Language Is A Slippery Thing

This post is a response to the comment made by Samurai in the post below. It's probably more of an answer than he was asking for, but I didn't have a simple answer to give. Hope it helps, Samurai!

The author of the article I reference below wrote a book about using English called The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. I haven't read it, but based on that article I think it may be worth reading. During my formative years, I read On Writing Well by William Zinsser, which falls into some of the same traps that Strunk & White set. It was an interesting book, but like most sources, should be taken with a grain of salt. Language is constantly changing and shifting into the tool that is most useful. Trying to limit this tool is foolish. Teaching others how to use this tool, however, is necessary.

Frankly, the best sources of information on writing that I've found are my favorite authors. Study their writing, and you'll learn way more than any textbook could tell you. Their writing got your attention, didn't it? It makes sense to learn from them. Granted, having technical knowledge of grammar and literary devices will help you understand their writing. I had issues with articles of speech and syntax until I learned other languages because this technical knowledge was vital to the learning process. But don't let technique kill creativity.

I like to ask questions of authors while reading their literature. What do I like about this book? This sentence? This word picture? How does it work so well? What does the author say in his writing? Not say? Can I use these methods in my writing? What audience does this style of writing reach? Could I adapt it to reach my own audience? I could go ad nauseam, but I'm going to take a page from Zinsser and keep the fluff out :-)