Rules for fiction work as rules for life as well

Don't use lots of vague psychobabble words. Don't stick to platitudes or industry jargon that doesn't actuallymean anything.

Illustrate what you're trying to say with concrete particulars. Describe specific objects and occasions using descrptions based in physical reality.

So not, like, "I was so depressed, sitting there."

Maybe more like, "The snail started up the side of the crushed Pepsi can, and I saw that it had two concentric dark rings, in the design on the shell on its back. "