47 RULES FOR WRITERS
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Verbs has to agree with their subjects.
Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
And don't start a sentence with a conjunction.
It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
Avoid clichés like the plague. (They're old hat.)
Also, always avoid annoying alliteration.
Be more or less specific.
Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually) unnecessary.
Also too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies.
No sentence fragments.
Contractions aren't necessary and shouldn't be used.
Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
Do not be redundant; do not use more words than necessary;
it's highly superfluous.
One should NEVER generalize.
Comparisons are as bad as clichés.
Don't use no double negatives.
Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
One-word sentences? Eliminate.
Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
The passive voice is to be ignored.
Eliminate commas, that are, not necessary. Parenthetical words however should be enclosed in
commas.
Never use a big word when a diminutive one would suffice.
DO NOT use exclamation points and all caps to emphasize!!!
Use words correctly, irregardless of how others use them.
Understatement is always the absolute best way to put forth earth shaking ideas.
Use the apostrophe in it's proper place and omit it when its not needed.
Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I hate quotations. Tell me what you
know.".
If you've heard it once, you've heard it a thousand times:
Resist hyperbole; not one writer in a million can use it correctly.
Puns are for children, not groan readers.
Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
Even IF a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
Who needs rhetorical questions?
Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
The passive voice should never be used.
Do not put statements in the negative form.
Verbs have to agree with their subjects.
A writer must not shift your point of view.
Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences of 10 or more words, to their
antecedents.
Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.
If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors.
Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing.
Always pick on the correct idiom.
The adverb always follows the verb.
Be careful to use the rite homonym. And Finally...
Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.
EASLEY’S STYLE TIPS
FORMAT
1. Include a title page in the format provided by Turabian. Make it look just like the example on the page
following 377 (Figure A.1)
2. Footnotes are better than endnotes.
3. Title the bibliography, “SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY.” It should not be annotated, and primary and
secondary sources are now alphabetized together. There must be two primary and ten secondary sources
MINIMUM ( remember that parts of books, articles, websites, etc. count as ½ source) listed.
4. The paper must be at least fifteen pages in length, not including footnotes and bibliography. Use Times
New Roman 12-point font, with one-inch margins.
GRAMMAR
1. Never put a pronoun in the first sentence of a paragraph.
2. Keep sentences short and manageable; break them apart if necessary. Watch out for passive voice,
sentence fragments, and run-on sentences.
3. Avoid “would” constructions. People in the past DID things. Use simple past tense.
4. Keep verb tenses consistent throughout the paper. If you must use the present tense when describing the
contents of a piece of writing, remember to shift to past again in describing past actions and events. You
may use past tense ONLY: that is the easiest way.
5. Avoid contractions, slang, and “you” or “I” statements.
6. Avoid parentheses and dashes.
7. Make sure subjects and verbs agree.
8. Be aware of the rules for apostrophes.
9. Note the differences between spellings of “there” variations, “its” variations, and so on.
10. “Who” is for people; “that” is for anything else.
11. Centuries, such as “nineteenth century” are always spelled out (not “19 th century”).
12. Be careful of paragraph transitions. Transition sentences must connect the contents of the first
paragraph to the next.
QUOTING
1. Avoid quoting a secondary source; better to paraphrase and cite. Quote primary sources often.
2. Note that punctuation goes inside the quotation marks. The footnote number follows the end quote
marks. (“War is hell.”1)
3. If you quote more than three lines, indent the whole quote, single space it, and eliminate the quote
marks.
4. Ellipses (. . .) do not go at the beginning of a quote.
5. Note that footnote citations are different than bibliographical entries.
6. Three footnotes per page is a fair guide (at least one per paragraph).
7. Remember to use shortened references when a source is cited twice or more.