Initial Reading of Strunk and White's "Elements of Style"

I have learned about Strunk and White’s "The Elements of Style," in other classes and I find it to be very helpful with my writing.
There is only one rule I found that doesn’t apply to the journalistic style of writing, which I use most often. That rule is, “In a series of three or more terms with a single conjunction, use a comma after each term except the last.” (2) An example of this is, “At the grocery store I bought apples, oranges, and bananas.” According to Strunk and White, the last comma is called the serial comma.(2) I learned in a news writing class, and through the AP Stylebook, that journalism does not use a serial comma.
I found three rules that are especially important to the journalistic type of writing I want to pursue professionally. The first of these rules is “Use the active voice.” (18) I learned in a modern grammar class that active voice is the most basic expression of core meaning that a sentence can have. This means that active voice makes the point of the sentence clear to the reader. Active voice begins with a subject, followed by a verb. Therefore, the subject of the sentence is the one performing the action, and is not having the action performed to them. An example of active voice is, “The dog bit the man.” The opposite of active voice is passive voice. An example of passive voice is, “The man was bit by the dog.” According to Strunk and White, “The active voice is usually more direct and vigorous than the passive.” (18) Furthermore, “…when a sentence is made stronger, it usually becomes shorter. Thus, brevity is a by-product of vigor.” (19)
Another rule that applies to journalism, and is particularly important to making your writing clear and understandable, is to “Omit needless words.” (23) According to this rule, every word used should have a meaning and reason to be there. Strunk and White state that, “every word should tell.” (23). Omitting needless words allows your writing to be concise. One example, particularly mentioned in Strunk and White, is the phrase, “the fact that.” (24) Instead of saying, “I was unaware of the fact that…,” it is better to write, “I was unaware that…,” or “I did not know…” (24) Making your writing longer than it needs to be only makes it harder for the reader to read, and complicates the point of the sentences. The error of using unnecessary words is also referred to by Strunk and White as “wordiness.” (24)
The final rule that I found that is important to journalism, and is a rule that I need to work on most, is “Put statements in positive form.” (19) According to this rule, we must be careful about using negation, especially the word “not”. An example of this rule is the phrase, “I did not remember.” A better form of the sentence is, “I forgot.” (20) The second sentence is more concise and omits needless words. This rule, for me, requires close reading and revising. The key to each of these rules is to analyze what you write and make corrections, and through practice they will become habit.

Peer-Review Review

I really liked using Google Docs to do peer review. One thing I liked about it is that the revisions are neat and you don’t have to worry about having enough space to write a comment. Someone in class also brought up the point that it is easy to read corrections and the author doesn’t have to decipher messy handwriting. I actually like peer editing, for once, and I’m looking forward to using Google Docs again. I can see how it is an effective tool for even professional writing, and I can see myself utilizing it in the future outside of this class.
I also liked all the features of the program, specifically the comment boxes. They make it easy for multiple people to give you feed back without making a mess of the document. Although I didn’t use it, I also liked the strike through tool.
Overall, I received a lot of useful feedback, and I didn’t have to ask any of my group members for clarification of their corrections. I wish they would have commented more about the organization of the essay, but I probably could have looked at their essays’ composition more closely, as well. Next time I will also comment where I agree with other group members revisions. I didn’t this time because I thought it would be redundant and the author would feel like I was just piling it on, but I realize now that concurring advice only strengthens the argument for correction.

My Writing Technology (Cont.)

I realized that I didn’t follow the directions for the post titled, “My writing technology,” so I’m going to correct that with a brief follow-up.
I have a technological disaster at my house. I have my boyfriend’s gigantic old laptop, along with two PC hard drives. My new internet is only installed on one of the hard drives, and my ancient printer is only installed on the other. We have misplaced the disc for the printer. The internet has also been sporadic, recently.
However, I did purchase an old-new computer from a friend (new to me, and old to him), and we have a new printer, so within the next few days I should be in a much better technological environment. I still need a new monitor, and even the desk is inefficient.
When it comes to writing, I prefer to write longhand. I can type faster, and would probably rather type if I had a better laptop. I don’t usually sit at a desk to type, or at least not the desk I’m currently using.
I tend to be somewhat picky about the conditions I write in, and I can’t imagine what it would be like to write without, at least, pen and pencil.

My Writing Technology

I have never given a lot of thought to the luxury we have as writers, in this era of technology. After reflecting on the history of writing, it is obvious that there are many things we take for granted, which are incredibly basic to our daily life. This project made me remember a time in elementary school when a teacher punished a fellow student by requiring the student to write an essay about "the pencil". I now realize that the pencil is actually a very interesting topic.
After a couple weeks of brainstorming, I have come up with the pieces of "primitive" writing technology that I will use for our first writing project. I initially wanted to use wood blocks, but that would require a lot of extra technology to produce a surface conducive to writing. I decided, instead, to look around my backyard and in my mother's garden. There I found a white, gigantic "moon flower", and while it is delicate, it is a very unique and transportable surface to write on. My next mission was to decide on a writing utensil. I thought about using something as simple as my finger, but then I came upon a feather and was reminded that feathers were at one time a primary writing tool. Finally, I decided that the best thing to use to make the writing will be crushed berries, which were also at one time a major part of the writing and dye process. I am really excited to share the results of what I have completed and I have a much greater appreciation for the technology we have today, after doing the research for this project.

What is style?

Style, from what I can gather, is a set of guidelines and principles that help writers write properly. There are different styles for different functions of writing. Style applied to literature is much different than the Associated Press style of journalism. In any case, style leads to effective writing. Style must be mastered in order to connect properly with the reader. Rules of style are not always absolute. Experienced writers can develop their own personal style and know when it is appropriate to break the rules. Style implies a sense of correctness and deals directly with the prescriptive rules of grammar. Writing-style, like other uses of the word, involves expressing oneself, while at the same time pleasing the audience. According to introductions in our texts, style is concerned with usage, composition, form, cleanliness and accuracy of writing. Style guides writing so that it becomes concise, focused and organized, as explained on the back cover of Style Toward Clarity and Grace. In my opinion, one of the most important rules of style is to omit needless words and only include language that has meaning and impact. Style teaches us to trim the fat from our ideas, which allows us to get to the point and present information clearly.

Getting Started

Hello, my name is Rachelle Marshall and this is my first post for the semester. I am majoring in Journalism and my minor is Language, Literature and Writing. I am looking forward to sharpening my writing skills while becoming more motivated about the internet and more efficient with the technological tools available to me. On that note, I hope this posting is successful...