Late last year mb excerpted Arthur Plotnik's book Spunk & Bite: A Writer's Guide to Punchier, More Engaging Language and Style,, which, as the name should indicate, is an alternative for those of you who find Strunk and White to be a snoozefest. If you want to learn more, Chip Scanlan over at Poynter looked into the book more in depth and spoke to the author about it:

Chip Scanlan: Why did you write this book?

Arthur Plotnik: Partly to feed the usual fantasies -- money! renown! adoration! -- and partly to smuggle ambitious writers past the borders of a restrictive, 47-year-old rulebook.

I refer to "The Elements of Style," that coddled little thing known as "Strunk & White" after its authors, William Strunk Jr., and E. B. White. White, of course, was the New Yorker writer who charmed readers with his airy, puckish, opinionated, and highly figurative style. But in "The Elements," he advised writers to stifle opinions, breeziness, and even figures of speech. He warned them to avoid the offbeat. "In the stream of English," he said, "do not thrash about."

The father-figures Strunk & White remind me of my own father, a one-time flashy sparring partner for pro boxers. Would he teach me his moves? No; he didn't want me to seek trouble and get pummeled. Well, Dad had his virtues and so do Strunk & White, champions of clarity and concision. But, obsessed with "correctness," "The Elements" shuns the spunky moves by which writers distinguish themselves -- especially in the clamor of 21st-century communications. I've tried to identify such moves and pass them along -- with examples -- so that writers can pummel the competition.

More here.