Strunk and White: First Impressions

'The Elements of Style' was an 18th birthday gift I recieved from my mom and stepdad. I always thought it was a cool book, but never gave it a close read; mainly because its more of a manual than a story. It's difficult to sit down and read a manual. When we were assigned to read it I looked forward to actually giving this book a shot.
The illustrations could have something to do with it, but this is a pretty enjoyable book. It's dry at times, but it's as excitin5g as a grammar book can be. While reading, I found a couple things especially helpful in my own writing.
1. "Use the active voice" pg. 33 - I consciously try to avoid "I" in anything I am writing. This is because my AP 11 English teacher would have us write essays everyday and one of the rules was no "I". With academic articles the reader shouldn't care what the writer think and I've carried this notion into other writings. The over use if "I" is annoying, I think. (See what I mean?)
2. However (pg. 74). I learned to avoid starting a sentence with "However" when it really means "Nevertheless." I find my self begining sentences with "However" too often, this rule will help me think outside the box and use other words such as "Nevertheless."
3. "Use definite, specific, concrete language"/"Omit needless words" (pg. 37-39). I couldn't agree with this more. I love writing that is short, concise, and compelling all in one.
Here are some examples of "Elements" that I didn't necessarily agree with.
1. "Choose a suitable design and hold to it" (pg. 31). I don't see how this is applicable to every form of writing. Revising and editing can change a design so drastically that I feel it's better to just write and begin picturing designs in your head as you go. Of course, you need a 'main idea' but, as far as the final product goes, it's difficult to assume how an anticipated piece of writing will turn out.
2. I felt Strunk and White could have been more clear on their rule of "Syllibication" (pg. 60). It took me a couple reads to understand what this meant. I couldn't figure out why anyone would want to split a word up, except maybe (maybe) in dialogue. But upon a closer reading, I discovered they were referring to a word that doesn't fit on one line, or trails into the line beneath. Their examples do not refer to this at all, they simply teach to make the break at a syllable.

Peer Review

I had heard about 'Google Docs' before this class but never bothered to learn what it meant or what it could do. Turns out, it appears to be an extremely useful tool for writing, editing, and reviewing. For me, the process was simple and I found no complications. I wish I had known about this sooner and feel other classes could adopt the tool as well. Sure it adds to our dependency on modern technology, but it just seems to be so damn useful. Professor Krause pointed out today in class that 'Google Docs' does not read footnotes very well, but that is only one minor setback. I will say, however, the format it uses is different from what I am used to (no double spacing, spread out to fit the whole screen) but keep in mind these are drafts we are working on. This is a useful tool for contributing to the text itself, not the format.
Adding comments to the text is my favorite part. It's much easier than trying to deciver someones handwriting scrunched into the margin of a page. Also, the ability to highlight and strikeout is great. Finally, the 'revision history' is very useful as you can easily to back to the original piece and see where and when a person has put in their two-cents.
All-in-all, I found 'Google Docs' as easy to use tool with a considerably small learning curve. I will consider using it in the future and possibly in my own classroom.

My only word of advice----make sure all students share their files with their gmail names. Using their emich names seemed to cause much confusion and problems.

My Writing Technologies

Depending on what I am writing, I generally always use the computer. Microsoft word to be exact. However, I use a yellow legal pad to write down personal notes, dreams, ideas, or anything that inspires me. This generally happens late at night, and I always use a pen. If what I jot down on the pad seems worthwhile, I will take it to my computer to revise and add to it. I also use writing.com quite a bit. Most everything on my writing.com profile originated from chicken scratch on the legal pad mentioned above.
My legal pad is a new addition to my writing arsenal. Before the pad, I mainly used the computer - sometimes a notebook. But if I was writing anything for school, it would always end up on a computer. When I dig deeper into my memory, I recall a time when I was probably 12 or 13 years old and using a typewriter to write a book. This book, oddly enough, was about the types of snakes that lived in my neighborhood. My friend and I would catch snakes on a regular basis and I would record them onto this typewriter and eventually compiled a little packet detailing the types of snakes we found. Pretty wierd, but it's a good memory.
I would like to find a nice typewriter to write with, but the idea seems to romanticized that I think I would spend more time finding the right typewriter than actually writing with it. For now, I will stick with my legal pad and microsoft word.

What is style?

Anyone can write. Of course there are illiterates, but anyone can pick up a pen or pencil or splash some words on a page. Writing alone has no style, it's just an act. It's the practice of writing that develops style. When one spends time transferring the thoughts in his/her head to a medium such as a piece of paper only then can style be developed. For me, style comes out when the sound of the keyboard flows like the beat of a drum. Style is when you love what you are writing and can foresee sentences like moves on a chess board. To do this, you must first write without holding anything back and acknowledge that whatever initially comes out will probably be some stupid shit. That's the hardest part. You have to allow yourself to write bad before you can write well. It's like playing sports or an instrument, you must first warm up. But once you get your knuckles and finger tips flowing, the style will eventually rear its beautiful and unique head. It's a fun experience that simply requires a comfortable atmosphere and, most importantly, a comfortable frame of mind.

YEAHHH