Writing on Writing: Simplify
If you’re looking for advice on writing, there are innumerable books and articles on writing (Well, duh. –Ed.). Having said that, you can easily cut through all of them and narrow the whole pile down to just two items, one a (very small) book, and the other an essay. I’m speaking from experience here, since every so often I’ll go to the bookstore and add another to the pile, and read a bit, and then allow them to gather dust.
So if you’re looking for just the bare essentials, your starting point should be William Strunk’s The Elements of Style, later edited and updated by E. B. White. Whereas most style manuals are bulky, boring, pedantic, and expensive, Elements is concise and readable (It’s writing, isn’t it readable by definition? –Ed.) (Enough with the editorializing, you. –PB). And did I mention inexpensive?
The other is an essay, George Orwell’s Politics and the English Language. It’s not a primer or a how-to, as such. As is typical of Orwell, it’s more analysis and polemics. It’s also, typically, funny as hell. Anyway, if you’re either a writer or a reader (and I’d hope you’re one or the other, if not both), you need to read this. Yearly, if needed. Sample quotation:
Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Further reading:
You can find Orwell’s Politics and the English Language here, though I’d suggest buying it in the collection A Collection of Essays (Mariner, 1970) along with Strunk and White’s Elements of Style, from your favorite local/indie bookstore.
Tags: E.B. White, George Orwell, William Strunk, writing
January 14th, 2009 at 5:01 am
Some time ago I picked up “Style: Toward Clarity and Grace” by Joseph Williams. It’s chief complaint against Strunk and White is that it tells you what to do, but not how to do it. Williams creates something far more instructive; I saw the clarity of my writing improve dramatically after the first few chapters. Which is why, ahem, I’ve never gone beyond that, although I have reread them. It looks like he’s replaced it with two new books, a longer “Lessons” book and a more succinct “Basics” book.
Thanks for the pointer to Politics and the English Language. I’d never read it before and found it entertaining and thoughtful. Some of the same lessons are mentioned in Style, but I think you have to reread these guidelines regularly to keep from forgetting, or as Orwell suggests, getting corrupted by other people’s bad writing habits.