In case you missed our live class yesterday... it was outstanding. @Hawa Allan, a distinguished author, poet and journalist, walked us through what it means to write elegantly and evocatively. The good news is that you can now watch the recording in the academy Classroom, within the section titled Elite Group Calls. Enjoy! Shani

The oxford comma, ending with a preposition, and the split infinitive are in my experience the three most-argued-about entries in a style guide. Any others?

I allow myself one solid moan per year, usually during this time when fewer are watching. This is it. Why must everyone have an opinion on what a professional writer writes? Few non-engineers would comment on a technical drawing because they don’t have the degree that would qualify them, but they feel obliged to comment on a professional’s craft that might take them a lifetime to learn. Anyone who can read thinks they write well, but most of them can’t and don’t know what good writing is. For instance, some detractors will accuse copy of being so clear and succinct that it can’t possibly be any good. It sounds too natural, they might say – “almost like you speak!” I suspect they want to see lots of complicated Latin-based words and overlong French ones with diphthongs and such. If it starts with “T’was a dark and stormy night” then he must be a genius, right? Please, people.

Most years, at around about this time, I remind myself of George Orwell's eternal rules for writing well. I also add my own personal catch-all rule: Say what you mean, and mean what you say. 1. Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. 2. Never use a long word where a short one will do. 3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out. 4. Never use the passive where you can use the active. 5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent. 6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

Merry Christmas, writers! The Economist this week published their guide on what to read to write well, as follows: 1. Politics and the English Language. By George Orwell. 2. Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace. By Joseph M. Williams and Joseph Bizup. 3. On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction. By William Zinsser. 4. The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century. By Steven Pinker.