• Omit needless words
• Choose the simple word over the complex one
• avoid hedging verbs (almost, sort of, somewhat)
• Give the reader credit and resist the urge to explain (as in ‘she walked through the open door’ - did we need to be told it was open)
• Avoid too much stage direction
• Avoid excessive adjectives & adverbs
• Show, don’t tell
• Avoid redundancies
  • she shrugged her shoulders
  • he blinked his eyes
  • he heard the sound of the train whistle
• Avoid the words ‘up’ and ‘down’
• Usually delete the word ‘that’
• Avoid more then one adjective - good writing is made up of strong verbs and nouns
• Maintain a single point of view
• Avoid cliches
• Resist the urge to explain (Martain was mad. He pounded the table.)
• Specifics add the ring of truth