"How to write good"

Discussion in 'General Writing' started by Poziga, Jun 2, 2014.

  1. DeathandGrim

    DeathandGrim Senior Member

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    Actually pretty funny
     
  2. Oswiecenie

    Oswiecenie Active Member

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    Joke or not, it's sound advice.
     
  3. plothog

    plothog Contributor Contributor

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    I wouldn't say all the advice is sound.
    Some of it is deliberately unsound to make the jokes work.
    For example, "Understatement is always better" isn't true.
     
  4. Oswiecenie

    Oswiecenie Active Member

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    Debatable. It's a matter of balance I think.
     
  5. Chaos Inc.

    Chaos Inc. Active Member

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    They forgot:

    24. ellipses... are... awesome...
     
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  6. EdFromNY

    EdFromNY Hope to improve with age Supporter Contributor

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    Actually, in the spirit of the thing, it would read:

    24. Never...use...ellipses.
     
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  7. cutecat22

    cutecat22 The Strange One Contributor

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    it should read: ellipses ... require ... a ... space ... before ... the ... dots ...
     
  8. Glenda

    Glenda New Member

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    One word sentences are useful when you want to give something an extra bit of punch. Cliches are tiresome, I agree. I like quotations, they give work intextual body. Depth.

    I agree rules are there to be broken, and conventions and instructions make for brilliant character framing. If you have a character that uses cliches (or metaphors) you can have lots of fun making other characters bash them down. Gaming style!
     
  9. Andrae Smith

    Andrae Smith Bestselling Author|Editor|Writing Coach Contributor

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    Way to spoil the fun! ;)
     
  10. graphicsmyway

    graphicsmyway Banned

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    Really joking
     
  11. DaveLu

    DaveLu Member

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    I agree with thirdwind. And the list seems to be poking fun.

    I think it's pushing the "There are no rules to writing, just guidelines" saying, or the "No one can teach you how to write" motto.

    "Good writing" (as if there were only a few kinds) can take on many forms.
     
  12. EdFromNY

    EdFromNY Hope to improve with age Supporter Contributor

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    I don't believe this. :rofl:
     
  13. DromedaryLights

    DromedaryLights Active Member

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    How can this guy hate on the passive voice? It is the most effective way to avoid taking responsibility for one's actions. Observe!

    "Mistakes were made"
    "Rules were broken"
    "Your food got eaten while you were gone"

    And so on!
     
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  14. daemon

    daemon Contributor Contributor

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    Sure, it is a joke, but fuck it, it got me thinking:

    I want to agree with #2 -- it feels wrong to end a sentence with a preposition, for some reason -- but every once in a while, I notice a sentence that ends in a preposition and I cannot figure out how to reword it without sounding unnatural.

    I definitely agree with #7. An infinitive is a single unit, just like any other mood of a verb, and should be treated as such.

    #8 is just plain fact. Anything that can be said with a contraction can be said without a contraction. Should it? That is beside the point.

    #13 is good advice.
     
  15. Fullmetal Xeno

    Fullmetal Xeno Protector of Literature Contributor

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    It should be how titled "How to Write Well". It may be poorly titled for the humor of the picture, but that just really bugs me lol
     
  16. HoraceCombs

    HoraceCombs New Member

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    I've seen this image first time. Few points I think going to work, but others are not much useful. Mostly I don't follow rules while writing.
     
  17. cutecat22

    cutecat22 The Strange One Contributor

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    That's because the whole thing is a piss-take. A play on words, sarcasm on paper.

    :dry:
     
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  18. Fullmetal Xeno

    Fullmetal Xeno Protector of Literature Contributor

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    There's far too many people who actually think "How to write good" is a proper way of saying it. You're not in America so you don't understand. The lack of focus in our school system has emulated that very dim viewpoint. I took it lightly, but you're scolding me anyways.
     
  19. Robert Klein II

    Robert Klein II Member

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    I use one word sentences quite often. I find this to be offensive. :p

    I don't see the problem with one word sentences. For example I'll put something like Cling! for an entire paragraph and than describe it in the next one.
     
  20. elynne

    elynne Active Member

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    :pop:
     
  21. cutecat22

    cutecat22 The Strange One Contributor

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    The thing is, these kinds of rules don't really exist. There may have been a set of rules (or as some like to say, guidelines) in the past but things and people are so diverse and worldwide now, that there has to be a margin for the differences that diversity brings.

    Books written by people all over the world are available to be read by people all over the world, you are bound to come across these differences.

    I have a friend, he owns his own business and he's doing very well but when he's telling me about the jobs he's done, he actually says to me:

    "Oh yeah, I done that last week ..."

    I truly, truly want to scream at him "DID, DID, YOU DID IT LAST WEEK!"

    but then I realise, that's how people actually talk up here. The thing is, they then begin to write like that. My friend was asked to answer in writing, a bunch of questions for a newspaper article that he was appearing in. He'd actually typed "I done that first" as part of one of his answers which I quickly changed when he asked me to read and edit for him.
     
  22. cutecat22

    cutecat22 The Strange One Contributor

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    I'm not scolding you. I'm rolling my eyes at you because from your answer, you sounded like you were taking the picture seriously as opposed to how it was meant, in jest. Every rule it lists is hypocritical of itself so it's not going to have a grammatically correct title.
     
  23. Robert Clinton

    Robert Clinton New Member

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    If you want to write a good content or an article then you have to know the topic very well. If you do not know the topic then the proper amount of research must be there. Next is, while writing see to that you do not copy things from others articles or essay. Also incorporate examples and motivational quotes.
     

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