On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction

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

Based on a course William Zinsser taught at Yale and his long experience as a writer, editor and teacher, On Writing Well has been praised by journalists, teachers, writers, students, and grateful users since its publication in 1976.

Read by Zinsser with warmth, humor, and encouragement, On Writing Well shows how to apply the author's four principles of writing: Clarity; Simplicity; Brevity; and Humanity. He stresses the importance of reading your writing aloud to hear how it sounds and illustrates the difference between good and bad nouns, and good and bad verbs. Specific examples are given throughout the recording that show how writing can be improved.

What Customers Say About On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction:

The biggest challenge a writer has is to take the garbage out of what's been written. Buy this book and read it. Commit parts of it to memory. This book will show you how to do that. I wish someone had introduced me to this book as an undergraduate.

The reviews presented with the Bead Creative Art Quilts were for a book on writing not the 'bead" book. How disappointing.

Writing well, according to William Zinsser, is a matter of simplicity & unity. A good beginning gives the reader something to connect with, and draws him in to read the rest. Technical or scientific writing provides particular difficulties. Unified writing has a single purpose; uses a consistent tense and pronouns; and is a delight to read. We are thus guided not only express our ideas more clearly, but also to think in a more logical and cogent way. 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. Simple writing is easy to follow and is not wasteful. Endings can sometimes bore - Zinsser suggests perhaps ending suddenly or with a quirky quotation.

Zinsser suggests that we should let our personality show, using 'I' or 'we' when possible. In this way we express our personal style and establish a connection with the reader.Beginning and endings are important to good writing. One way to practice such writing is to describe a scientific process step by step. We should write well in order to think more clearly.A useful book with much to recommend it.

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 first time, or even the third time."

I am quite self-conscious of what I write now after reading Zinsser's book. I received this at work from a consultant and for a year, did not open it. I can see his red pen scratching my extra words, cleaning up my run on sentences, and make suggestions. Then one day bored on a conference call, I started reading it and did not want to stop. While I took breaks over the course of 2 months to read this (reading 5 books in parallel) I just finished it and must say that it is the BEST book I have read on Writing Well. Oh but grammar, spelling, and correctness aside, he touches on so many crucial topics - how to write creatively, how to think about writing, how to approach anything from a humorous essay to a memoir to writing about sports (uhm, the only chapter I skipped :)). He is an excellent writer, and the book is packed with easy-to-grasp passages on how we should behold and use this beautiful language of ours.