Fed Up: The word “up” pops up everywhere. Join up with others who are fed up with messed up directional prepositions. Up is unnecessary in the sentence “She was promoted up to executive secretary”. Up indicates a direction and is used correctly in the sentence “Turn up the volume so people in the back can hear.” 

Poor Choice of Adverbs: Actually, totally, absolutely, completely, continually, constantly, continuously, literally, really, unfortunately, ironically, incredibly, hopefully, and finally- these and other adverbs promise emphasis, but provide no meaning in a sentence. Delete these adverbs and insert concrete and objective words. “The church was really full,” is meatier as “Every church pew was full and latecomers had to stand in the aisles.”

Boring: “Make” is a generic verb that tries to stand in for a stronger, more specific verb. “Make a donation to the fund,” becomes “Please, donate to the fund.”  Other generic verbs include “do” and “go.”

To be or Not to Be: Avoiding forms of the verb “to be” (am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been). Writing without “to be” verbs encourages writers to pay attention to what they mean and explain otherwise unsupported labels, judgements and opinions and resulting in more powerful writing.

Delete It:  “It’s raining outside.” What exactly is “it”? Determine the true subject of the sentence or phrase and replace “it” with that specific noun. Compare these. Original sentence – It was mid-morning when Allied Forces became entangled with a large truck convoy moving south through the city. Rewrite – Around mid-morning the Allied Forces became entangled with a …etc.

Draw a Picture, Don’t Tell Me What to See: If you say, “she was stunning and powerful,” you’re telling me. But if you say, “I was stunned by her elegant carriage as she strode past the jury – shoulders erect, elbows back, her eyes wide and watchful,” you’re showing me. Handsome, attractive, momentous, embarrassing, fabulous, powerful, hilarious, stupid, fascinating are all words that tell me in an arbitrary way what to think. These words do not describe in specifics what is unique to the person or event described.

Adapted from Holt Uncensored

10 Tips for Improving Your Writing Skills provide additional ideas and suggestions.

So I’m on a slight roll and I don’t want to stop for lack of will, depression or laziness. Or because I can’t stop watching America’s Top Model re-runs.

I’ve come across a few websites that discuss good habits for successful writers. One specific question I had was how long should I write? This site suggests 1,500 words a day is sufficient. I thought that was more tangible way of looking at a daily goal.

This is a funny list of what countless famous writers did to get their words from pen to paper.

I liked how this list made sure a writer should add the element of enjoyment and fun to the mix.