| Use present tense when writing about fiction. | ||
| Use ACTIVE, not passive, voice. (song lyrics exercise) | ||
| Replace "to be" verbs with interesting, action packed verbs. (Use the computer to highlight them) | ||
| Avoid expletives: it is, there are, this is. . . | ||
| Combine sentences as one way to eliminate wordiness and redundancy. | ||
| Reduce prepositional phrases to eliminate the laundry list syndrome. (paramedic method) | ||
| Eliminate vague pronoun references: you, we, they | ||
| Eliminate pronoun shifts from singular to plural. | ||
| Use a comma before a conjunction (and, but, or, so) if the list consists of a series of 3 or more items or if it links independent clauses (you can identify an independent clause if it has a subject and verb that allow it to stand alone as a sentence) | ||
| Use a comma after an introductory phrase, clause, or word. | ||
| Use a semicolon to link two independent clauses when the second clause begins with a conjunctive adverb. | ||
| Use the apostrophe for POSSESSIVE, NOT PLURAL | ||
| Capitalize proper nouns | ||
| Underline or Italicize titles of books, movies, journals, magazines, newspapers, government documents, tv shows, (see p. 497) | ||
| Maintain a professional tone by using middle to high level diction. Avoid slang, clichés and colloquialisms. | ||