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A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.
William Strunk, Jr.
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William Strunk, Jr.
Age: 77 †
Born: 1869
Born: July 1
Died: 1946
Died: September 26
Professor
Writer
Cincinnati
Ohio
Machines
Paragraph
Parts
Vigorous
Lines
Contain
Words
Unnecessary
Reason
Sentence
Writing
Machine
Sentences
Concise
Drawing
Brevity
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The approach to style is by way of plainness, simplicity, orderliness, sincerity.
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To air one's views gratuitously, is to imply that the demand for them is brisk.
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Every writer, by the way he uses the language, reveals something of his spirit, his habits, his capacities, his bias....Avoid the elaborate, the pretentious, the coy, and the cute. Do not be tempted by a twenty-dollar word when there is a ten-center handy, ready and able.
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Remember, it is no sign of weakness or defeat that your manuscript ends up in need of major surgery. This is a common occurrence in all writing, and among the best writers.
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Rewrite and revise. Do not be afraid to seize what you have and cut it to ribbons ... Good writing means good revising.
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In exposition and in argument, the writer must likewise never lose his hold upon the concrete and even when he is dealing with general principles, he must furnish particular instances of their application.
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Instead of announcing what you are about to tell is interesting, make it so.
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It is worse to be irresolute than to be wrong.
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A dash is a mark of separation stronger than a comma, less formal than a colon, and more relaxed than parentheses.
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Avoid fancy words....If you admire fancy words, if every sky is beauteous, every blonde curvaceous, every intelligent child prodigious, if you are tickled by discombobulate, you will have bad time Reminder 14.
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A drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.
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If you don't know how to pronounce a word, say it loud!
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The surest way to arouse and hold the attention of the reader is by being specific, definitive, and concrete. The greatest writers - Homer, Dante, Shakespeare - are effective largely because they deal in particulars and report the details that matter. Their words call up pictures.
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If you use a colloquialism or a slang word or phrase, simply use it do not draw attention to it by enclosing it in quotation marks. To do so is to put on airs, as though you were inviting the reader to join you in a select society of those who know better.
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Rich, ornate prose is hard to digest, generally unwholesome, and sometimes nauseating.
William Strunk, Jr.
