Strunk and White

You don't know the importance of writing until you seriously write something. That was my first thought when I began to write up the prospectus for my Ph.D. dissertation. Although I am far from being a good writer, I collect good tips of how to write well. Therefore, I can share some writing advice with you.

1. Read a lot. If you don't know how other good writers write, it is very likely that you are not going to be one. Newspapers and magazines are the best sources. You should not only rely on reading blogs and academic papers. Sometimes they can be very poorly written, though being extremely informative.

2. Use adverbs. The veteran Fortune journalist, Carol Loomis, is the mastermind behind Warren Buffett's fantastic writing. If you love reading annual reports, Buffett's Berkeshire Hathaway is an incredible source. One piece of advice from Loomis to Buffett is to use adverbs. It will enrich the whole article. Of course, you need to know lots of adverbs.

3. Read Strunk and White's The Elements of Style. So many people talk about it that I have to have one by this holiday season. Greg Mankiw mentioned it in his blog. Bob Flood talked about it when he was in town. I will probably talk about it more when I have it.

4. Write often. Starting a blog yourself?

After writing all these, I checked again the advice from Mankiw. Nothing can top his. Check it out: How to write well by Greg Mankiw.