Check out almost any book on 'how to write' and you'll find absurd advice about not using adjectives and adverbs, avoiding split infinitives, making sure you rarely use the passive voice. For a while I used to think this advice had some value behind it, but I became convinced in the end that most of it was valueless: it lessened the ways in which you could write with style, and was usually at odds with the way real writers actually write.
It seems as though much of the blame may be put at the feet of the venerable Strunk and White book, The Elements of Style. In an article entitled, 50 Years of Stupid Grammar Advice, Geoffrey Pullum certainly believes the blame should be. He lists a number of downright errors in the book, and shows how even the two authors inadvertently ignored their own advice - within their own pages.
As Pullum notes, William Strunk was a professor of English at Cornell about a hundred years ago and E.B. White, later the much-admired author of Charlotte's Web, took English with him in 1919. (White was also the author of Stuart Little.)
Nowadays, if I read a book on writing, I tend to ignore the stuff about passives and so on. A darn good passive in the right place is an apt thing. A split infinitive handled well is beautiful. And as for dislodging adjectives and adverbs, it seems plain that Strunk and White must either have used a simplified version of English in their everyday speech, or else wrote the book as something of a hoax!
6 comments:
Interesting thoughts, Mike. I've emailed this link to my writer's group (5 other guys) including Josh Mosey, whom you posted on previously. All of us struggle with style (we're all newbies to writing) and have read or used this book in some way.
Everyone seems to regard it so highly, but now you've got me thinking otherwise....
Do you have a recommendation for a good book on writing?
Two others I've read and loved are: "On Writing" by S. King and "On Writing Well" by W. Zinser.
Andrew
I think everyone does regard it highly, so for me it was interesting to find someone condemning it so strongly. Admittedly I've never read it (not being a citizen of the USA) but it's influence is enormous.
I've read and enjoyed King's book: thought it was more down-to-earth and practical than many; it's a long time since I read Zinser, so can't remember much of what he said. I know there was another one on writing, by an English author. Some of what he said aligned with Strunk and White, although perhaps he used more good sense about those issues. I'll have to check when I get home from work what the title was.
Thanks for the response, Mike. If you have time, I'd like to know what other book you're talking about - I'm always looking for a good book on writing. Also, I didn't realize you were from outside the U.S., I'd love to read more international thoughts on style, etc.
AR
Forgot to check this out last night, Andrew, but I'll make a note to do it tonight. Unfortunately, the book may well be out of print, but these days that's not so much of a problem...!
I agree with you about many aspects of Strunk & White - their views on the correct use of "that" and "which" are a bugbear of mine - but I think they have a point about the excessive use of adjectives and, in particular, adverbs. I do some editing from time to time, and I'd say that "cut back on the adverbs" is one of the most common pieces of advice I offer, especially to poets.
The reason, I think, is that a verb that needs to be qualified by an adverb can often replaced by a different, more precise verb, and that doing so strengthens the impact of the poem. So, I would say "treat Strunk & White with caution, but not with scorn".
I agree with Andrew about Steven King's "On Writing". I have not read Anne Lamott's "Bird on Bird", but a number of good writers have recommended it as a book on writing.
Thanks for your comments, Tim. Yes, I agree with your notes on adverbs - especially in poetry, where there's not enough 'room' for them, often. So Strunk and White can get up from the gutter where they're just been shoved. We just won't allow them on the kerb!
Anne Lamott's Bird on Bird is marvellous, because it's so witty, down-to-earth, and realistic about just how tough writing can be. I always remember her chapter on 'Shitty First Drafts' and the basic need to write before you start editing.
Which reminds me that I still haven't checked up on the book I was going to look out for Andrew. Slack.
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