Hi, all. About two weeks ago, my lungs turned into the La Brea tar pits, and I've been a wheezing bag of slime ever since. Luckily, in between games of Super Mario Galaxy and meals of greasy breakfast foods, I've found a few interesting things to read. Here are two pieces I'd recommend to anyone interested in dusting off the old quill and inkwell.
Through Merlin Mann's wonderful blog on 43folders.com, I found a short essay by Kurt Vonnegut entitled, "How to Write With Style." The entire article is here and you can read it in 5 minutes if you don't get distracted - more difficult than it sounds while at your computer, I know - but I'll summarize it for the convenience of those short on time or up too late (like me).
- Find a subject you care about
- Do not ramble, though
- Keep it simple
- Have guts to cut
- Sound like yourself
- Say what you mean
- Pity the readers
My favorite line from the piece is the last paragraph for point 5:
I myself find that I trust my own writing most, and others seem to trust it most, too, when I sound most like a person from Indianapolis, which is what I am. What alternatives do I have? The one most vehemently recommended by teachers has no doubt been pressed on you, as well: to write like cultivated Englishmen of a century or more ago.
For those with lengthier attention spans, take a look at The Elements of Style, by William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White. (Coincidentally, I was about halfway through this book when I read the Vonnegut essay, which recommends Elements of Style at the end.) The advice is more mechanical & dry: omit needless words, use the active voice, keep related words together, etc. These guidelines are linked by the book's central theme: writing should be clear and vigorous. Strunk best expresses this idea with four words, elegantly practicing what he preaches: every word must tell. There's also a great analogy in there about how there are no unnecessary lines in a drawing, so why should there be unnecessary words in a book; unfortunately, my copy of the book is 1,700 miles away right now (Stories of the Road returns soon!) so I can't quote it exactly.
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Lucy & I collaborated on a comic! I wrote it based on a true story about our internet French lessons. Guess which version is mine and which is hers.
2 comments:
Have you seen the editions of the Illustrated White & Strunk? It's beautiful, if not a little antithetical to the mandates of directness given by the authors.
It's also interesting to compare the Strunk & White against just the Strunk -- White didn't get involved until later edits. The Strunk can be found online, as it's no longer protected under copyright.
Yeah, I'm reading the illustrated version of EoS - in fact, I'm reading a copy signed by the artist, Maria Kalman, and personalized for my girlfriend. That's the main reason why I didn't take it with me on the flight :).
Also, the Wikipedia article I linked for EoS talked about the differences between the earlier & later editions, but I didn't look into it. For anyone interested, here's a link to the full first edition j mentions.
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