If you're willing to spend a few dollars to improve your writing, buy "Style: Toward Clarity and Grace" by Joseph Williams (http://www.amazon.com/Style-Clarity-

If you're willing to spend a few dollars to improve your writing, buy "Style: Toward Clarity and Grace" by Joseph Williams (http://www.amazon.com/Style-Clarity-Chicago-Writing-Publishing/dp/0226899152/ http://www.amazon.com/Style-Clarity-Chicago-Writing-Publishi...). It's far better than a list of rules; it breaks down sentence and paragraph construction and shows you exactly how to write more clearly (and less academically). And it accomplishes this very quickly, with a marked improvement in your writing after only a couple chapters.