Adverbs:


Those pesky words ending in ly that flow so freely from the new author. Every action needs a description that only the adverb seems to satisfy.
Not all adverbs end in ly, but the ones that do seem to be the ones most often favored. Consider this example. "Swiftly bounding onto the black stallion, he quickly rode off into the sunset."
Overuse of adverbs will make your writing dull and boring. Why not use a strong verb instead of propping up a weak verb with an adverb? "Mounting the black stallion in a graceful leap, he sped toward the setting Sun."
Never, under any circumstances, add ly in an attempt to dress up a word . "The exhausted soldier brought the canteen to parched lips. The cool drink was muchly appreciated." No one would use this sentence in normal conversation, so why try to sound austere by using the adverb. Stick to strong verbs whenever possible and avoid the adverb like the plague.


Comma usage:


Commas don’t mark the writer as a sissy; they lend coherency. You must strive for that delicate balance between coherency and anal retentiveness. Note that in dialogue, the comma follows the last word and precedes the quotation mark, viz.: “Dan, zip your fly before you get us both arrested,” implored Sasha.
There are many rules for the use of commas. Here are some of the more common ones.
Three terms together in a single conjunction need a comma between only the first two terms. She was fat, dumb, and happy. He climbed into his car, put on his seatbelt, and drove away.
A comma should be placed before a conjunction followed by an independant clause (and, but, for, nor, or, so, and yet). He pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. The ancient brontosaurus has disappeared, and it is now impossible to get a sample of brontosaurus DNA.
Use a comma to set off an introductory clause. If the oil runs out, we can always start a fire. In a short introductory clause you can omit the comma. Time flies when you're having fun.
Avoid using too many commas. A comma should not be placed between a subject and its verb. The bus driver agreed to let him cross the white line. Never write it this way. The bus driver, agreed to let him cross the white line.
Fast cars, sexy women, and lots of fantastic weapons, make James Bond films the ultimate spy thriller. This sentence should drop the last comma because it is superfluous.


Exclamation Marks:


Like signs of scurvy, exclamation marks are the scourge of the new writer. Those taking their first foray into writing are more likely to use excessive exclamation marks in a seeming effort to put emphasis on dialogue. This makes the dialogue a shouting match between characters.
It has been said that exclamation marks should be used sparingly, perhaps once every 100,000 words. That may seem extreme, but editors will support this unwritten rule. At times, adventurous authors may go with one exclamation mark every 50,000 words. Does this seem unreasonable? If so, keep them in, but don't expect to get published.
If the need to use an exclamation mark seems uncontrollable then consider rephrasing the sentence. If written properly, the sentence should be strong enough to give needed emphasis without an exclamation mark. Twenty exclamation marks have about the same effect as twenty shakes of pepper on your scrambled eggs, too much of a good thing can be overpowering.
Use them if you have to, but resist whenever possible.


Dialogue Tags:


Dialogue tags should be read and not seen. What I mean is they should be almost imperceptible to the reader.
Said is the tag of choice, but even this can be over used. He said, she said, and they said can get a little boring when over used. Because of this, many new authors try to reinvent the wheel. Jim saw the approaching truck before his friends were even aware of it. “Get out of the way,” yelled Jim with an urgent tone in his voice.
This is redundant in a lot of ways. First, we know he would probably yell when telling his friends to get out of the way. Second, get out of the way carries an urgent tone on its own. Third, a tone always refers to the speaker’s voice.
You could just as easily have written, said. It may not seem as exciting, but the dialogue should express the emotion, not the dialogue tag. All we really need to know from the dialogue tag is who is talking, not how they said it.

wow. this will be usefull to me. i will have to try and remember these

I knew most of this from the research I have done over the past year, but what caught my eye was the section on exclamation marks. I looked back into the first few chapters of my book and found about six of them. I had to restructure a few sentences, but it did help the flow of my writing.

I felt that everyone here should have a chance to see this. From what I’ve seen here on AU, we all are guilty of a few of these.

I'm definitely guilty of the comma and dialogue. Thanks for finding that, Lugana!

Heh, what about italics? I love it! Well, sometimes it changes the meaning of a sentence...
I think I've got my balance okay now :)

And anyone who hates commas, I will attack you writing with them! Another of my pet hates (along with bad grammar and spelling) is no commas. Just warning you...

Well, I found nothing on italics, but I think and can explain those to you. Italics are usually used to stress and word, but some writers use them to show what the character it thinking or when their character it casting a magic spell. Depending on your writing style, I don’t think you can use too many. As long as there is none of this.

Ex.

“But Lugana, I thought you were going to school today.” Dragonlady stressed.

“No, I am staying here on AU. I have chickenpoxs.”

“Didn’t you tell me that before?”

“Yes, but I am not cured.”

“Okay.”

yes i would agree here. as long as you don't put them in pointless places (see above) then it should be o.k.

Yeah, I use them, but one word per sentence max. at the very max. Its usually just my crazy characters who use em :D or whilst thinking...(note to smeghead: thinking is what you do not do :P )

See, i sometimes use italics on entire chapters, if they happened a long time ago, but in terms of dialogue, I only use italics when needed.