Upon my completion of Williams' book, I felt a sense of familiarity flow through my mind. While Williams and S&W differ in terms of their guide's structure, they both offer similar theories for revision. However the processes of these similar theories differ for the most part between these writers. For example, Both Williams and S&W believe in clear and concise writing, but Williams' approach differs in regards to S&W's approach. Williams suggests that there are two main principles that help create clear and concise writing, whereas S&W offers the suggestion of eliminating needless words from a sentence. S&W also suggest to avoid "loose" sentences, or sentences with two clauses.
Williams and S&W do agree on different revision techniques as well however. S&W mention that the number of the subject in a sentence will help determine the number of the verb; a theory that Williams can relate to. Another common theme that runs through both books would be the theme of utilizing an active voice in one's work. Both Williams and S&W suggest using the active voice because it is more direct and vigorous in a work and helps catch a reader's attention more effectively.
In regards to the usefulness of Williams and S&W's different texts, I believe that both texts offer good advice in revision technique. However I favor S&W's guide for revision because of its structure. S&W wrote a straight to the point guide that is in itself clear and concise in regards to reaching out to reader's needs. I felt like Williams' style guide was more of a "read" versus a guide. This however doesn't take away from the information of Williams' book, however I feel like writer looking for an effective revision "guide" for writing will end up finding S&W's guide "The Elements of Style" more effective than Williams.
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