Make every word tell
"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." From The Elements of Style, by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White.
When I first read The Elements of Style I was young and thought that I was a pretty good writer. This book taught me that that there is always room for improvement. It wasn’t just the guidance the book offered – every self-help book on English usage is chockfull of language tips – but the motivation to be a better writer imbued in every sentence, on all 105 pages. Writing this good on writing well is inspiration disguised as a grammar lesson.
I still pick up The Elements of Style periodically and page through it. I learn something new with each reading. The other day I was looking at the book and observed something I hadn’t noticed before just from reading the dust jacket. There is a quote on the front of the removable sleeve (3rd edition) from someone at the New York Times that had reviewed the book. It was the kind of sentence that someone would write only after reading this book.
“Buy it, study it, enjoy it. It's as timeless as a book can be in our age of volubility.” The New York Times
Concise. No unnecessary words or sentences. Speaks right to the heart of the book. On the back of the dust jacket there were these words of praise:
“No book in shorter space, with fewer words, will help any writer more than this persistent little volume.” The Boston Globe
Damn vigorous writing!
I decided to check out what Amazon.com had to say about The Elements of Style:
“A masterpiece in the art of clear and concise writing, and an exemplar of the principles it explains.” Amazon.com
You go, Amazon!
If only all book reviewers adhered to the guidelines offered in The Elements of Style. Okay, so not all writing benefits from such a sparing use of language. Otherwise all of our books would be little more than a hundred pages long. But there is something desirable about a brutally concise description of a book that tells us everything we need to know in just a few words. Like a packaged bologna sandwich on white bread staring back at you from a vending machine: you know what it is and you know if you want it pretty much right away.
On the bestseller list at Amazon is John Grisham’s new novel, The Last Juror. The editorial review goes on for two lengthy paragraphs and by the end I am no closer to knowing if I really want to read this book (I don’t, I hate Grisham, I’m just building to a punch line here). A review from a customer in Tucson, Arizona was more useful. He gave it one star and had this to say: “Reading this book is less exciting than listening to Nora Jones.” Eleven words that pretty much say it all in a sentence that would make Strunk and White proud.
6:49:43 PM 
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