Writing Tip #2

Tina Su over at Pen Zen, a blog devoted to every day problems and solutions, recently wrote a post about clarity in writing . I particularly like this statement: “Instead of reaching about for soaring words and phrases, simply write like normal people speak.”

In other words, don’t try to impress. Just get to the point and say what you need to say clearly.

Writing Tip #3

According to William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White in The Elements of Style, if a sentence contains quotation marks, punctuation belongs inside the end quote. Here’s an example: The boy said, “Santa Clause is stuck in the chimney.”

Writing Tip #4

Most of us know that cliche’s don’t have much weight in our writing. Sure, your reader knows what you mean, but if you spout off too many cliches, people will read less and roll their eyes more.

Be unique. Take 15 seconds to come up with the real meaning of what you are trying to say. Take the advice from the site Daily Writing Tips in their post about how Cliches Don’t Belong.

Writing Tip #5

This one is from yours truly. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: outline your writing. Whether you are writing a blog post or an eBook, your thoughts need to be organized. A common thread from start to finish will make anything you write stronger.


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