Strunk and White, First Impressions

As I read Strunk and White’s Elements of Style I found myself thinking everyone knows that on more than one occasion. However, there were other points in the book that made me raise an eyebrow and think a bit more about my own process of writing. I found the “Words and Expressions Commonly Misused” chapter to be helpful in that there were many words in the section that I’ve heard of but never used because I wasn’t quite sure of the definition. I think that this book is one that I would hold on to because much of the information is basic and fundamental, but extremely useful. Also, I thought the most helpful chapter was the last, in which Strunk and White list 21 tips for approaching style. While I think I follow most of the approaches listed already in my writing, there were some that I fail to use as often as I should. The tips I found most problematic in terms of my own writing were: #2 Write in a way that comes naturally, #6 Do not overwrite, and #9 Do not affect a breezy manner. Sometimes I find that if I am required to write a certain kind of genre for a class, I lose my own style of writing because I’m trying so hard to follow other examples of the genre instead of doing what comes naturally for me. In addition, I often overwrite because I don’t feel that I’m successfully getting my point across to my readers, so instead of thinking long and hard about how to make my message clear and to the point, I end up writing more and more. Lastly, I tend to be long-winded in much of my writing. At times, I just get carried away and often think that by making my sentences long and drawn-out I am making them more dramatic and making more of an impact on the reader. I appreciate Strunk and White’s approaches to style because while I may have been aware of my problem areas in writing, it was definitely helpful to see them spelled out on a page in front of me along with suggestions on how to avoid making the mistakes again.

I didn’t agree with Strunk and White’s advice about writing with nouns and verbs. I felt as though they were disregarding the power of the adjective and adverb, both of which I use most often. While they briefly acknowledge the two, I think they place much more emphasis on the use of nouns and verbs, which are important, but don’t always offer as much interest and style as descriptive adjectives and adverbs.

On another note, I just wanted to share Strunk and White’s thought on style and the author’s identity because I found it to be not only eloquent, but absolutely true: “With some writers, style not only reveals the spirit of the man but reveals his identity, as surely as would his fingerprints” (68). Well said!