How to Read Strunk & White

If you're looking to improve your writing, Strunk and White's Elements of Style is an excellent starting point, and even great writers experience the joy of homecoming when they return to the booklet. The concise volume doesn't take long to read and could leave the student of grammar at a quandary as to how to get the most value out of the day's journey through the text. As I wrap up my latest trek through the work, I'd like to offer four insights on how to take full advantage of the book.

Take your time.

Instead of blazing through the book, take a day per chapter. Sure, it'll only take you about 15-30 minutes to read the chapter casually, but give yourself time to underline, re-read, and mull the content. Because I took my time, I reflected on the text better and remember each chapter while I read and edited other material throughout my day. Had I gobbled down the entire book in a single sitting, I'm certain that I would not have recalled the text with as great clarity as I did.

Create a marking system.

I used a two-mark system this time. I used a single mark to flag fuzzy concepts or principles that did not rise to the level of known failures. The single mark helped me identify points where I couldn't think of an instance when I'd committed the error, but I felt that, should I forget to reflect on the principle, I might end up violating it. My second mark flagged concepts or principles I knew I'd been violating. Thankfully, there were only two of these in the book; however, had I not alerted myself to their presence, I would have likely not remembered them nor been able to review them.

Create a review system.

If this were a college English class, they'd probably insist that I list every principle and regurgitate them on a test. But I need this book for more than course credit--I need it for real life. And I need principles I need and not the ones I don't. So, having used a helpful marking system, I then created a small set of flashcards. I've created one for each one-mark principle and a different theme for the two-mark principles. In addition, I left the work with a series of words to expunge from my writing. These words live on a single card which I am committing to memory and using for quick reference in my word processor search and find missions.

Plan your return.

My return to Strunk and White is scheduled to start in January next year. Maybe I'll discover a better plan of attack next go-around. I'm looking forward to seeing how many of the errors I've eliminated by using this approach.

Have you discovered an innovative approach to reading Strunk and White? I'd love to hear about it in the comments section.