The 7 Deadly Sins of Writing Sin is a word that may be out of fashion in much of society, but looking at the darker places inside ourselves can be beneficial if we are willing to do something about them. Lest you think this is a sermon, the concept of the Seven Deadly Sins can be applied to your writing, as well. 1. Sloth Clean up sloppy writing. Eliminate unneeded modifiers and words. Cut the number of adverbs, words ending in ly , which are usually unnecessary. For instance, tighten the description to show a character's anger instead of writing it as he said, angrily . 2. Gluttony Use the right word. Write tight. Don't fill up space with two words if one will do. Don't use $10 words because you can. Write at a level that anyone can enjoy without running to the dictionary. If they can't understand it, they won't read it. 3. Greed Don't cut corners in your work. Wanting more is good, but it shouldn't be all consuming. 4. Envy Sometimes the little green-eyed...