The lively art of writing

These are just a few tips I've picked up during my writing career, such as it is, most of it garnered while I was interning at a newspaper and some from a sadistic Honors English high school teacher whom I credit with getting me out of having to take any kind of English course in college.

• Death is always tragic. Very rarely is a death considered untragic and so there's no need to describe the death of someone as "tragic."
  
  
• Words like "this," "that," "it" nd "those" are vague. Specific details help a reader see more clearly and feel more keenly what is going on in a story. Replace words like "this," "that," "it," and "those" with a noun as much as you can.
  
  
• "That", in addition, is usually a word you can do without. Example: I'm going to that Mexican restaurant that is on Sixth Street. You can omit the word "that" and the sentence still makes sense: "I'm going to the Mexican restaurant on Sixth Street."
  
  
• By the same token, avoid the passive voice - the verb "to be" - as much as possible. As often as you can, make the subject of your sentence perform the action, don't let the action *happen* to the subject. Example: She was wearing a light blue leotard. This sentence can be rewritten to read "She wore a light blue leotard."
  
  
• Silence is always broken by sound, so there's no need to write "The silence was broken by the sound of voices singing." This same sentence can be rewritten as "Singing voices broke the silence."
  
  
• Short words are good. Don't use big words unnecessarily. After all, there's no point in writing a story where the reader has to consult her dictionary every five minutes.
  
  
• There is nothing wrong with the word "said." Use "said" often and proudly.
  
  
• Keep the subject as close to the action as possible while writing dialogue. For example: "I love strawberries and chocolate," said the director of communications, Jane Doe. This same sentence can be rewritten as: "I love strawberries and chocolate," said Jane Doe, the director of communications. Unless the title descriptor is absolutely necessarily, Associated Press style dictates that the subect comes before the action, in which case, the above sentence would read: "I love strawberries and chocolate," Jane Doe said.
  
  
• Specifics are wonderful. Why use "red flower" when you can write "red rose" instead? A "red rose" gives a more vivid image of what you are trying to convey versus the rather vague description of a "red flower."
  
  
• Punctuation goes inside the quotes, though that is primarily American style, I believe. Other English-speaking countries have different rules on that. In addition, double-punctuation - there really isn't a good reason to use more than one punctuation at the end of a sentence. Example: "I can't believe you did that!!" really means nothing. It's cleaner to use "I can't believe you did that!"
  
  
• The first part of a conversation that is set off with a action verb ends in a comma. I can't really explain that well, so I'll give an example. Correct: "I'm going to the store today," Joe said. Incorrect: "I'm going to the store today." Joe said. Note the position of the comma in the first example and the position of the period in the second sentence. By putting the period in the second setence, two sentences are created, not one. So it basically reads as: I'm going to the store today. ::pause:: Joe said.
  
  
• "Whose" denotes possession - "Whose umbrella is this?" versus who's - which is a contraction for "who is." "Who is going to the dance tonight?"