The Elements of Style

[hvindenm]

by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White

Lene suggested this book to help me become a better writer.  I nibbled on a page:

8.  Avoid the use of qualifiers
"Rather, very, little, pretty -- these are the leeches that infest the pond of prose, sucking the blood of words."

Ohhhhh, a grammar book that's fun!  I'm excited to read the rest. :) 

Comments

[gwyneth1362]

I had a copy of that for years, and it never occurred to me to read it for fun. . .

[tedeisenstein]

If you want to see Strunk & White in action, get thee hither to White's Collected Essays. (I think that's what it's called.) Deep, thoughtful prose that's elegantly and simply written, almost deceptively so.

One of my favorite authors, of the type I read just because I love how he writes.

(It's not easy to write elegantly simply. Not at all easy.)

[kitchenkarma]

Oh! You hadn't mentioned the title of the grammar book you were reading. I have read this one and Lene is absolutely correct!