William Zinsser
William Zinsser
William Knowlton Zinsserwas an American writer, editor, literary critic, and teacher. He began his career as a journalist for the New York Herald Tribune, where he worked as a feature writer, drama editor, film critic and editorial writer. He was a longtime contributor to leading magazines...
writing competition trying
Many writers are paralyzed by the thought that they are competing with everybody else who is trying to write and presumably doing it better.... Forget the competition and go at your own pace. Your only contest is with yourself.
writing thinking trying
Writing organizes and clarifies our thoughts. Writing is how we think our way into a subject and make it our own. Writing enables us to find out what we know-and what we don't know-about whatever we're trying to learn.
trying today routine
Today the outlandish becomes routine overnight. The humorist is trying to say that it's still outlandish.
trying different mass
Don’t try to visualize the great mass audience. There is no such audience—every reader is a different person.
reading cutting trying
I try to make what I have written tighter, stronger and more precise, eliminating every element that's not doing useful work. Then I go over it once more, reading it aloud, and am always amazed at how much clutter can still be cut.
trying knows asks
Writers must constantly ask: what I am trying to say? Surprisingly often, they don't know.
being-yourself writing trying
Be yourself and your readers will follow you anywhere. Try to commit an act of writing and they will jump overboard to get away.
writing thinking talking
Get people talking. Learn to ask questions that will elicit answers about what is most interesting or vivid in their lives. Nothing so animates writing as someone telling what he thinks or what he does - in his own words. His own words will always be better than your words, even if you are the most elegant stylist in the land.
writing firsts journalism
Journalism is writing that first appears in any periodic journal.
writing thinking doe
Writing is linear and sequential; Sentence B must follow Sentence A, and Sentence C must follow Sentence B, and eventually you get to Sentence Z. The hard part of writing isn't the writing; it's the thinking. You can solve most of your writing problems if you stop after every sentence and ask: What does the reader need to know next?
art spring writing
Never hesitate to imitate another writer. Imitation is part of the creative process for anyone learning an art or a craft. Bach and Picasso didn't spring full-blown as Bach or Picasso; they needed models. This is especially true of writing.
writing always-working
A writer is always working.
eye writing brain
Keep your paragraphs short. Writing is visual - it catches the eye before it has a chance to catch the brain.
reading writing today
Make a habit of reading what is being written today and what has been written before. Writing is learned by imitation.