50 writing tools: Poynter’s Clark reminds writers how to get it done

If I were the kind of person who felt guilty about things it would be a guilty pleasure of mine to read things like Roy Peter Clark’s Fifty Writing Tools: Quick List at Poynter.org.

I always picture Ernest Hemingway scoffing at me and then punching me in the nose as I perused Clark’s list of tips and tricks, which he advises readers to keep handy near their desk or keyboard. A few of the numbered tools:

1. Begin sentences with subjects and verbs.
Make meaning early, then let weaker elements branch to the right

11. Prefer the simple over the technical.
Use shorter words, sentences and paragraphs at points of complexity.

23. Tune your voice.
Read drafts aloud.

When it comes down to it, I’m not scared of Hemingway. For one thing, he’s been dead for more than half a century, so I like my chances in a fair fight. For another, in his own way, he had his own tips and tools for writers.

I don’t know if there’s anything in Clark’s list that’s a big revelation to me. I just find it helpful to me as a writer to read things like it once in a while. It’s a battery charger. Oh yeah: That’s how you do it.