I finished reading one of the books from
Below you'll find the notes I made for the first 12 chapters while I was reading book. The quotes I wrote down for chapters 13-24 I'll share with you in another post soon :)
Chapter 1: The Transaction
“Ultimately the product that any writer has to sell is not the subject being written about, but who he or she is.”
Chapter 2: Simplicity
“But the secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components… clear thinking becomes clear writing.”
Chapter 3: Clutter
“Examine every word… You’ll find a surprising number that don’t serve any purpose... the clutter is the enemy."
Chapter 4: Style
“Writing is an act of ego, and you might as well admit it. Use its energy to keep yourself going.”
Chapter 5: The Audience
“Who am I writing for?” It’s a fundamental question, and it has a fundamental answer: You are writing for yourself... You are who you are, he [the reader] is who he is, and either you’ll get along or you won’t.”
Chapter 6: Words
"Writing is learned by imitation.”
Chapter 7: Usage
“Language is a fabric that changes from one week to another… “being “rather unique” is no more possible than being rather pregnant.”
Chapter 8: Unity
“Don’t ever become the prisoner of a preconceived plan. Writing is no respecter of blueprints.”
Chapter 9: The Lead and the Ending
“The most important sentence in any article is the first one.”
Chapter 10: Bits & Pieces
“You won’t write well until you understand that writing is an evolving process, not a product.”
Chapter 11: Nonfiction as Literature
“Good writing is good writing, whatever form it takes and whatever we call it.”
Chapter 12: Writing About People: The Interview
“Writing is a public trust.”
Some of these made me laugh, some made me think, some even shocked me. Ultimately, the advice in the book has helped me improve my writing for this blog.
One of the best tips for me personally was “the essence of writing is rewriting” - something that I admittedly wasn't really doing mainly because of the lack of time, but I will work hard on making it a crucial part of my blogging.
Do you have a favourite Zinsser quote?
Source: "On Writing Well" 25th anniversary edition
Image courtesy of Simon Howden / FreeDigitalPhotos.net