How to say nothing in 500 words

Rule 1: Find subject matter that actually <i>is</i> interesting.<p>Rule 2: Find subject matter that the reader <i>doesn't</i> already know about.<p>There. Your job just got 300% easier.

I found it odd that there was no conclusion or summary- it just ended. It was a great read with a lot of great advice, however I felt it ended in an anticlimactic way.

The second half reminds me of one of my all-time favorite pieces of writing advice, Orwell's <i>Politics and the English Language</i>:<p><a href="http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm</a>

The tragic part is that our schooling system often punishes the creative, rich writing the author advocates. The good teachers may recognize it and reward it, but the bad teachers will just take points off because you are "missing an introductory paragraph."<p>This is why standardized writing tests hold a special place in my bitter heart - they codify the fear of deviation and require you to spew mediocre crap - as long as it's mediocre crap spelled correctly with a topic sentence in each paragraph.

I needed this article as a daily blogger. Thanks for the save. I'm a terribly abstract, generalist. I'm surprised more readers haven't gouged their eyes out after reading my work.

Don't miss George Orwell's take on this subject:<p><a href="http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm</a>

As someone once said, "Omit needless words!"