William Zinsser: Writing

William Zinsser was writer, editor, journalist, literary critic, professor. Explore interesting quotes on writing.
William Zinsser: 60 quotes1 like

“This is a book by a writer who does some teaching, not a book by a teacher who does some writing, and one of the satisfactions of the craft is that there's always something new to learn.”

William Zinsser

Introduction, p. viii.
On Writing Well (Fifth Edition, orig. pub. 1976)

“Make a habit of reading what is being written today and what has been written before. Writing is learned by imitation.”

William Zinsser

Source: On Writing Well (Fifth Edition, orig. pub. 1976), Chapter 6, Words, p. 36.

“Nobody ever stopped reading E. B. White or V. S. Pritchett because the writing was too good.”

William Zinsser

Source: On Writing Well (Fifth Edition, orig. pub. 1976), Chapter 13, Bits & Pieces, p. 130.

“Writing improves in direct ratio to the number of things we can keep out of it that shouldn't be there.”

William Zinsser

Source: On Writing Well (Fifth Edition, orig. pub. 1976), Chapter 3, Clutter, p. 13

“All writing is ultimately a question of solving a problem.”

William Zinsser

Source: On Writing Well (Fifth Edition, orig. pub. 1976), Chapter 8, Unity, p. 49.

“Writing is thinking on paper, or talking to someone on paper. If you can think clearly, or if you can talk to someone about the things you know and care about, you can write - with confidence and enjoyment.”

William Zinsser

Introduction, p. vii.
On Writing Well (Fifth Edition, orig. pub. 1976)

“A writer will do anything to avoid the act of writing.”

William Zinsser

Source: On Writing Well (Fifth Edition, orig. pub. 1976), Chapter 4, Style, p. 21.

“Journalism is writing that first appears in any periodic journal.”

William Zinsser

Source: On Writing Well (Fifth Edition, orig. pub. 1976), Chapter 9, Nonfiction as Literature, p. 61.

“Be a writer. Write things down.”

William Zinsser

Source: On Writing Well (Fifth Edition, orig. pub. 1976), Chapter 10, Writing About People: The Interview, p. 70.

“Good writing is lean and confident.”

William Zinsser

Source: On Writing Well (Fifth Edition, orig. pub. 1976), Chapter 13, Bits & Pieces, p. 114.

“If you write for yourself, you'll reach all the people you want to write for.”

William Zinsser

Source: On Writing Well (Fifth Edition, orig. pub. 1976), Chapter 12, Writing About Yourself: The Memoir, p. 98.

“Writing is hard work. A clear sentence is no accident. Very few sentences come out right the first time, or even the third time. Remember this in moments of despair. If you find that writing is hard, it's because it is hard. It's one of the hardest things that people do.”

William Zinsser

Source: On Writing Well (Fifth Edition, orig. pub. 1976), Chapter 2, Simplicity, p. 12.

“You are writing for yourself.”

William Zinsser

Source: On Writing Well (Fifth Edition, orig. pub. 1976), Chapter 5, The Audience, p. 26.

“You must find some way to elevate your act of writing into entertainment.”

William Zinsser

Source: On Writing Well (Fifth Edition, orig. pub. 1976), Chapter 22, Write as Well as You Can, p. 276.

“The best way to learn to write is to study the work of the men and women who are doing the kind of writing you want to do.”

William Zinsser

Source: On Writing Well (Fifth Edition, orig. pub. 1976), Chapter 13, Bits & Pieces, p. 136.

“Good writing has an aliveness that keeps the reader reading from one paragraph to the next, and it's not a question of gimmicks to "personalize" the author.”

William Zinsser

Source: On Writing Well (Fifth Edition, orig. pub. 1976), Chapter 1, The Transaction, p. 6.