Elements of Style

The Elements of Style. By William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White.

This little book is a classic. Many of the best writers reread it every year. Pay special attention to Rule 17: "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 his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell." At 105 pages, this book practices what it preaches.

May 11, 2000 | BY JONATHAN DUBE