Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!yale-com!byrne From: byrne@yale-com.UUCP (Crenshaw Studebaker) Newsgroups: net.flame Subject: Tips on writing goodly. Message-ID: <1832@yale-com.UUCP> Date: Tue, 2-Aug-83 01:29:48 EDT Article-I.D.: yale-com.1832 Posted: Tue Aug 2 01:29:48 1983 Date-Received: Tue, 2-Aug-83 10:44:00 EDT Lines: 144 "The Elements of Style" by Strunk and White I. Elementary Rules of Usage 1. Form the possessive singular of nouns by adding "'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 4. Place a comma before a conjunction introducing an independent clause 5. Do not join independent clauses by a comma 6. Do not break sentences in two 7. Use a colon after an independent clause to introduce a list of particulars, an appositive, an amplification, or an illustrative quotation 8. Use a dash to set off an abrupt break or interruption and to announce a long appositive or summary 9. The number of the subject determines the number of the verb 10. Use the proper case of pronoun 11. A participial phrase at the beginning of a sentence must refer to the grammatical subject II. Elementary Principles of Composition 12. Choose a suitable design and hold to it 13. Make the paragraph the unti of composition 14. Use the active voice 15. Put statements in positive form 16. Use definite, specific, concrete language 17. Omit needless words 18. Avoid a succession of loose sentences 19. Express coordinate ideas in similar form 20. Keep related words together 21. In summaries, keep to one tense 22. Place the emphatic words of a sentence at the end III. An Approach to Style 1. Place yourself in the background 2. Write in a way that comes naturally 3. Work from a suitable design 4. Write with nouns and verbs 5. Revise and rewrite 6. Do not overwrite 7. Do not overstate 8. Avoid the use of qualifiers 9. Do not affect a breezy manner 10. Use orthodox spelling 11. Do not explain too much 12. Do not construct awkward adverbs 13. Make sure the reader knows who is speaking 14. Avoid fancy words 15. Do not use dialect unless your ear is good 16. Be clear 17. Do not inject opinion 18. Use figures of speech sparingly 19. Do not take shortcuts at the cost of clarity 20. Avoid foreign languages 21. Prefer the standard to the offbeat "The Reader Over Your Shoulder: A Handbook for Writers of English Prose" by Graves and Hodge The Principles of Clear Statement 1. It should always be made clear who is addressing whom, and on the subject of whom. 2. It should always be made clear which of two or more things already mentioned is being discussed. 3. Every unfamiliar subject or concept should be clearly defined; and neither discussed as if the reader knew all about it already nor stylistically disguised. 4. There should never be any doubt left as to where something happened or is expected to happen. 5. There should never be any doubt left as to when. 6. There should never be any doubt left as to how much or how long. 7. There should never be any doubt left as to how many. 8. Every word or phrase should be appropriate to its context. 9. No word or phrase should be ambiguous. 10. Every word or phrase should be in its right place in the sentence. 11. No unintentional contrast between two ideas should be allowed to suggest itself. 12. Unless for rhetorical emphasis, or necessary recapitulation, no idea should be presented more than once in the same prose passage. 13. No statement should be self-evident. 14. No important detail should be omitted from any phrase, sentence, or paragraph. 15. No phrase should be allowed to raise expectations that are not fulfilled. 16. No theme should be suddenly abandoned. 17. Sentences and paragraphs should be linked together logically and intelligibly. 18. Punctuation should be consistent and should denote quality of connexion, rather than length of pause, between sentences or parts of sentences. 19. The order of ideas in a sentence or paragraph should be such that the reader need not rearrange them in his mind. 20. No unnecessary idea, phrase, or word should be included in a sentence. 21. All antitheses should be true ones. 22. Over-emphasis of the illogical sort tolerated in conversation should be avoided in prose. 23. Ideas should not contradict one another, or otherwise violate logic. 24. The writer should not, without clear warning, change his standpoint in the course of a sentence or paragraph. 25. In each list of people or things all the words used should belong to the same category of ideas. The Graces of Prose A. Metaphors should not be mated in such a way as to confuse or distract the reader. B. Metaphors should not be piled on top of one another. C. Metaphors should not be in such close association with unmetaphorical language as to produce absurdity or confusion. D. Characteristically poetical expressions should not be used in prose. E. Except where the writer is being deliberately facetious, all phrases in a sentence, or sentences in a paragraph, should belong to the same vocabulary or level of language. F. No reference should be unnecessarily obscure. G. All ideas should be expressed concisely but without discourteous abruptness. H. The descriptive title of a person or thing should not be varied merely for the sake of elegance. I. Sentences should not be so long that the reader loses his way in them. J. No unnecessary strain should be put on the reader's memory. K. The same word should not be so often used in the same sentence or paragraph that it becomes tedious. L. Words which rhyme or form a jingle should not be allowed to come too close together. M. Alliteration should be sparingly used. N. The same word should not be used in different senses in the same passage, unless attention is called to the difference. O. The rhetorical device of pretending to hesitate in a choice between two words or phrases is inappropriate to modern prose. P. Even when the natural order of its words is modified for the sake of emphasis, a sentence must not read unnaturally.