adilkalam/elements-of-style

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