Strunk and White: First Impressions

For simply being a book on the elements of style when it comes to writing, William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White did their trade justice with this 4^th edition book. I found most everything useful and helpful in terms of my own personal writing, and based on technology and the changing of the times, some things that were dated, if you will. A few points stood out in my mind nearing the end of the book. The one thing that I found that helps me with my writing more than anything was number two in the ‘An Approach to Style’ section:
2. Write in a way that comes naturally.
Obviously there are SOME rules you have to conform to depending on why you're writing, what you're writing for and who your audience is. Given those three factors you should always have a writing style that's natural. Trying to conform to a writing style that isn't comfortable to you can make writing much harder than it has to be. I liked the fact that it said "do not assume that because you acted naturally your product is without flaw." (That also ties into the Revise & Rewrite section.) Remembering that the phrases and diction I use in a paper shouldn't be second nature. Luckily for me, I make a point to expand my oral vocabulary daily and I think my writing has since improved. The few elements that I must play devil’s advocate for are numbers nice and ten in the ‘An Approach to Style’ section:
9. Do not affect a breezy manner.
10. Use orthodox spelling.
I think that text messaging has an enormous influence on these two particular elements. First, number ten, orthodox spelling. Acronyms and shorthand is all the rage these days. We’ve discussed in class that High School teachers are actually accepting work with different variations of this text message lingo just to get them to turn in their work. As I mentioned earlier, depending on who or what you are writing for, such unorthodox spelling may be appropriate and could even give some effect. Lastly, number nine, affecting a breezy manner. Personally, I think my writing style is somewhat breezy. So if I’m writing in a way that comes natural to me, these two contradict themselves. I like the quote from the book that said “This is an extreme example, but the same wind blows at lesser velocities…” I don’t think my style is as “breezy” as it could be, but a little breezy none the less. I think just like the unorthodox spelling, if done right, in the correct context and for an audience that might be able to better relate to it, it won’t hurt, and quite possibly could even enhance the quality of your writing.