Wednesday, April 25, 2007

26 Golden Rules for Writing Well

I found these rules on the internet. They were attributed to Anon. If the copyright belongs to anyone , please let me know and I'll remove them.
Read them and smile. Then go back to what you were writing when you took a break and see how many of these 'rules' you've inadvertently violated. Don't ask me how many I'd broken. I refuse to answer on the grounds that the answer may incriminate me. (See, I read Erle Stanley Gardner too!)

26 Golden Rules for Writing Well

1. Don't abbrev.

2. Check to see if you any words out.

3. Be carefully to use adjectives and adverbs correct.

4. About sentence fragments.

5. When dangling, don't use participles.

6. Don't use no double negatives.

7. Each pronoun agrees with their antecedent.

8. Just between you and I, case is important.

9. Join clauses good, like a conjunction should.

10. Don't use commas, that aren't necessary.

11. Its important to use apostrophe's right.

12. It's better not to unnecessarily split an infinitive.

13. Never leave a transitive verb just lay there without an object.

14. Only Proper Nouns should be capitalized. also a sentence should begin with a capital letter and end with a full stop

15. Use hyphens in compound-words, not just in any two-word phrase.

16. In letters compositions reports and things like that we use commas to keep a string of items apart.

17. Watch out for irregular verbs that have creeped into our language.

18. Verbs has to agree with their subjects.

19. Avoid unnecessary redundancy.

20. A writer mustn't shift your point of view.

21. Don't write a run-on sentence you've got to punctuate it.

22. A preposition isn't a good thing to end a sentence with.

23. Avoid cliches like the plague.

24. 1 final thing is to never start a sentence with a number.

25. Always check your work for accuracy and completeness.

[ANON.]

Saturday, April 07, 2007

BBC, the Queen's English & I

About an hour ago I was watching the news on BBC World. Their reporter was talking about the organ transplant trade in China and about how, in response to international pressure the Chinese government was trying to set up a regulatory framework for organ transplants.

The caption on the lower part of the screen read :

"VOLUNTARY ORGAN TRANSPLANT TO BE MANDATORY"

No, I'm not making this up, you read that right. After listening intently to the report I finally managed to work out what they meant - that consent from the deceased's family would henceforth be an essential prerequisite to the harvesting of human organs. Ah well, the pressures of 24*7 reporting! It's nice to know that the Beeb can goof up like all the rest of us. The next time I make a dog's dinner of the Queen's English I can at least be assured of being in elite company.

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

"Overselling capitalism"

Browsing the web today, I came across a very insightful and thought-provoking editorial in the 'Los Angeles Times' - "Overselling capitalism" - by Benjamin R. Barber. Capitalists of all hues (And I'm one of the unreconstructed hard-core ones) should read it and introspect. It may explain why the Left is making a return of sorts in some parts of the world. Right v/s Left, capitalism v/s communism/socialism - these are arguments which lend themselves far too easily to pulpit-thumping, chest-beating and hyperbole. Quiet reflection may not be fashionable or easy in this era of 24/7 media cacophony and "always-on" internet but it's necessary. Otherwise by the time we find out how far we have drifted from the goals we had set ourselves it may be too late for a course correction. And the "bad guys" will be back with a vengeance !