Thursday, May 26, 2022

Professional Writing Advice

Sandy beach with crashing waves; the phrase "Omit needless words." in white text, credited to William Strunk, Jr., in a brown text box below it and a watermark for QuoteFancy.

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, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.


Strunk, William. Elements of Style. Ithaca, N.Y.: Priv. print. [Geneva, N.Y.: Press of W. F. Humphrey], 1918; Bartleby.com, 1999. https://www.bartleby.com/141/strunk5.html. May 26, 2022.