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 want helping
There are all kinds of writers and all kinds of methods, and any method that helps you to say what you want to say is the right method for you.
want stories emotion
Dare to tell the smallest of stories if you want to generate large emotions.
believe writing want
Don't hedge your prose with little timidities. Good writing is lean and confident. . . . Every little qualifier whittles away some fraction of the reader's trust. Readers want a writer who believes in himself and in what he is saying. Don't diminish that belief. Don't be kind of bold. Be bold.
want what-you-want
Decide what you want to do. Then decide to do it. Then do it.
writing men want
The best way to learn to write is to study the work of the men and women who are doing the kind of writing you want to do.
people want pillars
People and places are the twin pillars on which most nonfiction is built. Every human event happens somewhere, and the reader wants to know what that somewhere was like.
want facts exit
When you're ready to stop, stop. If you have presented all the facts and made the point you want to make, look for the nearest exit.
dust want ifs
If you lose the dullards back in the dust, that's where they belong. You don't want them anyway.
editors want strive
All writers should strive to deliver something fresh-something editors or readers won't know they want until they see it.
writing people want
If you write for yourself, you'll reach all the people you want to write for.
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.