What to avoid when writing:

These days, I probably put in more thats than I take out -- when the time element immediately follows "said" (Dungy said Monday that the Colts were outplayed), after such verbs as "contended," "asserted," "claimed," etc.

Like any other guideline, removing "that" can be followed out the window.

 

how do you cover a game and not know the score?

 

Don't compare a game to war. It's not.
Don't try to get cute with a player's name. Ninety-nine percent of the time it's not funny to the reader. One-hundred percent of the time it's not funny to the player.
Don't use the word "comprise" because 99.9 percent of the time you'll use it incorrectly.
Don't use anything but "said" when you quote someone. People say things. They don't "add" them, "explain" them "opine" them or "offer" them.

 

Added is OK if the quote is a continuation of another quote. Oh, and don't use mentioned. If it's important enough to be in the story, it wasn't mentioned, plus said is all you really need.

 

Be objective.
Be terse, when possible.
Use words that don't leave people scrambling for a dictionary.

 

I'll give you added ... but only if you're quoting an accountant or a math teacher.

 

One time I differ with Mr. Ryan ... although, as in all things, it must be tempered with moderation.

But I'd much rather see one-sentence paragraphs than 20-line paragraphs. They are death to the reader.

 

i.m. hipp

lots of fun with his name


he hate me

lastings milledge

 

didn't eric plunk lead the AL in hit batsmen?

how could you not have fun with that?

 

"Host" is not a verb. It's "play host to".

That is all.

 

That is all? Wow, Buck, you're not very picky.

 

Main Entry: host
Function: transitive verb
1 : to serve as host to, at, or for <host friends> <host a dinner>

Is this the same as my case with win being both a noun and verb? Has host now changed as well? I pulled the thing from m-w.com