Comments on Putting the White Back in Strunk and White

Maree Kimberley — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 20:53:02 GMT

Great article! Strunk and White has long been one of my favourite reference books. As a content writer/editor, my most quoted ‘rule’ from the book is ‘Omit needless words’. Like Michael, I hadn’t really thought about how the book also affected my approach to usability design before now.

Michael Kay — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 14:53:08 GMT

I haven’t read Strunk in White in several years since my days in journalism. I never thought about it specifically as a treatise for design, but in retrospect after reading your essay, I see how it has affected not only my approach to UI design, but to many others as well. I like how you created a dialog between Strunk and White, and yourself. Was effective.

martin nickel — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 20:52:34 GMT

And, since we’re launching off in this direction, Rudolph Flesch’ book How to Write, Speak, and Think More Effectively. You might know him as the originator of the readability index bearing his name. The first half of the book sticks to its stated topic. The second wanders into a series of essays on the creative endeavor in general.

Fred Beecher — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 20:52:38 GMT

William Zinsser’s On Writing Well is my grammatical weapon of choice. It focuses on what I would term “concision with style and persuasiveness,” which is always appropriate for the Web.

Austin Govella — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 14:52:59 GMT

Awesome essay on students and masters, knowledge and wisdom.

Another much longer, but similar, book is Robert Bringhurt’s Elements of Typographic Style. The inclusion of best practices as well as clear discussions of the mechanics and history of typography make the book a tad heavy, but I wish there were books like these for all disciplines.

Michael Beavers — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 14:52:58 GMT

What a great place for a review of Strunk & White! I used to use it all the time; it may be time to dust it off and bring it to my office.

For those interested in improving their writing, I highly recommend James J. Kilpatrick’s The Writer’s Art. He will unmangle your most tortured sentences and unmix your metaphors faster than greased lightening on a skateboard.