- Tags:: 📚Books , Software documentation
- Author:: William Strunk Jr., and E.B. White
- Liked:: 6
- Link:: The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition: Strunk Jr., William, White, E. B., Test Editor, Angell, Roger: 7447521286972: Amazon.com: Books
- Source date:: 1993-07-23
- Finished date:: 2016-01-01
- Cover::
As in 🗞️ The Purpose of Writing:
He felt it was worse to be irresolute than to be wrong.
If you don’t know how to pronounce a word, say it loud! (Location 190)
- Do not join independent clauses with a comma. (Location 311)
…the proper mark of punctuation is a semicolon. (Location 314)
The colon has more effect than the comma, less power to separate than the semicolon, and more formality than the dash. (Location 357)
…dash is a mark of separation stronger than a comma, less formal than a colon, and more relaxed than parentheses. (Location 380)
Use a dash only when a more common mark of punctuation seems inadequate. (Location 386)
When who introduces a subordinate clause, its case depends on its function in that clause. (Location 447)
Writing, to be effective, must follow closely the thoughts of the writer, but not necessarily in the order in which those thoughts occur. (Location 510)
one paragraph to each topic. (Location 518)
As a rule, begin each paragraph either with a sentence that suggests the topic or with a sentence that helps the transition. (Location 534)
Therefore, breaking long paragraphs in two, even if it is not necessary to do so for sense, meaning, or logical development, is often a visual help. But remember, too, that firing off many short paragraphs in quick succession can be distracting. (Location 552)
As in coding:
Put statements in positive form. (Location 585)
Writing is, for most, laborious and slow. The 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. (Location 1582)
to write a biography, you will need at least a rough scheme; you cannot plunge in blindly and start ticking off fact after fact about your subject, lest you miss the forest for the trees and there be no end to your labors. (Location 1610)
ruthlessly delete the excess. (Location 1647)
Rather, very, little, pretty — these are the leeches that infest the pond of prose, sucking the blood of words. (Location 1656)
never seek to know the reader’s wants. Your whole duty as a writer is to please and satisfy yourself, and the true writer always plays to an audience of one. Start sniffing the air, or glancing at the Trend Machine, and you are as good as dead, although you may make a nice living. (Location 1879)