On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction
by William K. Zinsser
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Book Summary Information
Author: William K. ZinsserEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Published)
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 2006-05-01
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: Collins
Book Reviews of On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction
Book Review: A mediocre writer, with an arrogance problem
Summary: 3 Stars
So here's the problem. Brilliant writers don't write books on how to write. Which means you end up getting advice on how to be a good writer from writers who aren't very good. This would be OK if they had some humility, but Zinsser doesn't. He writes as if his work is better than yours could ever be, and therefor deserving of your total fascination. Unfortunately, it's not -- in his section on improving sentences I saw a dozen ways his sentences could be improved. If you really need help writing, I'm sure the book will be useful. I just wish the author dropped the arrogance.
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Summary of On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction
On Writing Well has been praised for its sound advice, its clarity and the warmth of its style. It is a book for everybody who wants to learn how to write or who needs to do some writing to get through the day, as almost everybody does in the age of e-mail and the Internet. Whether you want to write about people or places, science and technology, business, sports, the arts or about yourself in the increasingly popular memoir genre, On Writing Well offers you fundamental priciples as well as the insights of a distinguished writer and teacher. With more than a million copies sole, this volume has stood the test of time and remains a valuable resource for writers and would-be writers.
Whether you write an occasional professional letter or a daily newspaper column, William Zinsser's On Writing Well should be required reading. Simplicity is Zinsser's mantra: he preaches a stripped-down writing style, strong and clear. He has no patience for excess (most use of adjectives and adverbs, he writes, just adds clutter) or tired phraseology (for instance, he'd like to outlaw all leads involving those "future archaeologists" most often found "stumbl[ing] upon the remains of our civilization"). He recommends that all writers of nonfiction read their work aloud (don't commit something to paper that you wouldn't actually say) and write under the assumption that "the reader knows nothing" (not to be confused with assuming the reader's an idiot). In addition to the chapters on the expected--usage, audience, interviews, leads--Zinsser also focuses on such trouble spots as science and technical writing, business writing, sports, and humor.
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