On Writing Well has been praised for its sound advice, its clarity and the warmth of its style. It is a book for everybody who wants to learn how to write or who needs to do some writing to get through the day, as almost everybody does in the age of e-mail and the Internet. Whether you want to write about people or places, science and technology, business, sports, the arts or about yourself in the increasingly popular memoir genre, On Writing Well offers you fundamental priciples as well as the insights of a distinguished writer and teacher. With more than a million copies sole, this volume has stood the test of time and remains a valuable resource for writers and would-be writers.
Whether you write an occasional professional letter or a daily newspaper column, William Zinsser's On Writing Well should be required reading. Simplicity is Zinsser's mantra: he preaches a stripped-down writing style, strong and clear. He has no patience for excess (most use of adjectives and adverbs, he writes, just adds clutter) or tired phraseology (for instance, he'd like to outlaw all leads involving those "future archaeologists" most often found "stumbl[ing] upon the remains of our civilization"). He recommends that all writers of nonfiction read their work aloud (don't commit something to paper that you wouldn't actually say) and write under the assumption that "the reader knows nothing" (not to be confused with assuming the reader's an idiot). In addition to the chapters on the expected--usage, audience, interviews, leads--Zinsser also focuses on such trouble spots as science and technical writing, business writing, sports, and humor.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
Buy this book:
Buy this book and read it. Commit parts of it to memory. The biggest challenge a writer has is to take the garbage out of what's been written. This book will show you how to do that. I wish someone had introduced me to this book as an undergraduate.
Reviews here are for a different book!:
The reviews presented with the Bead Creative Art Quilts were for a book on writing not the 'bead" book. How disappointing!.
A useful read:
Writing well, according to William Zinsser, is a matter of simplicity & unity. Simple writing is easy to follow and is not wasteful. Unified writing has a single purpose; uses a consistent tense and pronouns; and is a delight to read. Good writing is thus a transaction between the author and reader; it defines the audience and the capacity in which we hope to address them, expressing as simply as possible the point that is being made. Zinsser suggests that we should let our personality show, using 'I'... more info
Good writing is simple, clear, and free of clutter.:
Key points in this book are:
"Rewriting is the essence of writing."
"Clutter is the disease of American writing."
"Writing that will endure tends to consist of words that are short and strong."
"The most important sentence in any article is the first one."
"Most nonfiction writers will do well to cling to the ropes of simplicity and clarity." But simplicity doesn't mean it is easy. "A clear sentence is no accident," writes Zinsser. "Very few sentences come out right the... more info
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