Did you watch the new PBS documentary on Ernest Hemingway which premiered on Monday? If so, you heard Hemingway say “the best rules I ever learned for the business of writing” came from the Kansas City Star stylebook. He reported for the Star 1917 to 1918.
Here are some of those rules:
- Use short sentences.
- Use short first paragraphs.
- Use vigorous English. [Use active verbs.]
- Be positive, not negative.
- Never use old slang. Slang, to be enjoyable, must be fresh.
- Watch your sequence of tenses. [Be consistent.]
- Don’t split verbs. [Put adverbs before a verb phrase.]
- Be careful of the word “also.” “Also” modifies the word it follows, not the word it precedes.
- Be careful of the word “only.” “He only had $10” means that he alone had $10. “He had only $10” means $10 was all the cash he had.
- Don’t split infinitives.
- Avoid using adjectives, especially extravagant ones.
- Use “none is,” not “none are.”
- Animals should be referred to with the neuter gender unless the animal is a pet with a name.
- Break into a long direct quote early in the quote to identify the speaker.
- Avoid expressions from a foreign language.
- Collective nouns take singular verbs.
English Writing Teacher 