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

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If your intro is terrible, nobody will keep reading no matter how brilliant, interesting, or thought-provoking the rest of the piece is. You might as well be a person wearing a fedora in their Tinder profile picture!

I know I could write a more interesting piece on caterpillars than celebrities, for example, because I love raising caterpillars but don’t care about famous people much. I love writing and reading books that help me become a better writer. On Writing Well is refreshing because it goes beyond the typical writing advice you usually hear. It gives tips that will inspire you to do what’s really necessary to become a great writer. Who would I recommend the On Writing Well summary to? Clichés are one of the things you should keep listening for when you rewrite and read your successive drafts aloud. When you’re writing a story, you’re telling yourself a story. When you rewrite, you’re taking out all the things that are not the story.”Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it's the only way you can do anything really good." — William Faulkner If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it." — Toni Morrison You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.” — Madeleine L'Engle You can unlearn all of this and discover the joy of writing though. Start by remembering that you need to be inspired by life to be inspired as you write. Be adventurous, ask questions, and keep an open mind. I’ve been writing since I was six. It is a compulsion, so I can’t really say where the desire came from; I’ve always had it. My breakthrough with the first book came through persistence, because a lot of publishers turned it down.” — J.K. Rowling

With science writing, Zinsser shows that the most complicated scientific subjects can be explained elegantly, especially when one avoids jargon.

There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.” — Somerset Maugham On Writing Well by William Zinsser is the best book for learning how to improve your writing. The advice is both concise and practical. A must-read for anyone that writes regularly and wants to upgrade their writing skill. Principles The Transaction Never say anything in writing that you wouldn’t comfortably say in conversation. If you’re not a person who says “indeed” or “moreover,” or who calls someone an individual (“he’s a fine individual”), please don’t write it. Words Any man who keeps working is not a failure. He may not be a great writer, but if he applies the old-fashioned virtues of hard, constant labor, he’ll eventually make some kind of career for himself as a writer.” — Ray Bradbury While I eventually did learn some of the secrets of good writing, it would have been a lot e asier if I’d had a book like William Zinsser’s On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction to teach me the right skills to practice. With this book in your toolkit, you’ll become a great writer much faster than you think is possible!