In The Best of Business, a book published by The Economist in collaboration with Pegasus Books in 2009, one of the entries identifies and briefly explains “Six rules of good writing.”

They are:

1. Do not be stuffy.
2. Do not be hectoring or arrogant.
3. Do not be too pleased with yourself.
4. Do not be too chatty.
5. Do not be too didactic.
6. Do your best to be lucid.

These are eminently sensible general rules to which I now presume to add a few that are more specific:

1. Do not separate a subject from its verb.
2. Always remain in the active voice.
3. Use few (if any) adjectives and adverbs.
4. Never use the word “thing.”
5. Avoid using direct address.

6. Do not break any of these rules until you have published a non-fiction book or The New Yorker has published one of your essays.

In my opinion, the best sources for comprehensive advice on good writing are:

The Elements of Style (50th Anniversary Edition)
William Strunk and E.B. White

On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing (30th Anniversary Edition)
William Zinsser

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
Stephen King

Fortunately each of these three is available in a relatively inexpensive paperbound edition.