Fiction Revision “Style Guide” by Matthew Salesses

This is part of a longer resource on Necessary Fiction, but I like it as a demonstration of how fiction writers, like poets, use language as a tool to better understand what a story is saying. From the article:

Style guide (this is mine, and might not be for everyone, but I’m thinking music and readability):

Value nouns and verbs over adjectives and especially adverbs.
Value consonants over vowels.
Value hard consonants (e.g. k) over soft consonants (e.g. g).
Value words of one syllable over words of two syllables over words of three syllables, etc. Though precision is important, and sometimes the right word is the longer word.
Each sentence should include more stressed syllables than unstressed syllables (a la Lish).
A sentence with a masculine ending (stressed syllable) sounds stronger than one with a feminine ending (unstressed syllable).
Avoid using the word was when possible. A lot of this has to do with using the right action verb.
Avoid introductory clauses (e.g. Closing my eyes, I smiled) except when used as time or location markers (At five o’clock, When I got back from the store, In the supermarket).
Using common words, or colloquial words, in new ways, is more interesting than using uncommon words in normal ways.
Avoid “begin” or “start” or intermediate actions (e.g. I began to sing. He started walking. He got up from the couch and went to the door. Just write: I sing. He walked. He went to the door.)
Value consonance and assonance over alliteration.
In almost all instances, use “say” or “ask” instead of other dialogue tags.