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

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If you don't know how to pronounce a word, say it loud!
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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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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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The approach to style is by way of plainness, simplicity, orderliness, sincerity.
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None are so fallible as those who are sure they're right.
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To acquire style, begin by affecting none.
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Never call a stomach a tummy without good reason.
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Vigorous writing is concise.
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Make definite assertions. Avoid tame, colorless, hesitating, non-committal language.
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To air one's views gratuitously, is to imply that the demand for them is brisk.
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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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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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It is worse to be irresolute than to be wrong.
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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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The situation is perilous, but there is still one chance of escape.
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