Writing is hard, even for authors who do it all the time. Write in a way that comes naturally. Revise and rewrite. Do not explain too much. Be clear. Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all sentences short or avoid all detail and treat subjects only in outline, but that every word tell. Cut “this is a subject that” to “this subject”. Trim “used for fuel purposes” down to “used for fuel”. Worse to be irresolute than to be wrong. If you don't know how to pronounce a word, say it loud!. Why compound ignorance with inaudibility? Why run and hide?. The reader was in serious trouble most of the time, floundering in a swamp, and that it was the duty of anyone attempting to write English to drain this swamp quickly and get the reader up on dry ground, or at least to throw a rope. The pronominal possessives hers, its, theirs, yours, and ours have no apostrophe. 1. Form the possessive singular of nouns by adding 's. Follow this rule whatever the final consonant. Charles’s. 2. In a series of three or more terms with a single conjunction, use a comma after each term except the last. 3. Enclose parenthetic expressions between commas.. A name or a title in direct address is parenthetic. No comma, however, should separate a noun from a restrictive term of identification. Nonrestrictive relative clauses are parenthetic, as are similar clauses introduced by conjunctions indicating time or place. Commas are therefore needed. A nonrestrictive clause is one that does not serve to identify or define the antecedent noun. 4. Place a comma before a conjunction introducing an independent clause. 5. Do not join independent clauses with a comma. The correct punctuation is a semi-colon. 6. Do not break sentences in two. Do not use periods for commas. 7. Use a colon after an independent clause to introduce a list of particulars, an appositive, an amplification, or an illustrative quotation. 9. The number of the subject determines the number of the verb. 11. A participial phrase at the beginning of a sentence must refer to the grammatical subject. 14. Use the active voice. 15. Put statements in a positive form. If your every sentence d admits a doubt, your writing will lack authority. Save the auxiliaries would, should, could, may, might, and can fit situations involving real uncertainty. The surest way to arouse snd hold the readers attention is by being specific, definite, and concrete. 17. Omit needless words. An article or a preposition applying to all the members of a series must either be used only before the first term or else be repeated before each term. 20. Keep related words together. 21. In summaries, keep to one tense. 22. Place the emphatic words of a sentence at the end. Do not draw attention to a colloquialism or a slang word by enclosing it in quotation marks. Exclamation marks are to be reserved for use after true exclamations or commands. Write with nouns and verbs, not with adjectives and adverbs. Revising is part of writing. Avoid the use of qualifiers