Best Components to Style

In my humble opinion, I believe the Strunk & White hit the nail on the head with regard to the necessary "elements of style."  Here is a sheet I generally provide in all classrooms I work with, since I think it lays out directly what is the best approach to stylistic writing.

Rules of Usage

These 11 "Elementary Rules of Usage" are from the very famous, and now available for free online, textbook "The Elements of Style, a Writing Guide."  Consider them in your writing!  They help to clarify a lot!

1) Form the possessive singular of nouns by adding:  's
----- The only exception to this is when the final consonant is: s
2) In a series of three or more terms with a single conjunction, use a comma after each term expect the last.
----- Thus: red, white, and blue.
3) Enclose parenthetic expressions between commas ( , )
-----The best way to see a country, unless you are pressed for time, is to travel on foot.
----- Parentetic expressions are typically always interchangable throughout a sentence
-------- Thus: Unless you are pressed for time, the best way to see a country is to travel on foot.
----- February to July, 1992
----- Wednesday, November 14th, 1990
4) Place a comma before a conjunction introducing an independent clause.
----- The early records of the city have disappeared, and the story of its first years can no longer be reconstructed.
----- The situation is perilous, but there is still one chance of escape.
5) Do not join independent clauses with a comma.
----- If two or more clauses, grammatically complete and not joined by a conjunction, are to form a single compound sentence, the proper mark of punctuation is the semicolon ( ; )
----- Thus: Mary Shelley’s works are entertaining; they are full of engaging ideas.
----- Roman perceptions on medicine are fascinating; they take a completely different approach than what we see in contemporary society.
6) Do not break sentences in two.
----- In other words, do not use periods for commas.
----- Thus, do not do: She was an interesting talker.  A woman who had traveled all over the world and lived in half a dozen countries.
7) Use a colon after an independent clause to introduce a list, an appositive, an amplification, or an illustrative quotation.
----- This is particularly important for historical writing when you write: the text says: “quote.”
----- Improper use of this is: Your dedicated whittler requires: a knife, a piece of wood, and a back porch.
------- Thus: Your dedicated whittler requires three props: a knife, a piece of wood, and a back porch.
8) Use a dash to set off an abrupt break or interruption and to announce a long summary.
---- A dash (--) is a mark of separation stronger than a comma, less formal than a colon, and more relaxed than parentheses.
---- His first thought on getting out of bed—if he had any thought at all—was to get back in again.
---- The armies made their move---a secretive plot against the Emperor.
9) The number of the subject determines the number of the verb.
---- This is the most violated rule in all of English.  It means, quite simply, that if your subject is plural, then your verb must be plural as well.
---- Thus: The Emperors were tyrannical rulers.  NOT: The Emperors was tyrannical rulers.
---- A common blunder is the use of a singular verb form in a relative clause following “one of…” or a similar expression when the relative is the subject.
------ Thus: One of the ablest scientists who have attacked this problem.  NOT: One of the ablest scientists who has attacked this problem.
---- Use a singular verb form after each, either, everyone, everybody, neither, nobody, and someone.
------ Thus: Everybody thinks he has a unique way of cooking food.
10) Use the proper case of pronoun.
---- The personal pronouns, as well as the pronoun who, chance form as they function as subject or object.
---- Thus: Will Jane or he be hired, do you think?
---- The culprit, it turned out, was he:  Julius Cesare.
---- Sandy writes better than I.
11)  A participial phrase at the beginning of a sentence must refer to the grammatical subject.
---- This is another very common mistake in historical writing.  It’s best explained with just an example:  Walking slowly down the road, he saw a woman accompanied by two children.
----- The word walking refers to the subject of the sentence, not the woman.  To make it refer to the woman, the writer must recast the sentence.
----- Thus: He saw a woman, accompanied by two children, walking slowly down the road.