Strunk and White's Elements of Style question

[Edoc'sil]

So I was thinking of picking up Strunk and White's Elements of Style and I wondered if it mattered that it's a book on American English, rather than my native UK English. I know there are some subtle differences between them, but I am assuming the grammar is more or less the same.

Also any recommendations on books to specifically help my grammar are welcome. I've been looking through the listings on this site (specifically the ones mentioned here: Writing Resources Index Thread) and it seems as if there are a lot of things for more experienced writers on how to craft your writing for what you desire to portray. I want to start at the beginning, as I feel there are basic errors that are holding me back.

 

[Toby Frost]

I think it would generally be a useful book. There are different words (faucet for tap, etc) and different usages (blocks for streets when measuring distance in a city, etc), but the grammar is extremely similar when using formal written English. I'm sure there are others, but the only grammatical differences that immediately spring to my mind are "gotten" for "got" and the American "I could care less" instead of "I couldn't care less". On balance, it would be useful.

Generally speaking, the big grammatical errors that I see in people's writing are run-on sentences and the punctuation of dialogue.

 

[Wayne Mack]

I am a fan of The Elements of Style -- it is a relatively short book and is written in an engaging manor. Although it has a list of grammar suggestions, the main focus is to be focused on the reader. For everyday grammar questions, though, I am more likely to use an internet search. Still, I would give Strunk and White a strong recommendation for any writer.

 

[The Judge]

I've never looked at S&W so can't help you there, but I'm pretty sure there are some differences in punctuation as well as grammar generally between the US and UK. eg from what I've seen, most US writers use a capital letter after a colon, whereas Brits tend to remain in lower case, and eg in the US it's "different than" whereas in the UK it should be "different from/to".

As to style generally, never forget that style depends on the medium for the writing -- a newspaper report is very different in style from a company paper which is different from a police report which is different from a student essay which is different from a novel etc etc. And within fiction, style might also differ according to voice, POV and the specific story being told. Obviously, the thing they have most in common is a need to be understood by the proposed reader, but even that can mean different things, and not every successful novel has a style that is actually easy to comprehend.


Have you seen The Toolbox? That offers some help with regard to general issues of writing, including some grammatical points. If you have specific questions, you can raise them there. (There's also an edited version of it, which just has the most important posts giving help, rather than all the discussions and comments The Toolbox -- The Important Bits)

 

[Edoc'sil]

Ah! I knew I had been looking somewhere else before, and I couldn't find it again. Silly me, must have overlooked it. Thanks TJ!

 

[JS Wiig]

Really like these two myself:

Write Right!: A Desktop Digest of Punctuation, Grammar, and Style: Venolia, Jan: 9781580083287: Amazon.com: Books

Write Right!: A Desktop Digest of Punctuation, Grammar, and Style [Venolia, Jan] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Write Right!: A Desktop Digest of Punctuation, Grammar, and Style

www.amazon.com

Sin and Syntax: How to Craft Wicked Good Prose: Hale, Constance: 9780385346894: Amazon.com: Books

Sin and Syntax: How to Craft Wicked Good Prose [Hale, Constance] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Sin and Syntax: How to Craft Wicked Good Prose

www.amazon.com