Clutter is the disease of American writing. We are a society strangling in unnecessary words, circular constructions, pompous frills, and meaningless jargon. — 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
Never hesitate to imitate another writer. Imitation is part of the creative process for anyone learning an art or a craft. Bach… — 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
“Mind in language are inseparable. If we violate our language we violate ourselves.” — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
Most writers sow adjectives almost unconsciously into the soil of their prose to make it more lush and pretty. The sentences become… — 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
If writing seems hard, it's because it is hard. It's one of the hardest things people do. — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
My four articles of faith: clarity, simplicity, brevity and humanity. — 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
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 is learned by imitation. If anyone asked me how I learned to write, I'd say I learned by reading the men… — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
Writing is thinking on paper. Anyone who thinks clearly should be able to write clearly-about any subject at all. — 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
The best way to learn to write is to study the work of the men and women who are doing the kind… — 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
The writer who cares about usage must always know the quick from the dead. — 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
“This fixation on the finished article causes writers a lot of trouble, deflecting them from all the earlier decisions that have to… — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
“What a pleasure it is to be in the company of a writer with enthusiasm for his subject! It doesn't matter what… — 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
“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
