All William Zinsser Quotes
- Many of us were taught that no sentence should begin with "but." If that's what you learned, unlearn it - there's no stronger word at… Announces
- Writing is thinking on paper. Anyone who thinks clearly should be able to write clearly-about any subject at all. Able
- Four basic premises of writing: clarity, brevity, simplicity, and humanity. Basic
- Decide what you want to do. Then decide to do it. Then do it. Decide
- Don’t try to visualize the great mass audience. There is no such audience—every reader is a different person. Audience
- Examine every word you put on paper. You'll find a surprising number that don't serve any purpose. Any
- Today the outlandish becomes routine overnight. The humorist is trying to say that it's still outlandish. Becomes
- But nothing has replaced the writer. He or she is still stuck with the same old job of saying something that other people will want… Job
- The only way to learn to write is to force yourself to produce a certain number of words on a regular basis. Bases
- Don't be kind of bold. Be bold. Bold
- Ultimately the product that any writer has to sell is not the subject being written about, but who he or she is. Any
- Clutter is the disease of American writing, American
- People read with their ears, whether they know it or not, Ears
- I try to make what I have written tighter, stronger and more precise, eliminating every element that's not doing useful work. Then I go over… Aloud
- The secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components. Every word that serves no function, every long word that could… Adverb
- Scholarship hath no fury like that of a language purist faced with sludge. Faced
- You'll never make your mark as a writer unless you develop a respect for words and a curiosity about their shades of meaning that is… Almost Obsessive
- You learn to write by writing. Funny
- Thought is action in rehearsal. Action
- Noise is the typographical error and the poorly designed page...Ambiguity is noise. Redundancy is noise. Misuse of words is noise. Vagueness is noise. Jargon is… Ambiguity