Band name of the day: shrunken white elephants of style
@cosmiccitizen
("improve your style" = "fuck shit up")
@enkiv2 That book in particular is dogshit. The advice is inconsistent, contradictory, and unmotivated. The entire grift of the book is "this is what the old hardass types would read," but it doesn't actually follow the standards of an old hardass. It's a complete sham, even by its own standards.
@cosmiccitizen
yeah but inconsistent, contradictory, and unmotivated is exactly what i want out of a style guide.
the main problem with strunk and white (other than i don't share their aesthetic sensibility) is that people take them seriously. it is always a mistake to take a style guide seriously. all style guides are shitposts.
@cosmiccitizen
any popular style guide will necessarily suck, because the primary (and most valuable) element of style is diversity, and style guides necessarily cut down on diversity in proportion to their popularity
following a style guide that nobody else likes can sometimes be a good way to improve your style, though