“The reader is someone with an attention span of about 30 seconds.” — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
Clear thinking becomes clear writing; one can't exist without the other. — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
Fighting clutter is like fighting weeds-the writer is always slightly behind, — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
If you write for yourself, you'll reach all the people you want to write for. — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
You can solve most of your writing problems if you stop after every sentence and ask: what does the reader need to… — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
Keep your paragraphs short. Writing is visual - it catches the eye before it has a chance to catch the brain. — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
Few people realize how badly they write. Nobody has shown them how much excess or murkiness has crept into their style. — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
Make a habit of reading what is being written today and what has been written before. Writing is learned by imitation. — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
There are all kinds of writers and all kinds of methods, and any method that helps you to say what you want… — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
Good writing has an aliveness that keeps the reader reading from one paragraph to the next, and it's not a question of… — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
“Writing improves in direct ratio to the number of things we can keep out of it that shouldn't be there.” — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
One of underestimated tasks in nonfiction writing is to impose narrative shape on an unwieldy mass of material. — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
Nobody told all the new e-mail writers that the essence of writing is rewriting. Just because they are writing with ease and… — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
Writing is hard work. A clear sentence is no accident. Very few sentences come out right the first time, or even the… — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
There's no subject you don't have permission to write about. Students often avoid subjects close to their heart ... because they assume… — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
Every time you look at a blank piece of paper, you're doing something new. You have to step onto that blank territory… — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
No one has something original or important to say will willing we run the risk of being misunderstood; people who write obscurely… — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
“A clear sentence is no accident. Very few sentences come out right the first time, or even the third time... If you… — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
Get people talking. Learn to ask questions that will elicit answers about what is most interesting or vivid in their lives. Nothing… — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
Believe in your own identity and your own opinions. Proceed with confidence, generating it, if necessary, by pure willpower. Writing is an… — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
If you would like to write better than everybody else, you have to want to write better than everybody else. You must… — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
“Look for the clutter in your writing and prune it ruthlessly. Be grateful for everything you can throw away. Reexamine each sentence… — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
Tips can make someone a better writer but not necessarily a good writer. That's a larger package - a matter of character.… — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
“Soon after you confront the matter of preserving your identity, another question will occur to you: “Who am I writing for?” It’s… — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
My commodity as a writer, whatever I'm writing about, is me. And your commodity is you. Don't alter your voice to fit… — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
You must find some way to elevate your act of writing into an entertainment. Usually this means giving the reader an enjoyable… — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
“But the secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components. Every words that serves no function, every… — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
Rewriting is the essence of writing well - where the game is won or lost. — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
“But the secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components. Every words that serves no function, every long word… — William Zinsser Copy Share
No one has something original or important to say will willing we run the risk of being misunderstood; people who write obscurely are either… — William Zinsser Copy Share
Avoid the ecstatic adjectives that occupy such disproportionate space in every critic's quiver - words like "enthralling" and "luminous." — William Zinsser Copy Share
Scholarship hath no fury like that of a language purist faced with sludge. — William Zinsser Copy Share
Clutter is the official language used by corporations to hide their mistakes. — William Zinsser Copy Share
Keep your paragraphs short. Writing is visual - it catches the eye before it has a chance to catch the brain. — William Zinsser Copy Share
Never hesitate to imitate another writer - every person learning a craft or an art needs models. Eventually you'll find your own voice and… — William Zinsser Copy Share
Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill rode to glory on the back of the strong declarative sentence. — William Zinsser Copy Share
Writing organizes and clarifies our thoughts. Writing is how we think our way into a subject and make it our own. Writing enables us… — William Zinsser Copy Share
Rewriting is the essence of writing well - where the game is won or lost. — William Zinsser Copy Share
Clear thinking becomes clear writing; one can't exist without the other. — William Zinsser Copy Share
I almost always urge people to write in the first person. ... Writing is an act of ego and you might as well admit it. — William Zinsser Copy Share
