In response to the gauntlet thrown down by Sonia Simone over at Copyblogger, over the next 7 days I’m going to write a series of posts, one per day. Each will address a writing habit which causes me serious distress as an anal-retentive fussy reader. I’ll be badgering more than cajoling; it will be pointed and emphatic.

I will not be taking prisoners. You will survive this course, or you will not.

Once I’m done, perhaps I’ll come back and edit this entry to include a table of contents. I can’t add it now because I have no clue which diatribe will land on which day, other than, tomorrow will be about spelling. (Oh, yeah? Watch me.)

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Here they are; Joel’s 7 Writing Imperatives:

1. Correct Spelling is Not Optional
2. Superfluous Apostrophe
3. Don’t Be Your Own Editor
4. Take a Stand. Speak Your Piece.
5. Less Filling. More Shortening.
6. Selfish Passion Unselfishly Directed
7. Be Yourself