Editing 923: Strunk and White

{{comic
| number    = 923
| date      = July 11, 2011
| title     = Strunk and White
| image     = strunk_and_white.png
| titletext = The best thing about Strunk/White fanfiction is that it's virtually guaranteed to be well written.
}}

==Explanation==
The 1918 writing style guide ''{{w|The Elements of Style}}'', by Cornell University professor {{w|William Strunk Jr.}} and ''New Yorker'' writer {{w|E.B. White}} (perhaps better known as the author of ''{{w|Charlotte's Web}}'' and ''{{w|Stuart Little}}''), is commonly referred to as "''Strunk & White''". In this comic, the current editors of ''Strunk & White'' are clarifying a matter of style pertaining to the style guide, an instance of {{w|meta humor}}, a recurring theme in ''xkcd''.

Erotic fan fiction is a genre of writing in which fans make up erotic stories involving characters from non-erotic stories. "{{w|Slash fiction}}" is a subgenre that pairs characters of the same sex: These pairings are denoted by using the "/" to separate the paired characters, hence the name "slash fiction". This convention is generally thought to originate with the {{w|Kirk/Spock}} pairing in {{w|Star Trek: The Original Series|''Star Trek''}} fan fiction, wherein "K/S" was used for such romantic or erotic works of fan fiction, while "K&S" was used for non-romantic works. This comic imagines a similar distinction being necessary for "''Strunk & White''" vs. "Strunk/White".

The title text comments that authors of Strunk/White fan fiction must have read ''The Elements of Style'', which makes them better writers.

==Transcript==
:[Hairbun, with glasses, sits behind a desk typing on a computer. A line goes from the keyboard indicating that the text above is the one she types. Behind her stand Cueball with a book in his hand, and a man with male-pattern baldness holding up a smoking pipe.]

:Dear Internet,
::We, the current editors of 
:Strunk & White's ''The Elements of''
:''Style'', must—with great reluctance—
:clarify a point of orthography:

::"Strunk & White" should be 
:used for the style manual and 
:"Strunk/White" for the erotic 
:fan fiction pairing.

==Trivia==
E.B. White is mentioned again in the later comics, [[2162: Literary Opinions]] and [[1087: Cirith Ungol]].

{{comic discussion}}

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