The writer who cares about usage must always know the quick from the dead. — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
Four basic premises of writing: clarity, brevity, simplicity, and humanity. — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
“Writing is an intimate transaction between two people, conducted on paper...” — 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
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
There's not much to be said about the period except that most writers don't reach it soon enough. — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
Telling a writer to relax is like telling a man to relax while being prodded for a possible hernia. — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
Writing wasn't easy and wasn't fun. It was hard and lonely, and the words seldom just flowed. — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
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
“Writers and learners will write better and learn more if they understand the "why" of what they are studying.” — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
Don’t try to visualize the great mass audience. There is no such audience—every reader is a different person. — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
“If a philosophical writer cannot be followed, the difficulty of his subject can be placed only in mitigation of his offense, not… — 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… — 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
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
Many of us were taught that no sentence should begin with "but." If that's what you learned, unlearn it - there's no… — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
Readers must be given room to bring their own emotions to a piece so crammed with emotional content; the writer must tenaciously… — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
Don't hedge your prose with little timidities. Good writing is lean and confident. . . . Every little qualifier whittles away some… — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
A writer is obviously at his most natural and relaxed when he writes in the first person. Writing is a personal transaction… — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
All your clear and pleasing sentences will fall apart if you don't keep remembering that writing is linear and sequential, that logic… — 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
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
“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
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
“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
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
“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
“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
![“A simple [writing] style is the result of very hard work.” quote by William Zinsser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebd/william-zinsser-2796_design_a-simple-writing-style-is-the-result-of_2870964.png)
