elements-of-style

name	elements-of-style
description	High-impact writing rules from Strunk's Elements of Style (1918, public domain). Focused on active voice, conciseness, specificity, and positive form. Use when editing prose for clarity and force.

Elements of Style -- Core Rules

These rules have the highest impact on writing quality. Apply them to all prose output.

Rule 1: Use the active voice

The active voice is more direct and vigorous than the passive.

Weak (passive)	Strong (active)
My first visit to Boston will always be remembered by me.	I shall always remember my first visit to Boston.
There were a great number of dead leaves lying on the ground.	Dead leaves covered the ground.
The reason that he left college was that his health became impaired.	Failing health compelled him to leave college.
It was not long before he was very sorry that he had said what he had.	He soon repented his words.

Avoid making one passive depend directly upon another. The passive voice is acceptable when the receiver of the action is the topic of the paragraph.

Rule 2: Put statements in positive form

Make definite assertions. Avoid tame, colorless, hesitating, non-committal language. Use not as a means of denial or antithesis, never as evasion.

Weak (negative evasion)	Strong (positive)
He was not very often on time.	He usually came late.
not honest	dishonest
did not remember	forgot
did not pay any attention to	ignored
did not have much confidence in	distrusted

Rule 3: Use definite, specific, concrete language

Prefer the specific to the general, the definite to the vague, the concrete to the abstract.

Vague	Concrete
A period of unfavorable weather set in.	It rained every day for a week.
He showed satisfaction as he took possession of his well-earned reward.	He grinned as he pocketed the coin.

Rule 4: Omit needless words

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, but that he make every word tell.

Wordy	Concise
the question as to whether	whether
there is no doubt but that	no doubt
used for fuel purposes	used for fuel
he is a man who	he
in a hasty manner	hastily
owing to the fact that	since
the fact that he had not succeeded	his failure

Rule 5: Avoid a succession of loose sentences

Do not construct too many sentences of two co-ordinate clauses joined by and, but, so, who, which, when. Vary sentence structure: use simple sentences, semicolon-joined clauses, periodic sentences, and sentences of three clauses.

Words to Watch

These words often signal weak writing. When you spot them, consider revision:

• case, character, nature -- Usually redundant ("acts of a hostile character" becomes "hostile acts")
• factor, feature -- Hackneyed; replace with something more direct
• interesting -- Don't announce; demonstrate
• very -- Use sparingly; prefer words strong in themselves
• however -- Not to come first in its sentence when meaning "nevertheless"
• literally -- Often incorrectly used to support exaggeration