Dear Gen-Yers,
People tell me you are not a generation of readers. On the other hand, I can see you are all indefatigable writers. You blog, tweet, text, and chat constantly. You write in coffee shops, on park benches, and while watching television. Many of you can write while dancing. Honestly, I don't know how you do it.
U write 24/7. HCIT?
I hear some of you would like to become better writers, on the condition it won't take too long or cost too much money, lol. Believe it or not, for just $1.74 you can improve literally overnight. Simply go online and purchase a used, paperback copy of The Elements of Style, Third Edition, written by William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White. This rhetoric rulebook is a masterpiece on the art of writing well and it's a surprisingly quick read. The Elements of Style is so slim, it'll fit in the pocket of your hoodie.
(Elements of Style Rule #17: Omit needless words!)
You don't have time for needless words. In the blogosphere, writers have only a few seconds to arouse a reader's interest. Once you've got it, the best way to hold a reader's attention is by being specific. "Golfers, the new square driver sucks," is too vague. The Elements of Style will teach you how to emulate the vivid imagery of seasoned pros: "Few golfers like hitting a driver that looks like a brick and sounds like a cow bell."
(Elements of Style Rule #16: Use concrete language. The best writers report the details that matter. Their words call up pictures.)
In the book's chapter on misused words, you'll learn why "clever" means one thing when applied to a Jason Bourne movie and something entirely different when applied to a Triple Crown racehorse. You'll learn why you felt nauseated -- not nauseous -- watching Tucker Carlson on Dancing With The Stars. You'll learn that qualifiers (very, rather, pretty, kinda) weaken your writing.
(Elements of Style Reminder #8: Avoid the use of qualifiers. We should all be very watchful of this rule, for it is a rather important one and we are pretty sure to violate it now and then.)
"But," you may ask, "What if I'm a genius? Won't rules stifle my creativity?"
You must first know the rules of grammar before you can ingeniously break them.
(Elements of Style Reminder #21: What may seem like pioneering may be merely laziness. Writing good standard English is no cinch, and before you have managed it you will have encountered enough rough country to satisfy even the most adventurous spirit.)
It may come as a bit of a shock to learn I'm recommending a style guide that first appeared in
1919, when professor Will Strunk wrote it for his students at Cornell University. One of his students was E. B. White, who wrote the children's classic Charlotte's Web and countless articles for The New Yorker and other literary magazines. White updated The Elements of Style with 1959's Third Edition, adding fresh examples and a must-read chapter on how to write with style.
"Write with nouns and verbs," advised White. "The adjective hasn't been built that can pull a weak noun out of a tight place." That's especially good advice for bloggers, because not only will it improve your writing, it will improve your internet page rankings since nouns attract search engines to your post.
"Make definite assertions!" said Strunk, who loved the bold as much as he scorned the colorless. Although first published nearly a century ago, The Elements of Style is astonishingly relevant today. What's more, this book accomplishes the seemingly impossible: it actually makes grammar and syntax interesting.
(Okay, not as interesting as a Stephen King novel, but did you know that The Elements of Style was the rhetoric rulebook King kept next to his typewriter, when he was a 20-something writer?)
Even if you suspect good writing is more than a trick of grammar, buy the book for White's advice on the other essential ingredient: having something worthwhile to say. It could be the best $1.74 you ever spend.
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P.S. The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging is pretty good, too.
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