by Juvoni Beckford@juvoni
Before readingWhy I picked it up
I have had numerous recommendations to read this classic book. A major motivation to pick it up was it's focus of style as I want to work on developing my writing voice.
After readingPosted
The elements of style is a guide to set your writing voice free by removing obstacles, like bad grammar, misuse of words, and guiding you with a set of fundamental rules and writing reminders to make it easier for the reader to hear you through your words. This small and opinionated book can serve as a good reference, but I don't think it's the solution to all your writing troubles. Digital Media has disrupted some rules in this book which gave it an outdated feel for some sections as writers are competing for reader's attention, breaking standard rules that rely more on psychological biases than classical grammatical structure. Culture continues to evolve, new rules form and with it style.
Three reasons to read it
- Practical advice on improving writing skills.
- Learn how to cultivate your writing voice.
- Rules for concise writing.
Notable quotesMore in Quotes
Omit needless words.
To achieve style, begin by affecting none.
E.B. WhiteThe mind travels faster than the pen; consequently, writing becomes a question of learning to make occasional wing shots, bringing down the bird of thought as it flashes by. A writer is a gunner, sometimes waiting in the blind for something to come in, sometimes roaming the countryside hoping to scare something up.
E.B. WhiteVigorous writing is concise. 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. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.
When a sentence is made stronger, it usually becomes shorter. Thus, brevity is a by-product of vigor.
Consciously or unconsciously, the reader is dissatisfied with being told only what is not; the reader wishes to be told what is... If your every sentence admits a doubt, your writing will lack authority.
Notes for this book are still being transcribed.
