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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.

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
Matter
Reader
Shakespeare
Dante
Writing
Deal
Concrete
Particulars
Way
Hold
Reports
Arouse
Deals
Specific
Definitive
Greatest
Effective
Homer
Call
Pictures
Surest
Attention
Details
Report
Words
Writers
Largely

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Instead of announcing what you are about to tell is interesting, make it so.
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Vigorous writing is concise.
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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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Rich, ornate prose is hard to digest, generally unwholesome, and sometimes nauseating.
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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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Never call a stomach a tummy without good reason.
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The adjective hasn't been built that can pull a weak or inaccurate noun out of a tight place.
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A drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.
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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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Make definite assertions. Avoid tame, colorless, hesitating, non-committal language.
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To acquire style, begin by affecting none.
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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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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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The approach to style is by way of plainness, simplicity, orderliness, sincerity.
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Opinions scattered indiscriminately about leave the mark of egotism.
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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.
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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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If you don't know how to pronounce a word, say it loud!
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