On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction Paperback – April 1, 1998 Author: William Knowlton Zinsser | Language: English | ISBN:
0062735233 | Format: PDF, EPUB
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Review
"
On Writing Well belongs on any shelf of serious reference works for writers." --
--New York TimesAbout the Author
William Zinsser is a writer, editor and teacher. He began his career with the
New York Herald Tribune and has long been a freelance writer for leading magazines. During the 1970s he taught writing at Yale, where he was master of Branford College. From 1979 to 1987 he was general editor of the Book-of-the-Month Club. His 15 books, ranging from jazz to baseball, also include
Speaking of Journalism, American Places and the influential
Writing to Learn. He now teaches at the New School in New York, his hometown.
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Direct download links available for On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction Paperback – April 1, 1998
- Series: On Writing Well
- Paperback: 308 pages
- Publisher: Harperreference; 6th edition (April 1998)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0062735233
- ISBN-13: 978-0965647632
- Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
- Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #149,567 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
With three sentences, William Zinsser became my new hero:
"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 a total contrast with what has gone before, and the reader is thereby primed for the change."
In my years as a freelance writer, no single word has been the cause of as many arguments with inexperienced editors and know-it-all clients as the tiny "but." Finally, I hold in my hands the opinion of a recognized authority (one who has served on the usage panel of "The American Heritage Dictionary") who can put an end to this quibbling.
But this isn't all that recommends this book. "On Writing Well" is possibly the best-written, most-accessible coverage of effective nonfiction writing that I have ever seen. The shelves of most writers (including my own) and many bookstores are filled with how-to books on writing. Most of these tend to be of the spiritual or advice-giving sort: helping writers overcome blocks, feeling good about a suspicious career choice, getting published and the like. At the opposite pole, many of the rest focus on the minutiae of arcane linguistic rules.
Zinsser takes on writing. In 300 pages (which in themselves serve as an admirable example of effective prose) he tackles a broad range of subjects such as style, tone, word usage, structure, and unity, and applies these principles to various forms of nonfiction writing: the interview, the travel article, the memoir, etc.
A breath of fresh air, this. The author finds the practical middle ground between the bubbly motivational and dry-as-dirt grammar books that so many of us find ourselves reading when we're not writing.
Before I read William Zinsser's book On Writing Well, I was notaware that any book that deals with such thorny issues as grammar andword choice could be fun and entertaining. But Zinsser's book destroys the stereotype-it teaches great writing while being humorous.
The first of four parts, Principles, discusses matters such as word choice and style, especially simplicity. Part two is Methods. It cites examples of good writing, and discusses the various attributes of those pieces, including an invaluable short section on grammar. The third part, Forms, includes details on how to write for specific genres. And the final part, Attitudes, addresses what I consider the writer's most valuable thing: his view of his craft.
In the first part, the author explains that the principles that make a great writer can be learned. He shows that revising does not become unnecessary, even as one progresses in the craft. The chapter includes two pages of a heavily written manuscript written by Zinsser himself. The author discourages the use of jargon, arguing that it cheapens your style. Instead, clearness and simplicity are what you should strive for.
In part two, Zinsser discusses the various methods of good writing. He first emphasizes unity, and then moves to what I consider the most useful section of the book-a chapter titled "Bits and Pieces." As its name suggests, this chapter comprises all the miscellaneous writing errors noticed by the author. And instead of using "25 columns of type" as Fowler does in his Modern English Usage, Zinsser explains the difference between that and which in a single page. Each section in "Bits and Pieces" is short, but that makes the chapter more useful because it doesn't take too long to read.
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