The Elements of Style by E. B. White
by Parker · 37 things on Twos
- Writing is hard, even for authors who do it all the time
- Write in a way that comes naturally. Revise and rewrite. Do not explain too much. Be clear
- Vigorous 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 sentences short or avoid all detail and treat subjects only in outline, but that every word tell
- Cut “this is a subject that” to “this subject”
- Trim “used for fuel purposes” down to “used for fuel”
- Worse to be irresolute than to be wrong
- If you don't know how to pronounce a word, say it loud!
- Why compound ignorance with inaudibility? Why run and hide?
- The reader was in serious trouble most of the time, floundering in a swamp, and that it was the duty of anyone attempting to write English to drain this swamp quickly and get the reader up on dry ground, or at least to throw a rope
- The pronominal possessives hers, its, theirs, yours, and ours have no apostrophe
- 1. Form the possessive singular of nouns by adding 's. Follow this rule whatever the final consonant. Charles’s
- 2. In a series of three or more terms with a single conjunction, use a comma after each term except the last
- 3. Enclose parenthetic expressions between commas.
- A name or a title in direct address is parenthetic
- No comma, however, should separate a noun from a restrictive term of identification
- Nonrestrictive relative clauses are parenthetic, as are similar clauses introduced by conjunctions indicating time or place. Commas are therefore needed. A nonrestrictive clause is one that does not serve to identify or define the antecedent noun
- 4. Place a comma before a conjunction introducing an independent clause
- 5. Do not join independent clauses with a comma. The correct punctuation is a semi-colon
- 6. Do not break sentences in two. Do not use periods for commas
- 7. Use a colon after an independent clause to introduce a list of particulars, an appositive, an amplification, or an illustrative quotation
- 9. The number of the subject determines the number of the verb
- 11. A participial phrase at the beginning of a sentence must refer to the grammatical subject
- 14. Use the active voice
- 15. Put statements in a positive form
- If your every sentence d admits a doubt, your writing will lack authority
- Save the auxiliaries would, should, could, may, might, and can fit situations involving real uncertainty
- The surest way to arouse snd hold the readers attention is by being specific, definite, and concrete
- 17. Omit needless words
- An article or a preposition applying to all the members of a series must either be used only before the first term or else be repeated before each term
- 20. Keep related words together
- 21. In summaries, keep to one tense
- 22. Place the emphatic words of a sentence at the end
- Do not draw attention to a colloquialism or a slang word by enclosing it in quotation marks
- Exclamation marks are to be reserved for use after true exclamations or commands
- Write with nouns and verbs, not with adjectives and adverbs
- Revising is part of writing
- Avoid the use of qualifiers