I had this handy because I recommended it a much younger friend a couple of days ago.
The Elements of Style: The Original Edition
“The Elements of Style”, was first written by William Strunk in 1918 for private use at Cornell University, where Strunk was a professor of English, and republished by Harcourt in 1920 for the public. The concise handbook remains one of the most important and influential English writing style guides ever published. The original edition of the guide is organized into eight elementary rules of usage (such as using the active voice rather than the passive), ten elementary rules of composition (including the rule of omitting needless words), several matters of form, 49 commonly misused words and expressions, and 57 words often misspelled. The result is an efficient and pragmatic guide to help produce writing that is clear and understandable, in which every word is important. In 1957 while at “The New Yorker” writer E. B. White, who had studied under Strunk, called the guide “a forty-three-page summation of the case for cleanliness, accuracy, and brevity in the use of English.” “The Elements of Style” remains an effective and helpful guide for anyone who wishes to write with greater order, simplicity, and sincerity.
Every time that “The Elements of Style” comes up I immediately think that there is no way that Stephen Crane would have ever become an author if his editor had access to it.
Not sure about “greater order, simplicity, and sincerity” but in my world accuracy and completeness are at the top of the list. Way, way back in my lit studying days the writing coach guys liked to point out most publications meant for general audiences were written at the high school sophomore level. And that’s perty much true even in the technical stuff I use even tho here might be a bunch of big mumbo jumbo words that wouldn’t mean much to a sophomore.
https://x.com/rawsalerts/status/1844861906361909266?
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/10/dozens-thieves-ransack-freight-train-chicago-video/