Oh I definitely agree that "The Elements of Style" offers good advice. I like how concise the book is and how lean Strunk's writing is. I think that's why the book appeals to so many people in the first place. There is a certain grace to its brevity. But its brevity is ultimately its undoing. He says far too little. For example tip number 16 starts with a simple: "Be clear." Sound advice no doubt. But what does that mean? "But since writing is communication, clarity can only be a virtue." Great. He continues, "Clarity, clarity, clarity. When you become hopelessly mired in a sentence, it is best to start fresh;" Alright... "Muddiness is not merely a distruber of prose, it is also a destroyer of life, of hope: death on the highway caused by a badly worded roan sign, heartbreak among lovers caused by a misplaced phrase in a well-intentioned letter, anguish of a traveler...
I was pulling my hairs out by the end of that paragraph. I've never seen someone so elegantly say absolutely nothing at all! I get it, write clearly. But HOW?
This is why I prefer a book like "A grammar book for you and I, Oops me." It builds a foundation with the parts of speech. Nouns, verbs, conjuctions, everything is put under the magnifying glass and is taken meticulously apart and then put back together.
And only once that solid grounding is in place does the author build on it delving into writing style in the most practical manner. He goes into detail about not only what specific structures it takes to be articulate but where to place them in the sentence. He shows how to build a basic sentence, how to add onto it using the art of subordination and lastly how to shape it using parallel structure. How can you learn to play beautiful music if you don't know what pitch and scale are? I think a lot of Strunk's advice is equivalent to saying, "Play better!"
Also you should definitely avoid Strunk and White if learning grammar is your goal:
http://chronicle.com/article/50-Years-of-Stupid-Grammar/25497
Now that I think about it to get the most out of "The Elements of Style" you should probably pick up a grammar book first. Once you're done with it you can dissect the writing of "Elements". See what sentence structures he uses, what words he chooses and why.
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