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That's right-1919. Congress ratified prohibition. Woodrow Wilson presided over the first League of Nations meeting and the "Black Sox" Bribery Scandal rocked our national pastime.
It was also the year a young man at Cornell, known to friends as Andy, took an English composition class taught by Professor William Strunk Jr. A textbook privately printed by the author was required. On campus, it was known as "the little book."
Some thirty-eight years later, in the mid-1950s, this now well-known essayist returned to "the little book." By then, his revered professor had died. But Macmillan commissioned Andy to revise the little book and prepare it for the college textbook and general trade market. The resulting work, The Elements of Style, has never gone out of style-and likely never will. (And Strunk's young student learned well-becoming the master writer we know as, E. B. White.)
If anything, "the little book" is more relevant today. That's because we need its mantra of vigorous, precise and taut writing more than ever, in large part due to a phenomenon even wise old Professor Strunk could never have foreseen: the World Wide Web.
Here, in a mere paragraph, Strunk offers sage advice to would-be Internet copywriters:
"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."
There you have it. In a single, sparse paragraph, everything you need to know about writing for the Internet. People on the Internet seek accurate, precise information in a hurry. Make every word tell.
Strunk & White's advice is equally valid for scripting narration and dialogue. Their guidelines apply directly to writing in a speaking tone of voice. For instance:
1. Use the active voice-it is usually more direct and vigorous than passive voice.
2. Put statements in positive form-"Make definite assertions. Avoid tame, colorless, hesitating, noncommittal language... If your every sentence admits a doubt, your writing will lack authority." Another master teacher of writing, Pulitzer Prize Winner Donald Murray, also points to the significant relationship between the words "author" and "authority."
3. Omit needless words-"Vigorous writing is concise," state Strunk and White. In addition, when writing for media, words translate into screen time. The writer owes it to audience and producer alike to be economical.
My original copy of The Elements of Style is dog-eared. The pages have turned a yellowish-brown hue, making my yellow highlights hard to spot. (I bought a newer edition, but for some reason always turn to the comforting, well-worn version.)
I suggest reading your own copy of The Elements of Style over and over. Its covers contain a wealth of writing wisdom in a compact, "little book."
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