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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
Drawing
Machines
Parts
Concise
Lines
Brevity
Writing
Paragraph
Vigorous
Unnecessary
Machine
More quotes by William Strunk, Jr.
Vigorous writing is concise.
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Instead of announcing what you are about to tell is interesting, make it so.
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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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Make definite assertions. Avoid tame, colorless, hesitating, non-committal language.
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Opinions scattered indiscriminately about leave the mark of egotism.
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If you don't know how to pronounce a word, say it loud!
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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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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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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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It is worse to be irresolute than to be wrong.
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Rich, ornate prose is hard to digest, generally unwholesome, and sometimes nauseating.
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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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The situation is perilous, but there is still one chance of escape.
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To air one's views gratuitously, is to imply that the demand for them is brisk.
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To acquire style, begin by affecting none.
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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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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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...when a sentence is made stronger, it usually becomes shorter. Thus, brevity is a by-product of vigor.
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The approach to style is by way of plainness, simplicity, orderliness, sincerity.
William Strunk, Jr.
