One of my favorite things about this book is that the writing therein embraces the rules it sets forth by being pithy and vibrant. There are certain suggestions that made me particularly aware of mistakes that I frequently make:
-"Use the active voice." Consequently, active sentences are always shorter than passive ones, which proves the maxim that "brevity is a by-product of vigor."
-"Put statements in positive form." It's much harder to evoke concrete images when you deny the negative instead of asserting the positive. "He was obese" > "He was not skinny"
-"Whether" > "As to whether" I say the latter too often.
-I unnecessarily use "case" frequently.
-I use "claim" as a synonym for "declare, maintain, or charge."
-Didn't know the difference between "disinterested" vs "uninterested"
-Should replace "due to" with "though, because of, or owing to".
-"Farther" = distance, "further" = time or quantity
-I find it nearly unavoidable to use "hopefully", but am now aware of its incorrectness at least.
-I have been trying to eliminate the word "interesting" and "nice" from my writing/speech due to their overall lack of meaning, this reinforced that
-I needed to be reminded of the Lay vs Lie problem
-I hear people use unique on a scale of "slightly unique" to "extremely unique" frequently and am reminded of this book.
-The general philosophy that concise, clear, and powerful writing is the most effective.
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