Periodically, I look for interesting websites. I’m curious what’s out there like everyone else is. And, I’m not very good at finding them, so when I do find one that I really like, I have a compulsion to share. There is an app I have on my iPad that I review daily. It is Zite magazine. I love this app because it lets me choose the topics for the news that I want to see routinely. Among the topics that I really value are Fiction, Literature, Publishing, Reading and Writing. These are all separate sections that are updated daily.

President George W. Bush honors with the 2006 ...

William Safire has a way with words Image via Wikipedia

The other day, I saw a posting on Zite about writing advice. It was from a website called: openculture.com. There was writing advice from Elmore Leonard, Margaret Atwood, Henry Miller, Neil Gaiman and William Safire. While they all had some great advice, I found the one from Safire to be particularly entertaining.

I hope you enjoy it, too. Enjoy the weekend, my friends.

William Safire (the author of the New York Times Magazine column “On Language”)

1. Remember to never split an infinitive.
2. The passive voice should never be used.
3. Do not put statements in the negative form.
4. Verbs have to agree with their subjects.
5. Proofread carefully to see if you words out.
6. If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be by rereading and editing.
7. A writer must not shift your point of view.
8. And don’t start a sentence with a conjunction. (Remember, too, a preposition is a terrible word to end a sentence with.)
9. Don’t overuse exclamation marks!!
10. Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or more words, to their antecedents.
11. Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.
12. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
13. Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors.
14. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
15. Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing.
16. Always pick on the correct idiom.
17. The adverb always follows the verb.
18. Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague; seek viable alternatives.