Today I’m feeling quite appreciative of William Strunk and E.B. White and their writer’s bible, The Elements of Style.

I love this book so much that I’ve memorized a whole chapter, which is helpful, because I don’t have the book in front of me right now. So here goes with Rule 13:

“Omit needless words.”

Yes, that was it. Though I’m not sure which of the authors had the idea to write such a short and insanely helpful chapter, I always imagine it was William Strunk, because a.) He looks like a taskmaster b.) While E.B. White went on to write Charlotte’s Web, Stuart Little, etc. William Strunk seemed to decide that further words beyond his imminently helpful style guide were well, needless.

As a writer, economy is my first rule. I have expounded on this at length in an earlier, rather argumentative post on the Flesch-Kincaid scale. When writing I look at every word and make sure it added to the sentence. Then I look at every sentence and make sure that it moved the piece forward. (Except for these blog posts, in which I allow myself a little much needed latitude.) That’s not to say that I’m the best, most economical, Strunkian writer in the world, but I do worship at the altar of Strunk, and I think the guy was brilliant.

Also, William Strunk would have beat SEO content with his cane.

So, when editing that concise piece of marketing collateral or ad copy, take a great man’s advice by asking yourself, “What would William Strunk do?”

(Intrigued? You can win a copy of Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style and a bushel of other writer’s bibles by entering this FreelanceWriterville contest by April 30, 2009!)