Tim Gunn on Style – Make it work!!
My original blog post on style. Gosh, it feels like it was written years ago instead of just a few months. It’s been an odd semester altogether for me this fall, so going back and reading my old posts has reminded me of everything that has gone on.
Anywhoodle …
During this particular class this semester, I have learned quite a bit about style and what I agree with when it comes to style guides like Strunk & White and Williams. I agree that writing, in general, should follow certain guidelines when it comes to syntax, sentence structure, concision, and grammAr. What I think gets lost in the message is that as a writer you can – and should – manipulate those guideline to create your own voice and style. You can use casual language and even vulgarity and still have stylistically “correct” writing.
Now, I use the scare quotes because language is a living, breathing, always-evolving thing. There are always going to be people fighting over what is correct. As recently as a semester or two ago I got dinged for ending a sentence with a preposition, even though it’s an arbitrary rule that, from my research on it, seems to come from some prescriptive grammar rules that the upper classes used as an upper crust, hoity-toity secret handshake. As the Winston Churchill anecdote says, “That is the type of English up with which I will not put.”
However, like most things, there are times and places for each type of writing. In technical writing, you don’t want to use casual language and you NEED to be clear and concise. In work or school related writing you (for the most part) don’t want to drop f-bombs or call someone vulgar names.
My point being that style, in terms of writing but not unlike sartorial sensibilities, is a matter of the type of thing being written, the author’s own voice, and the reader’s personal taste. ee cummings got a lot of crap (and English students get a lot of mileage out of using him as an example, don’t they?) for not using punctuation and capitalization. Not being a huge fan of poetry, but a big fan of writing what you want, how you want, I don’t get the big deal. Writing for entertainment purposes shouldn’t have rules on it – it’s entertainment. So long as it doesn’t break the law (libel) or meets the requirements for your teachers, instructors, and professors, who the hell cares how you write? You’ll find your audience and you’ll find your style.
So I say: Rock your style and to hell with what the fashionistas, or rather, the writer-istas say.
