The Review
THE LITTLE BOOK OF WRITING INSTRUCTIONS - 'The Elements of Style' by William Strunk Jr., and E.B.White. New York: MacMillan Publishing Co, INC. 3rd Edition, 1979. 92 pages
If it is just one book that all aspiring writers must read, then it has to be ‘The Elements of Style’ by William Strunk. Jr. and E.B.White. Now in its fourth edition, this slim book has sold millions of copies and is regarded as a classic. ‘
The Elements of Style’ explains the rules of usage and principles of composition lucidly and guides the writer towards clear and precise writing. It is only eighty-five pages long with just five chapters and explains almost all the rules and principles of composition with examples.
The first chapter lists out eleven elementary rules of usage, including four important principles of punctuation regarding the usage of the comma, the colon and other rules.
The second chapter explains eleven principles of composition- choosing a suitable design, the paragraph as the unit of composition, the active voice and so on.
The third chapter is about rules of form, such as the proper way of using the hyphen, the exclamation point, etc.
The fourth chapter deals with a list of commonly misused words and expressions and explains their correct usage giving examples.
The final and the most important chapter is about style. A list of twenty-two rules of style includes advice like writing naturally, being in the background, working from a suitable design and such advice on writing that no writer can ignore.
If you are an aspiring writer eternally confused about the rules of composition and style, then this book is for you. ‘The Elements of Style’ is worth its weight in gold. Read it to improve your writing.
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