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Young writers often suppose that style is a garnish for the meat of prose, a sauce by which a dull dish is made palatable. Style has no such separate entity; it is nondetachable, unfilterable. The beginner should approach style warily, realizing that it is himself he is approaching, no other; and he should begin by turning resolutely away from all devices that are popularly believed to indicate style - all mannerisms, tricks, adornments. The approach to style is by way of plainness, simplicity, orderliness, sincerity.
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The Elements of Style by William Strunk & E.B. White challenged so much of what I knew about writing when I first read it at eighteen years old. I had arrogantly assumed that the praise from teachers throughout high school for my ability to properly use and identify a gerund equated brilliance. I realized after reading this during freshman year of college how little I understood the craft of writing - and I have worked hard in the seven years since to improve my writing through simplification. The most important lesson that I learned was that one must fully understand the rules of writing and only then should one attempt to break or improve upon them.
The few times each year that I reference The Elements of Style, I am still impressed by its simplicity and its power. I am reminded that despite my improvement and how comfortable I am writing as I’ve found my voice, there is still so much room for improvement - although I would hope that if I am still writing into my 80s that there still will be.
If you write and do not own The Elements of Style, it’s $0.36 for a used copy on Amazon. Read it. Understand it. Play with it. Disagree with it. Make it your Bible. Then give the damn thing away and get writing. You can buy another copy later.
(via fortuneandglory)
