Writing: Rules

I found some writing rules on the Internet and wrote a few of my own!

'Is' will be 'was' someday, but neither should be overused now. When combined with "it," your verb needs a lift.

"It is" should never be.

When the is's and was's abound, an action verb should be found.

Force are's and were's from the page by creating an active phrase.

Shelly was possessive of her cat when Shelly's cat cuddled close.

Shelly's boyfriend, Apostrophe, and the boyfriend's mother shared a common possessive trait.

When Shelly dropped Apostrophe, she was free to date many boyfriends without a mark.

Singular nouns only match singular prounouns. A singlular noun never dates a plural prounoun. Be a careful matchmaker. [April 22, 2008: Did you catch my typo in this paragraph? No? Oh well, too late! LOL]

He or she can never be they or their.

Never write vice versa or write both opposing sides in one sentence.

Never write "etc. also" when only one will do.

"The [noun]" tries to make sentences sound profound, when writers don't want "the" hanging around. (The available resources limit how much churches help the poor people. =Available resources limit how much churches help poor people.)

Send me your examples.

Judith