On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction

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The solution to simplify is to clear our heads of clutter. Clear thinking becomes clear writing. Writers must therefore constantly ask: What am I trying to say? Then they must look at what they have written and ask: have I said it? Clutter A person is a fool to become a writer. His only compensation is absolute freedom. He has no master except his own soul, and that, I am sure, is why he does it.” — Roald Dahl Your writing voice is the deepest possible reflection of who you are. The job of your voice is not to seduce or flatter or make well-shaped sentences. In your voice, your readers should be able to hear the contents of your mind, your heart, your soul.” — Meg Rosoff Zinsser starts the “Principles” section by admitting that every writer finds their own process: there’s no right or wrong way to put words on paper. But all writing processes require vulnerability and tension, because all writers are trying to tell a basic truth that they’re holding inside. So, all writing is really a “personal transaction” between the writer and reader. It gives the reader great insight into the author’s mind and journey. He’s blunt but in a fatherly way. He doesn’t like to waste time, and neither do I. Let’s move on to the lessons I learned from the master of suspense. #1: Write for Yourself First

There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.” — Somerset Maugham

Writing Well Takes Practice

I've found the best way to revise your own work is to pretend that somebody else wrote it and then to rip the living shit out of it.” ― Don Roff I do not over-intellectualise the production process. I try to keep it simple: Tell the damned story.” — Tom Clancy I’ve been writing since I was six. It is a compulsion, so I can’t really say where the desire came from; I’ve always had it. My breakthrough with the first book came through persistence, because a lot of publishers turned it down.” — J.K. Rowling I love writing and reading books that help me become a better writer. On Writing Well is refreshing because it goes beyond the typical writing advice you usually hear. It gives tips that will inspire you to do what’s really necessary to become a great writer. Who would I recommend the On Writing Well summary to? The difference between the almost right word and the right word is the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” — Mark Twain

The main thing I try to do is write as clearly as I can. I rewrite a good deal to make it clear.” — E.B. White Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it's the only way you can do anything really good." — William Faulkner Many people hear voices when no one is there. Some of them are called mad and are shut up in rooms where they stare at the walls all day. Others are called writers and they do pretty much the same thing.” — Margaret Chittenden Being a writer is a very peculiar sort of job: It’s always you versus a blank sheet of paper (or a blank screen) and quite often the blank piece of paper wins.” — Neil GaimanReaders want the person who is talking to them to sound genuine. Therefore a fundamental rule is: be yourself. No rule, however, is harder to follow. It requires writers to do two things that by their metabolism are impossible. They must relax, and they must have confidence. Also bear in mind, when you’re choosing words and stringing them together, how they sound. This may seem absurd: readers read with their eyes. But in fact they hear what they are reading far more than you realize. Therefore such matters as rhythm and alliteration are vital to every sentence. The secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components. Every word that serves no function, every long word that could be a short word, every adverb that carries the same meaning that’s already in the verb, every passive construction that leaves the reader unsure of who is doing what — these are the common adulterants that weaken the strength of a sentence.

I’ve had the book On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction by William Zinsser on my shelf since my pre-law school journalism days. That is, I’ve had it on my shelf for a while. I don’t remember who gave it to me, but I do remember how it made me feel. Science and technology assignments tend to scare new writers, but they actually depend on the same basic skill as all other nonfiction: clear, logical thinking. Good science writers shape complex information into an accessible, relatable story about how specific discoveries shape people’s lives. Next, Zinsser turns to business writing, which tends to be artificial, cluttered, and uninspiring. Businesspeople should cut out the jargon and write in their own voices. This is the best way to connect with colleagues and customers, who want to hear from real people, not faceless institutions.Never say anything in writing that you wouldn’t comfortably say in conversation. If you’re not a person who says “indeed” or “moreover,” or who calls someone an individual (“he’s a fine individual”), please don’t write it. Words I had immediate success in the sense that I sold something right off the bat. I thought it was going to be a piece of cake and it really wasn’t. I have drawers full of — or I did have — drawers full of rejection slips.” — Fred Saberhagen Sell yourself, and your subject will exert its own appeal. Believe in your own identity and your own opinions. Writing is an act of ego, and you might as well admit it. Use its energy to keep yourself going. The Audience With science writing, Zinsser shows that the most complicated scientific subjects can be explained elegantly, especially when one avoids jargon. The product that any writer has to sell is not the subject being written about, but who he or she is.

The next chapter, “Bits & Pieces,” covers tips that don’t fit elsewhere in the book. Zinsser starts with basic mechanics: writers should use active verbs, avoid unnecessary adjectives and adverbs, and choose gender-neutral terms. Then, he turns to more general principles. For instance, writing well is mostly about rewriting, and the best writers let their most interesting details speak for themselves, rather than putting spin on them. Most writers regard the truth as their most valuable possession, and therefore are most economical in its use.” — Mark Twain Don’t get discouraged if you get this far and you’re thinking that your first draft is rather poor. These writing quotes are reminders that it’s just part of the process. I am irritated by my own writing. I am like a violinist whose ear is true, but whose fingers refuse to reproduce precisely the sound he hears within.” — Gustave FlaubertMany writers confuse this kind of clutter for style, but the first step to developing a true style is actually learning to eliminate clutter. Only later can writers find their authentic voices. To do this, they should write for themselves, rather than trying to satisfy any specific audience. In particular, they should be obsessive about choosing the right words. The range of acceptable usages changes over time, but jargon is never good taste. There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at the typewriter and bleed.” — Ernest Hemingway Many of us were taught that no sentence should begin with “but.” If that’s what you learned, unlearn it—there’s no stronger word at the start. It announces total contrast with what has gone before, and the reader is thereby primed for the change It’s easy to fall into the trap of over-complicating your words and phrases when you start out. You want to impress, but what you end up doing is making yourself unintelligable. If you’re hoping to have any kind of impact, you don’t want that. Here is a lesson in creative writing. First rule: Do not use semicolons. [...] All they do is show you've been to college.” — Kurt Vonnegut