I spend a great deal of time reading books on writing and I’ve found a gem.  I know a lot of famous authors have referred people to this book, and I couldn’t agree more.  The book is The Elements of Style by Strunk/White/Kalman.  This is a marvelous “how to” book on writing.  It tends to be a bit heavy on the grammatical use of the English Language, but it has some Jewels of Advice buried in it’s pages.  I would like to give full credit to these authors for what I’m about to share with you.  The information is found on page 34 and 35 of this wonderful little book.

In my past days as an Editor in Chief, I would notice the over use of certain words and “not” was one of them.  The authors of this book offer some very good suggestions about the use of the word “not”.  First of all, avoid it.  Their quote, “Use the  word not as a means of denial or in antithesis, never as a means of evasion.” (page 34)   “Consciously or unconsciously, the reader is dissatisfied with being told only what is not; the reader wishes to be told what is.  Hence as a rule, it is better to express even a negative in positive form.” (Page 35)

This paragraph goes on to list a few examples which I will share with you here. (Page 35)

• not honest   should read  dishonest
• not important should read trifling
• did not remember should read forgot

This goes along with their advice to use as few words as possible and be concise with your description.  Easier said than done, but it does make for much more powerful writing.  I also read On Writing, by Stephen King and he proclaims the three authors of The Elements of Style, as pure geniouses.  I couldn’t agree more.  If you’d like another example of clear concise writing that will draw you into the scene read some of Dean Koontz’s books.  They are the epitome of what Strunk/White/Kalman are referring to.