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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
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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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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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Make definite assertions. Avoid tame, colorless, hesitating, non-committal language.
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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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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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None are so fallible as those who are sure they're right.
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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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The situation is perilous, but there is still one chance of escape.
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Rich, ornate prose is hard to digest, generally unwholesome, and sometimes nauseating.
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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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Opinions scattered indiscriminately about leave the mark of egotism.
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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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Vigorous writing is concise.
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To acquire style, begin by affecting none.
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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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It is worse to be irresolute than to be wrong.
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The approach to style is by way of plainness, simplicity, orderliness, sincerity.
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