murchadh

This list was originally compiled by George L. Trigg et. al.

1. Make sure each pronoun agrees with their antecedent.
2. Just between you and I, the case of pronouns is important.
3. Watch out for irregular verbs which have crope into English.
4. Verbs has to agree in number with their subjects.
5. Don't use no double negatives.
6. Being bad grammar, a writer should not use dangling modifiers.
7. Join clauses good like a conjunction should.
8. A writer must not shift your point of view.
9. About sentence fragments.
10. Don't use run-on sentences you got to punctuate them.
11. In letters essays and reports use commas to separate items in a
series.
12. Don't use commas, that are not necessary.
13. Parenthetical words however should be enclosed in commas.
14. Its important to use apostrophes right in everybodys writing.
15. Don't abbrev.
16. Check to see if you any words out.
17. In the case of a report, check to see that jargonwise, it's A-OK.
18. As far as incomplete constructions, they are wrong.
19. About repetition, the repetition of a word might be real effective
repetition - take, for instance the repetition of Abraham Lincoln.
20. In my opinion, I think that an author when he is writing should
definitely not get into the habit of making use of too many
unnecessary words that he does not really need in order to put his
message across.
21. Use parallel construction not only to be concise but also clarify.
22. It behooves us all to avoid archaic expressions.
23. Mixed metaphors are a pain in the neck and ought to be weeded out.
24. Consult the dictionery to avoid mispelings.
25. To ignorantly split an infinitive is a practice to religiously
avoid.
26. Remember to hyphenate two or more word modifiers that precede the
words they modify.
27. Last but not least, lay off cliches.

And one more favorite of mine that Trigg left off his list:

28. Eschew obfuscation!!


Murchadh

malcolm

In article <3josjvoctcj236ppnf0hnie2blsapln69g@4ax.com>, Murchadh
<murchadh@shaw.ca> writes


As an author and editor, I love it! Thanks Murchadh.

--
Malcolm

rick

Don't you read the Society news? It's in all the best Circles.


Really. Although I think he was planning on running for a second term, but didn't.


Perhaps it would behoove you not to, in future.


Well, you should. At least 5 times.

murchadh

As a professional writer in the past I try to remember the wisdom
contained therein!

Author, eh? I'm trying to make myself write one last book before I die
- the horror book of all time, but making a living keeps getting in
the way...

Murchadh

murchadh

I done gnu you was a reel schooler by yore superbe use of the hole
alphabet.

I'm still working my way past G.

Murchadh

murchadh

Me too! What's wrong with "have crup into *nglish"?


Me too. It has a nice old-fashioned ring to it, possibly slightly
pompous (politicians use it to scrore brownie points for
pontification, but I shan't drop it yet.

Murchadh

rick

Y, u c, it's not all xactly zed n done...

john mullen

(snip)

Brilliant! Split infinitives are not considered as necessarily wrong
nowadays though...

John

malcolm

In article <as0vjvsi2qo1h84o2nt7otm8ddd20cpo16@4ax.com>, Murchadh
<murchadh@shaw.ca> writes


I blame Star Trek. The whole world as we know it ended when that was
first broadcast.

--
Malcolm