The Rules of Bad Writing (John Rodgers)
- Never use the same word twice for the same idea. Thus you make sure that the reader never knows whether it’s the same idea or not.
- Never use the first person where you can use ambiguous phrases like “the writer” (especially when you’ve just mentioned some other writer) or, better still, “it is thought” or “it is considered,” so that the reader can’t be exactly sure who thinks what, or what—if anything—you do think.
- Never use an active verb where a passive verb will do. It pads out the sentence nicely and puts more distance between you and the facts—and the reader.
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