Writers on Writing

This article talks about several different ways to improve your writing, some much more specific then others. For example, his first point is to "never open a book with weather." Your readers are looking for details on your characters, not what the weather is like.
He also talks about never using a verb other than "said" to carry your dialogue. When you get too wordy or use words that no one knows, you'll lose the interest of your readers and interrupt the flow of your story. Keep it simple.
The same goes for using adverbs to modify the word "said." If you do this, you'll become too wordy and complicate your story. You may lose the attention of your reader.
I also learned that you want to avoid detailed descriptions of your characters. It's important to provide description of your characters, but keep it simple. By keeping it simple you aren't over-complicating your story, but you are still giving your readers the chance to understand your characters.

Lastly, you don't want to go into too much detail describing places and things, similar to your characters. By rambling on about the setting or the brisk wind, you are interrupting the flow of your story and losing the attention of your readers.