Writing is, for most, laborious and slow. The mind travels faster* than the pen; consequently, writing becomes a question of learning to make occasional wing shots, bringing down the bird of thought as it flashes by. A writer is a gunner, sometimes waiting in his blind for something to come in, sometimes roaming the countryside hoping to scare something up. Like many gunners, he must cultivate patience: he may have to work many covers to bring down one partridge. Here, following, are some suggestions and cautionary hints that may help the beginner find his way to a satisfactory style. 

1. Place yourself in the background  

Write in a way that draws the reader's attention to the sense and substance of the writing, rather than to the mood and temper of the author. If the writing is solid and good, the mood and temper of the writer will eventually become revealed, and not at the expense of the work. Therefore, the first piece of advise is this: to achieve style, begin by affecting none, that is, place yourself in the background. 

A careful and honest writer does not need to worry about style. As he or she becomes proficient in the use of the language, a style will emerge, because he himself will emerge, and when this happens he will find it increasingly easy to break through the barriers that separate him from other minds, other hearts, which is, of course, the purpose of writing, as well as its principal reward. Fortunately, the act of composition, or creation, disciplines the mind; writing is one way to go about thinking, and the practice and habit of writing not only drain the mind but supply it, too. 

2. Write in a way that comes naturally.  

Write in a way that comes easily and naturally to you, using words and phrases that come readily to hand. But do not assume that because you have acted naturally your product is without flaw. 

The use of language begins with imitation. The infant imitates the sounds made by its parents; the child imitates first the spoken language, then the stuff of books. The imitative life continues long after the writer is on his own in the language, for it is almost impossible to avoid imitating what one admires. Never imitate consciously, but do not worry about being an imitator; take pains instead to admire what is good. Then when you write in a way that comes naturally, you will echo the halloos that bear repeating. 

3. Work from a suitable design. 
4. Write with nouns and verbs 
5. Revise and rewrite. 
6. Do not overwrite. 
7. Do not overstate. 
8. Avoid the use of qualifiers. (...rather, very, little...) 
9. Do not affect a breezy manner. 
10. Use orthodox spelling 
11. .Do not explain too much. 
12. Do not construct awkward adverbs 
13. Make sure the reader knows who is speaking. 
14. Avoid fancy words 
15. Do not use dialect unless your ear is good. 
16. Be clear. 
17. Do not inject opinion. 
18. Use figures of speech sparingly. 
19. Do not take shortcuts at the cost of clarity. 
20. Avoid foreign languages 
21. Prefer the standard to the offbeat. 

* The average person speaks about 125 words a minute, while the average listener can mentally process information at four or five times that rate - 500 to 625 words a minute. 

The means that it is easy to finish listening to someone - even before that person has completed his thoughts!