Eschew Surplusage ~ A View From the Keyboard of Mark Twain
A few of Mark Twain’s rules for writing: 1. A tale shall accomplish something and arrive somewhere. 2. The episodes of a tale shall be necessary parts of the tale, and shall help develop it. 3. The personages in a tale shall be alive, except in the case of corpses, and that always the reader […]
George Orwell Makes the Rules ~ Another View From the Keyboard
In his essay, “Politics and the English Language,” George Orwell provided a list of five (by his count) rules for writing: i. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. ii. Never use a long word where a short one will do. iii. If […]