There are an endless amount of rules to writing with good style. I thought I knew a lot about writing until I read The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White, and Style: Toward Clarity and Grace by Joseph M. Williams. These books share information for any type of writer, and try to teach you to write with great improved style. I tweaked one of Strunk and White’s rules to talk about in this short paper. I will discuss how I came up with it, the rule itself (including when and how to use it), and what these authors would have to say about it.

The rule I came up with has always been a pet peeve of mine. You would find this out if I were to ever critique or edit your writing. My style rule is to not begin a sentence with the words “so” or “just.” The details of my rule are as follows, just as I have posted in the “English 328 Style Rules Wiki”:

Most of the time you should not begin a sentence with the word “just” or “so,” along with all other coordinating conjunctions, for example:

Instead of using “So” here:
“So what we are going to do today is…”
try omitting it:
What we are going to do today is…”

Examples that need rewording:
1a) Just today I figured out what to get Katie for her birthday.
2a) Just so you don’t get confused, I am going to mail you directions.
3a) And then she said yes!
4a) So, the first step is to register.

To fix these sentences, simply omit the first words or reword your sentence so you do not begin it with these “needless words”:
1b) Today I figured out what to get Katie for her birthday.
OR: I figured out today what to get Katie for her birthday.
2b) I am going to mail you the directions so you do not get confused.
3b) Then she said yes! OR: She said yes!
4b) The first step is to register.

Other coordinating conjunctions include for, and, nor, but, or, and yet
Omitting these words to begin a sentence will stop them from taking emphasis away from the point of your sentence; it also sounds better.

The first style book I read was Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style. The edition I read was surprisingly short, roughly 120 pages, but packed full of precise rules and commands. (Maybe you could rephrase one of the first two sentences so that you don't have "I read" in both of them). I agree. The beginning of this paragraph does not look like it is geared to any audience other than our classes-Liz Brose I kind of think you could even omit the first two sentences and just rephrase this next sentence to say where the rules came from (The Elements of Style). I felt that these rules did not leave you any wiggle room; they were set guidelines that you MUST strictly follow. They did not give much of an explanation as to why the rule was in place or how to incorporate these rules into your writing. Although insert comma-LB I was able to come up with a rule on my own, I noticed it goes along with Strunk and White’s rule to “Omit Needless Words.” Page number, or MLA citation-LB This is what they had to say on this topic:Sentence should be lowercase- AH “A Sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts” (39). My rule is a bit different from theirs in that mine specifies words to omit when beginning a sentence; their rule omits needless words throughout the sentence. I think that this paragraph has a lot of good information in it. I would condiser re-working it and being more specific before you introduce the quote. Watch situations, you need to cite even when you paraphrase-LB

Beginning a sentence with these needless words(Which needless words?) Maybe instead of " these needless words" try "overused and useless words like "so" and "just." does not add anything to the sentence or to the writer’s point they are making.(Possibly rephrase, or to the point that the writer is making) (I am a little confused by the beginning of this sentence) It is an unnecessary word to distract the reader from the emphasis in that sentence or paragraph. What is an unnecessary word? This sentence is very vauge-LB Not only is the sentence vague, but it should be re-worked because I was confused after I read it-AH Some people may argue that it is acceptable to break my rule; and they may be right at times.Who may argue this? Try to be specific There are many writers who begin a sentence with the word “so” to continue on from a previous point, or to substitute it for the word “therefore.” I personally think “therefore” reads and flows much better;(I agree!!) you are letting your reader know you are tying up the previous points you were making and connecting them to the sentence that follows. Technically, you are not breaking any grammar rules by using these words to start out with, but you ought to make sure you know how to break this rule correctly so you do not take away from any ideas. I feel that if you have your style rule you have to own it. It's something that you thought was important enough to dedicate a paper to. Saying this, I feel that you should not be ok with people who think it is ok to break your rule. Just my feeling!-LB Perhaps you could suggest the reader (who may be a writer) try finding replacement words for "so" and "just" if they are going to use them at all.