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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
Parts
Concise
Lines
Brevity
Writing
Paragraph
Vigorous
Unnecessary
Machine
Drawing
Machines
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To acquire style, begin by affecting none.
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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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Opinions scattered indiscriminately about leave the mark of egotism.
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Rich, ornate prose is hard to digest, generally unwholesome, and sometimes nauseating.
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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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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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It is worse to be irresolute than to be wrong.
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Instead of announcing what you are about to tell is interesting, make it so.
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The approach to style is by way of plainness, simplicity, orderliness, sincerity.
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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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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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Make definite assertions. Avoid tame, colorless, hesitating, non-committal language.
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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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