Five Tips to Make You a Better Writer

TIP 3

Read "The Elements of Style"

Written in 1918 by William Strunk, and later championed by E. B. White, The Elements of Style is the gold standard of writing manuals.  This thin volume will keep you from making stupid, amateur mistakes and bring a smile to the face of your Freshman English composition teacher.  My original copy is so old it doesn't have a bar scan code or ISBN number.  I bought it for less than a dollar including tax.  Last count I have more than a half dozen copies of "The Elements of Style" spread around my office.  It is hard to go a single day without stumbling across one.  That's the whole point.  Just by seeing the cover I'm reminded that writing is a craft and not an art.  There are timeless rules that can intentionally be broken for effect.  But if you don't know the rules, you may be breaking a few of them unknowingly which will brand you as an amateur. 

If you are too cheap to buy it, it is available online at Bartleby's online bookstore.    They are a great resource for FREE information, quotes, etc.  You can find them at www.bartleby.com.

Read every word of this book -- it will only take a few hours at the most.  Put it in a drawer and reread it 2 days later.  Thumb through it at least once a month.  And, whenever you happen to stumble across a copy of it in your office, pick it up and read a few pages.  It doesn't matter which ones.  They are all golden.