Here is the answer – I follow these guidelines:
HOW TO WRITE GOOD *
1) Always avoid alliteration.
2) Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
3) Avoid clichés like the plague. They’re old hat.
4) Comparisons are as bad as clichés.
5) Be more or less specific.
6) Writers should never generalize.
Seven: Be consistent!
8) Don’t repeat yourself, or say again what you have said before.
9) Who needs rhetorical questions?
10) Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
11) The passive voice is to be avoided.
12) Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors.
* Frank L. Visco, Writers Digest, June, 1986
ha ha!