I recently rediscovered the following quote from "The Elements of Style" by William Strunk Jr.:
"Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all sentences short or avoid all detail and treat subjects only in outline, but that every word tell."
Oddly, the quote wasn't used in the context of writing articles, essays, or stories, but in the context of writing web applications.
After reading it a number of times and spending several minutes thinking about it, I was suddenly curious to see if there were any other interesting quotes about vigorous writing or vigorous writers. A quick search on the web revealed this snippet from "The Physiology of Common Life" by George Henry Lewes:
"The vigorous thinker is one who thinks for himself: the vigorous writer is one who expresses what he means, and does not suffer one phrase automatically to determine another. If he has a manner, or mannerism, it is his own. Inferior minds think the thoughts of others, and write the phrases of others. Hence, as Goethe says, in this world there are so few voices and so many echoes."
Tonight's sit spot exercise will be to think about vigorous writing and how to be voice and not simply another echo.
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your observations reminds me of an article i read regarding "elements of style" and web design. here:
http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/the_elements_of
i do like your quote here on vigorous thinking. i had often thought the mark of a good writer to be someone who is a good thinker. grammar, spelling, and even to a certain extent, style, can be corrected. there can be no good "design" when the content is flawed. after all, it's the "thought" that counts. :)
Thanks for the link to that great article. I believe good writing is a sign of good thinking, too, but I also believe the process of writing can influence and improve thinking, which is why one's writing style is so important. Good style can be an aid. If one writes naturally, aims for clarity, and focuses on the most important elements of each sentence (the nouns and verbs), it can help one reach the core of the thought one is trying to express and more easily spot flaws or spark new thoughts.