The little classic is an essential book for any writer who is serious about honing their craft.

The title is really "The Elements of Style" and the authors are William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White (author of Charlotte's Web), but the book is usually known by the name of the two clever authors and has been in print in several forms since 1969.

Even reading some of the index is entertaining:

ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF COMPOSITION.

* Choose a suitable design and hold to it.

* Make the paragraph the unit of composition

* Use the active voice

In another section of the index we find:

AN APPROACH TO STYLE

1 Place yourself in the background

2 Write in a way that comes naturally

...

5 Revise and rewrite

6 Do not overwrite -

"Rich ornate prose is hard to digest, generally unwholesome, and sometimes nauseating. If the sickly-sweet word, the overblown phrase are your natural form of expression, as is sometimes the case, you will have to compensate for it by a show of vigor, and by writing something as meritorious as the Song of Songs, which is Solomon's.

When writing with a computer, you must gaurd against wordiness. The click and flow of a word processor can be seductive, and you may find yourself adding a few unnecessary words or even a whole passagejust to experience the pleasure of running your fingers over the keyboard and watching your words appear on the screen. It is always a good idea to reread your writing later and ruthlessly delete the excess."

You can see that the authors are very concerned about the access which writing offers to the audience.

It also helps with details about punctuation and grammar. In short, it is a treasure trove.The little classic is an essential book for any writer who is serious about honing their craft.