GETTING TO THE POINT
Audiences everywhere appreciate the ability of a writer to get to the point. Most people refuse to continue reading a work that drags on needlessly without conveying any important messages. William Strunk and E.B. White, in The Elements of Style, and Dianna Booher, in E-Writing, agree, albeit for different reasons, that conciseness is of extreme importance in any writing. Academic and business audiences both require messages that are clear and concise.
Strunk first wrote The Elements of Style in 1919 as a guide for his English students. It has been revised to apply to more modern audiences, but most of the original rules remain the same. The rules in this book are meant mainly for academic or essay writing although many of them could apply to other forms such as business writing. Enforcing the idea of academic writers as the audience, Robert Angell, in his forward to the book says, “What is not here is anything about e-mail---the rules-free, lower-case flow that cheerfully keeps us in touch these days”(X). Obviously, this book is written for writers in the academic rather than the business world. Businesses rely heavily on e-mail these days, and in The Elements of Style, e-mail is not considered a relevant form of writing.
Rules for just about everything necessary for writing fill the pages of The Elements of Style. Strunk and White provide examples along with many of their rules, but they rarely include detailed explanations. The audience has to choose whether to takethe authors’ words for the rule or discover their own explanations. This causes some difficulty because language has changed since this book was first written many years ago. Most readers will desire an explanation when the rules conflict with the language they are accustomed to using.
Booher, in her book, E-Writing: 21st Century Tools for Effective Communication, is on the opposite end of the writing spectrum. She considers herself a communicator rather than just a writer. In business writing, communication is exactly what is taking place. Writers communicate information to employees, employers, co-workers, and customers along with other audiences. They need to be sure that their audiences understand what they are trying to say. In the business world, if a company’s written communication is unclear, it can cost them a client, a contract or even jobs. As Booher says, “In today’s e-commerce, written communication makes the competitive difference in overall organizational success”(2). Contrary to the views conveyed in The Elements of Style, according to Booher, e-mail has many rules that need to be followed in order to convey a clear, concise message.
Although the main audience of E-Writing is business people who use e-mail and computers in general for composition, most of the recommendations can assist any writer with any form of writing. Booher provides many detailed examples, which give the reader a good idea of how to follow the recommendations. Also important are the explanations given for each. Booher tells the audience how following the guidelines in her book will improve their written communication.
The authors of both books agree that to obtain a concise message, writers
need to
avoid qualifiers, which make for vague sentences. Words such as “rather
“ and “very”, “are the leeches that infest the pond of prose, sucking the
blood of words” (S&W 23). According to Strunk and White, “ Vigorous
writing is concise” (23). This means that all sentences should keep the
attention of the audience and all the words should keep the ideas flowing.
Writers need to avoid vague and general terms whenever possible. Vague
words can confuse readers and distract them from the main point of the
composition.
Booher agrees that writers should avoid vague terms because they result in ineffective writing. In business, time is of the essence and writers need to convey their messages in a way that will result in the quickest action or response. As Booher says, “Unless you have something to hide, why be vague when you can be specific?” (248). By using more specific terms, writers prove their knowledge of the topic at hand. This results in concise, meaningful writing.
Use of the active-voice stands out as one of the most effective ways to create concise writing. According to Strunk and White, the active-voice creates a more direct and vigorous statement. They use the example of “At dawn the crowing of a rooster could be heard,” to show the passive voice. When this sentence is changed to make use of the active voice and becomes, “The cock’s crow came at dawn,” it is much more concise. In a long essay, it is important to write in a bold manner so as not to lose the reader’s attention. Active-voice makes for stronger writing, and as Strunk and White say, “...when a sentence becomes stronger, it becomes shorter. Thus, brevity is a by-product of vigor”(19).
In Booher’s “Edit for Conciseness” chapter, she puts the active-voice section at the very beginning. This demonstrates the level of importance the active-voice plays in concise writing. In business, time is money and Booher is out to save some for everyone. She says, “Passive voice comes under attack again because, on average, it lengthens sentences by 15 to 50 percent”(260). She uses many examples of how changing the passive voice into the active voice can make the sentence more interesting and concise. Changing the sentence, “Your prompt attention to this matter will be appreciated,” to “Please attend to this matter promptly,” does indeed shorten as well as energize it (261).
“A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts,” claim Strunk and White (23). Because they consider writing to be an art form, it should flow without presenting stumbling blocks for the readers. Every word needs to be important to the meaning. Following this rule, Strunk and White recommend that writers omit all uses of the phrase “the fact that”(24). They consider the phrase to be full of needless words.
Booher expands on this idea of eliminating needless words, and includes redundancy. She includes several pages of examples of redundant words and phrases not to use. Among others, Booher says phrases such as “in the case” and “in terms of” dilute the meaning of the sentence (268). She says, “Redundancy in a document is like stuttering in a speech: both detract from the ideas you are presenting”(271). Business writers’ goal is to effectively convey their messages. Including unnecessary words and phrases can hinder this.
The importance of being concise regardless of the type of writing becomes
evident in the two texts. Strunk and White’s rules are meant for mainly
composition writers but can be used in most any type of writing. Many of
Booher’s business writing suggestions can be used in the academic world.
Any audience will appreciate the writer’s ability to follow the ideas of
both texts and make every sentence worthwhile. As Booher says, “Good writers
know the value of getting to the point” (259).
WORKS CITED
Booher, Dianna. E-writing: 21st Century Tools for Effective Communication. New York: Pocket Books, 2001.
Strunk, William and E.B. White. The Elements of Style. Needham
Heights, Mass: Allyn & Bacon, 2000.