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Never open a book with weather.
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Avoid prologues.
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Never use a verb other than “said” to carry dialogue.
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Never use an adverb to modify the verb “said”…he admonished gravely.
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Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose.
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Never use the words “suddenly” or “all hell broke loose.”
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Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.
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Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.
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Don’t go into great detail describing places and things.
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Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.
My most important rule is one that sums up the 10.
If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.