Showing posts with label Miscellaneous. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Miscellaneous. Show all posts

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.]

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 !

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Waking up to the rain

It's a wonderful morning here today - a true rainy day. The monsoon, having paused for a breather for the past few days, is back with a vengeance! It's raining cats and dogs, pelting down in torrents to the accompaniment of thunderous rumblings and flashing lightning. I'm sitting at my window typing this as I savour a spectacle I've loved as long as I can remember. Grey skies have always fascinated me, rather than the so-called 'sunny days' which are all very well for temperate or Arctic climes but not so clement in the swathe which stretches from the Tropic of Cancer to the Tropic of Capricorn. In this debate I've often found myself in a hopeless minority but personal likes and dislikes are not decided by a show of hands, are they? One man's meat....So, let the moaners whine and crib. Let me enjoy every magical moment while I can. For, soon the monsoon will take its leave. Can I be sure that I'll be here next year to welcome it back? Can anyone?