random tuesday link pack
So the crazy, crazy journal competition that I just finished (and barely survived) last week had very strict rules. We could only refer to the materials in our packets. Consulting outside sources or even PEOPLE was absolutely verboten. No asking for spelling or punctuation help, even. The only execptions were for Black's law dictionary, a regular dictionary, a thesaurus and Strunk and White's Elements of Style.
On the final day of the competition, I went to the library to do the last run-through of revisions, and grabbed the slim volume of Strunk and White. I don't remember which teacher or which class first introduced me to the Elements of Style, but after spending the last week freaking out about whether or not you are supposed to italicize the period after Id., S&W was very comforting. It's not too preachy and lays out a few maxims in breezy, conversational style. It helped me with my hypenation dilemmas and reminded me of my thesis advisor who also believed that one should never begin a sentence with "however." Or at least not with any regularity. I see S&W as a kindly old uncle in a corduroy jacket, giving you aspirations more than rules. I think of them as guidelines that you can get around, but only with a very good reason. (For example, I began a sentence in my journal article with "however," but not without giving it some thought and deciding that all the other options sounded too awkward.)
But apparently I'm crazy. White was a dangerous crank who will only make my writing worse and doesn't even follow his own advice. When the blogging linguists start turning up the heat, damn, is it ever time to get out of the kitchen! There are some holdouts, though. One blog commenter notes: Strunk & White weren't trying to ban Proust or Joyce. They were trying to improve the stuff you get from undergraduates, and senior partners. I have rarely seen a piece of legal writing that wouldn't be improved by rigid Sharia-like adherence to S&W. S&W most reminds me of Plain English for Lawyers, which also encourages you to write shorter, clearer sentences and strip away needless adjectives. It also has a similar small, thin volume. I find that their advice is most useful in the kind of sleeves-rolled-up writing that you need for law stuff, for progress reports, etc. and less so for flights of fancy. Obviously, I blog with as many adverbs and adjectives as I damn well please.
For more colorful (and fiction-oriented) writing advice, check out Murder Your Darlings. (!!)
Also for your reading pleasure: an economic and social analysis of the Israeli kibbutz. Once again, peer pressure and gossip help keep social organizations together!
On the final day of the competition, I went to the library to do the last run-through of revisions, and grabbed the slim volume of Strunk and White. I don't remember which teacher or which class first introduced me to the Elements of Style, but after spending the last week freaking out about whether or not you are supposed to italicize the period after Id., S&W was very comforting. It's not too preachy and lays out a few maxims in breezy, conversational style. It helped me with my hypenation dilemmas and reminded me of my thesis advisor who also believed that one should never begin a sentence with "however." Or at least not with any regularity. I see S&W as a kindly old uncle in a corduroy jacket, giving you aspirations more than rules. I think of them as guidelines that you can get around, but only with a very good reason. (For example, I began a sentence in my journal article with "however," but not without giving it some thought and deciding that all the other options sounded too awkward.)
But apparently I'm crazy. White was a dangerous crank who will only make my writing worse and doesn't even follow his own advice. When the blogging linguists start turning up the heat, damn, is it ever time to get out of the kitchen! There are some holdouts, though. One blog commenter notes: Strunk & White weren't trying to ban Proust or Joyce. They were trying to improve the stuff you get from undergraduates, and senior partners. I have rarely seen a piece of legal writing that wouldn't be improved by rigid Sharia-like adherence to S&W. S&W most reminds me of Plain English for Lawyers, which also encourages you to write shorter, clearer sentences and strip away needless adjectives. It also has a similar small, thin volume. I find that their advice is most useful in the kind of sleeves-rolled-up writing that you need for law stuff, for progress reports, etc. and less so for flights of fancy. Obviously, I blog with as many adverbs and adjectives as I damn well please.
For more colorful (and fiction-oriented) writing advice, check out Murder Your Darlings. (!!)
Also for your reading pleasure: an economic and social analysis of the Israeli kibbutz. Once again, peer pressure and gossip help keep social organizations together!