Most writers routinely break my next two rules.

Rule # 5:   No matter how nervous you are  about going out on a limb, if you’ve done your research then state your position as fact. Qualifiers (such as I think, I feel, I believe, it seems to me) just weaken your argument.

Qualified:   We feel that this is the time to buy.

Strong:        This is the time to buy.

Qualified:   I believe that my family’s story typifies the immigrant experience.

Strong:        My family’s story typifies the immigrant experience.

 

Rule #6: Go big on detail and texture when writing a story—whether short or long, fiction or non-fiction. You want your reader to feel like a bug on the wall witnessing the experience you’re chronicling, so write in terms of all five senses: sight, sound, feel, smell, taste. Assume that our bug has the ability to read thoughts and pinpoint feelings, and include those as well.