How to write using Classic Style HD

Based on the first half of The Sense of Style by Steven Pinker. Here is the summary frame at 19:50: Start and finish strong. You have something important to say and you want to share that with the reader in conversation. Use the mind’s eye with concrete images. Insert a surprising word or two, and use words that sound as they mean. Start by jotting ideas down on cards and look for the links. Remember the rules: Light before heavy; Topic, then comment; Given then new. Take the reader on a journey, arrange ideas in a logical sequence, or tell a story with a narrative arc. Do not use: Meta-discourse, meta-concepts, very, hedge, clichés, passive voice, zombie nouns, It or There…, that, which, who, mixed-metaphors, jargon, latin. Open with a question, in other words, qualify, self-contained summary, pronouns, split sentences, therefore, moreover, however, for example, as in, such as, chunk. Use ordering schemes to connect your ideas. Are you showing resemblance, contiguity, cause and effect? Is there plausible negation and a sense of proportion. Are you consistent? Share your work. Return to it yourself. Read the passage aloud. Omit needless words. Paragraph breaks, taglines, pull quotes, and examples.