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Rools fr Riting

Here are some oxymoronic (self-contradictory) principles for good writing. Harold Evans, on page 182 of his 1972 book Newsman's English, attributes these "un-rules" to Helen Ferril of the Rocky Mountain News. 

1. Don't use no double negative. 

2. Make each pronoun agree with their antecedent. 

3. Join clauses good, like a conjunction should.

4. About them sentence fragments. 

5. When dangling, watch your participles. 

6. Verbs has to agree with their subjects.

7. Just between you and I, case is important too.

8. Don't write run-on sentences they are hard to read.

9. Don't use commas, which aren't necessary.

10. Try to not ever split infinitives.

11. It's important to use your apostrophe's correctly.

12. Proofread your writing to see if you any words out.

13. Correct spelling is esential.

Some of my favorite additions to this list are the following.

• Eschew obfuscation. 

• Don't abbrev.

• The passive voice is to be avoided.

The Math 696 course pages were last modified April 5, 2005.
These pages are copyright © 1995-2005 by Harold P. Boas. All rights reserved.
 

Rools fr Riting