9 Rules to Write Better
Follow them, or don’t — it’s up to you.
Writing is like baking a cake. Every writer has his or her own recipe. One way to get better at writing is to copy the recipe of someone you admire. Don’t just read their work, read about their writing process.
Take a passage or an entire chapter of a favourite author and write it out word for word, it will allow you to sink into their style and see the tactics they use to keep the reader engaged. You will come closer to their style and rhythm when you write out entire passages and sentences. Their structure will be more evident as you become intimate with why the writing resonates with you. You aren’t passing this work off as your own, it is just an exercise to learn how great writers go about their craft.
All great writers are great readers. They read. You won’t find a great writer who does not read other great writers.
Copy a writer’s recipe while adding some of your own ingredients. Add less sugar and more salt than your mentor. Develop your voice, rhythm, and flow by coming up with your recipe. Honing your process — your recipe — takes time and a lot sitting in the chair writing.
While you are sitting in the chair writing, below are some rules to follow as a foundation for good writing.
Great writers always know the rules, but they don’t always follow them.
Here are nine rules to follow or break.
Rule №1: What isn’t said is just as important as what is said. Readers are smart. You don’t have to hammer them over the head with every idea or keep in two sentences that say the same thing. Pick the sentence that is the clearest and concise.
Rule №2: Misplaced modifiers. I struggle with this. Too often, writers have the tendency to move the modifier, like the word only, toward the front of the sentence typically, and it changed the meaning of the sentence when you have the modifier in the wrong place. It can either add ambiguity or completely change the meaning of the sentence.
For example:
I washed my hair.
If you want to add a modifier, like only, to that sentence, what happens? Well, you change the meaning depending on where you place the modifier.
Only I washed my hair. Equates to: I’m the only person who washed my hair. Robert Redford didn’t wash my hair like he washed Meryl Streep’s hair in Out of Africa.
I only washed my hair. Equates to: The only thing I did was wash my hair.
I washed only my hair. This sentence makes sense if someone asked you what body parts you washed in the shower.
I washed my only hair. If I was balding and washed the one hair I have on top of my head.
Rule №3: Avoid commonly overused words or puff words: about, actually, almost, like, appears, approximately, basically, close to, even, eventually, exactly, finally, just, just then, kind of, nearly, practically, really, seems, simply, somehow, somewhat, sort of, suddenly, truly, utterly.
Rule №4: Avoid passive voice unless you are using it intentionally.
Passive voice makes writing less urgent. The use of passive voice creeps into writers’ work all the time. Passive voice is something you want to avoid unless you are doing it intentionally. For variety, it makes sense to use passive voice from time to time, but don’t use it all the time. Grammarly.com is a helpful tool to use if you want to find the passive voice in your writing.
Active voice vs. Passive Voice vs. progressive tense.
Active: I heard it through the grapevine. Passive: It was heard by me through the grapevine. Progressive: I was hearing it through the grapevine.
In the progressive tense, the writer is talking about what is going on, e.g., He is walking to the car. Progressive tense shows what he is doing. What is going on in progressive construction? Well, he is walking to the car, in this example.
Rule №5: Don’t overuse adjectives: Don’t use two or three adjectives in a sentence or paragraph. Silly, playful, fancy, pretty. Don’t use several adjectives when one or none is better.
Keep this in mind when you are writing, but especially when you are editing.
Rule №6: See Rule №5, same with adverbs. Don’t overuse adverbs. Ask yourself if they’re really, really, absolutely, terrifying, very, very necessary?
Rule №7: Don’t drop the Oxford comma.
Using the Oxford comma makes writing more clear and concise. If you want to leave out the Oxford comma from your writing, be consistent. Use it or don’t. It is up to you, but be consistent.
I went to the store and bought bread, cheese, and oat milk.
There should be a comma after cheese. That is the Oxford comma.
Rule №8: Different from vs. Different than.
Most Americans use these two forms interchangeably. If you are comparing two things, use different from.’ ‘Different than’ is grammatically incorrect.
If you are British, ‘different to’ is an acceptable substitute.
Even though people know what you mean when you say my phone is different than your phone, when writing, use the grammatically correct ‘different from.’
Rule №9: Revise, revise, and revise.
Unedited writing is sloppy writing. With sloppy writing, it is clear there has been no revision.
If you want to be a writer, editing is part of the process.
Write on.
Jessica is a writer, an online entrepreneur, and a recovering perfectionist. She lives in Los Angeles with her extrovert daughter, two dogs, and two cats.
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