1) Avoid prologues: they can be annoying, especially a prologue following an introduction that comes after a foreword.
2) Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than three or four per 100,000 words of prose.
3) Avoid detailed descriptions of characters. Some writers describe every character from head to toe, including every physical feature (hair, nose, skin, eyes, mouth), and everything they’re wearing. This is just obnoxious.
4) Never use the words "suddenly" or "all hell broke loose". I have noticed that writers who use "suddenly" tend to exercise less control in the application of exclamation points.
5) Use regional dialect sparingly. Once you start spelling words in dialogue phonetically and loading the page with apostrophes, you won't be able to stop.
