100 ways to improve your writing /
Garay Provost
- 1a. ed.
- New York : Berkley, 2019
- XV, 160 p. ; 17 cm.
NINE WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR WRITING WHEN YOU’RE NOT WRITING. Get some reference books; Expand your vocabulary; Improve your spelling; Take a class; Write in your head. NINE WAYS TO OVERCOME WRITER’S BLOCK. Copy something; Keep journal; Talk about what you’re writing; Touch your toes; Do writing exercises; Make a list; Ask yourself why you are writing. FIVE WAYS TO WRITE A STRONG BEGINNING. Find a slant; Write a strong lead; Don’t make promises you can’t keep; Set a tone and maintaint it; Begin at the beginning. NINE WAYS TO SAVE TIME AND ENERGY. Use pyramid construction; Use topic sentences; Write short paragraphs; Use transitional phrases; Don´t explain when you don´t have to; Use bridge words; Avoid wordiness. TEN WAYS TO DEVELOP STYLE. Think about style; Listen to what you write; Mimic spoken language; Vary sentence length; Write complete sentence; Keep related words together; Use parallel construction. TWELVE WAYS TO GIVE YOUR WORDS POWER. Use short words; Use dense words. Use familiar words; Use strong verbs; Use specific nouns; Say things in a positive way most of the time; Provide facts; Put emphatic words at the end. ELEVEN WAYS TO MAKE PEOPLE LIKE WHAT YOU WRITE. Make yourself likable; Write about people; Show your opinion; Use anecdotes; Use examples; Use quotations. TEN WAYS TO AVOID GRAMMATICAL ERRORS. Respect the rules of grammar; Do not change tenses; Know how to use possessive case; Make verbs agree with their subjects; Fix Dangling modifiers; Avoid shifts in pronoun forms; Beware these common mistakes; Prfer good writing to good grammar. SIX WAYS TO AVOID PUNCTUATION. ERRORS. Use orthodox punctuation; Know when to use a comma; Know when to use a semicolon. TWELVE WAYS TO AVOID MAKING YOUR READER HATE YOU. Avoid jargon; Avoid clichés; Avoid parentheses. SEVEN WAYS TO EDIT YOURSELF. Read you work out loud; Cut unnecessary words; Think about what you have written; Ask yourself these questions; Follow these rules of form for titles; Prepare a perfect manuscript; Use common sense.