Yet Another 'Secret to Writing' Article: This One's a List

"17 Writing Secrets"
Writer's Digest (February 11, 2008)

"One author shares his tried-and-true principles for making good writing better.

"1. Never save your best for last. Start with your best. Expend yourself immediately, then see what happens. The better you do at the beginning, the better you continue to do.

"2. The opening paragraph, sentence, line, phrase, word, title—the beginning is the most important part of the work. It sets the tone and lets the readers know you're a commanding writer. ..."

And so it goes. It's pretty good advice, actually. I almost stood up and cheered when I read the third point: "...3. The first duty of a writer is to entertain. Readers lose interest with exposition and abstract philosophy. They want to be entertained. But they feel cheated if, in the course of entertaining, you haven't taught them something...." The first part, anyway. Anyone who's watched "Captain Planet" probably knows what I'm talking about.