Writers must constantly ask: what I am trying to say? Surprisingly often, they don't know. — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
Writing organizes and clarifies our thoughts. Writing is how we think our way into a subject and make it our own. Writing… — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
People and places are the twin pillars on which most nonfiction is built. Every human event happens somewhere, and the reader wants… — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
Finding a voice that your readers will enjoy is largely a matter of taste. Saying that isn't much help-taste is a quality… — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
All writers should strive to deliver something fresh-something editors or readers won't know they want until they see it. — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
One of the saddest sentences I know is "I wish I had asked my mother about that." Or my father. Or my… — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
Don't try to guess what sort of thing editors want to publish or what you think the country is in a mood… — 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
The writer who cares about usage must always know the quick from the dead. — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
Writing is linear and sequential; Sentence B must follow Sentence A, and Sentence C must follow Sentence B, and eventually you get… — 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 Image
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 Image
Avoid the ecstatic adjectives that occupy such disproportionate space in every critic's quiver - words like "enthralling" and "luminous." — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
Scholarship hath no fury like that of a language purist faced with sludge. — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
Clutter is the official language used by corporations to hide their mistakes. — 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
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 Image
Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill rode to glory on the back of the strong declarative sentence. — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
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 Image
Rewriting is the essence of writing well - where the game is won or lost. — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
Clear thinking becomes clear writing; one can't exist without the other. — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
