Sunday 19 December 2010

SHAPE-UP AND WRITE: 6 ABSOLUTE ELEMENTS

Writing with vigour. In The Elements of Style,  William Strunk Jr. created sound advice for authors. Originally written in 1918, this book has been mined for information for a long time. The  11 Elementary Principles of Composition are the keystone of good writing. 
“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.” – William Strunks
Of the 11 elementary principals, there are 6 absolute elements:
  • Write in paragraphs - change when you introduce a new person, place or time

  • Use the active voice.

  • Put statements in positive form.

  • Use definite, specific, concrete language.

  • Omit unnecessary words.

  • Place the emphatic words of a sentence at the end.

I have learned so much during the writing process. I only really understood one of these key principles at the start.

Heading into the season of excess, it is the best time to remember to be vigorous: have fun, shape up and write! 

4 comments:

  1. wow. I mean I pretty much knew all that. although not as concisely - except for that last one. I need to write that one down. On second thought, I'm going to write them all down and tape it to my computer where I'll see it every day. Thank you!

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  2. I'm always lending my copies of Strunk and White to aspiring writers and somehow I never get them back. Just realized I'm out of a copy again. We do need to re-read it often, don't we? We may know this stuff intellectually, but it's harder to actually apply it to our own WIP. Thanks for the reminder.

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  3. I keep hearing about the Strunk and White book. I am going to buy a copy, your post has convinced me.

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  4. Hi ms
    These are the essence of writing. I'm glad they will be useful to you too.

    Hi Anne
    I agree. Applying the rules are the challenge.

    Hi Glynis
    I love the fact that the book has evolved. They are really useful rules.

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