There’s a set of well-established rules on how to write well. Just don’t stick to them slavishly. One example:
Rule: Avoid weak verbs (and adverbs with it).
Don’t write: He walked fast.
Write: He ran, dashed, jogged, sprinted. Whichever fits best.
But: Don’t forget that most times people simply ‘walk’. Don’t try to avoid ‘walk’ or ‘go’ at all cost or else your prose starts to feel stilted.
The weakest of all verbs is ‘to be’, but would you really edit Hamlet’s famous soliloquy: To be or not to be, that is the question.
Happy Writing!
Golden Rules and Caveats
There’s a set of well-established rules on how to write well. Just don’t stick to them slavishly. One example:
Rule: Avoid weak verbs (and adverbs with it).
Don’t write: He walked fast.
Write: He ran, dashed, jogged, sprinted. Whichever fits best.
But: Don’t forget that most times people simply ‘walk’. Don’t try to avoid ‘walk’ or ‘go’ at all cost or else your prose starts to feel stilted.
The weakest of all verbs is ‘to be’, but would you really edit Hamlet’s famous soliloquy: To be or not to be, that is the question.
Happy Writing!