11 Principles of Composition by William Strunk Jr.

11 Principles of Composition by William Strunk Jr.

These principles have been exerpted from the book Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. which is in public domain licensed under Project Gutenberg and it is rightful to re-use it, copy it or give it away. 1. Choose a suitable design and hold to it.  If the subject on which you are writing is of a slight extent, or if you intend to treat it very briefly, there may be no need of subdividing it into topics. Thus a brief description, a brief summary of a literary work, a brief account of a single incident, a narrative merely outlining an action, the setting forth of a single idea, any one of these is best written in a single paragraph. After the paragraph has been written, examine it to see whether subdivision will not improve it. Ordinarily, however, a subject requires subdivision into topics, each of which should be made the subject of a paragraph. The object of treating each topic in a paragraph by itself is, of course, to aid the reader. The beginning of each paragraph is a signal to h…