Quotes by William Zinsser

“There are some writers who sweep us along so strongly in their current of energy--Normal mailer, Tom Wolfe, Toni Morrison, William F. Buckley, Jr., Hunter Thompson, David Foster Wallace, Dave Egger...”

“Dont try to visualize the great mass audience. There is no such audienceevery reader is a different person.”

“Write about small, self-contained incidents that are still vivid in your memory. If you remember them, it's because they contain a larger truth that your readers will recognize in their own lives. ...”

“I almost always urge people to write in the first person. Writing is an act of ego and you might as well admit it.”

“Less is more.”

“Vulnerability has a strength of its own.”

“Not everybody has a talent for painting, or for the piano, or for dance. But we can write our way into the artist's head and into his problems and solutions. Or we can go there with another writer.”

“Mind in language are inseparable. If we violate our language we violate ourselves.”

“But on the question of who you're writing for, don't be eager to please.”

“Learn to enjoy this tidying process. I don't like to write; I like to have written. But I love to rewrite. I especially like to cut: to press the DELETE key and see an unnecessary word or phrase or...”

“But apart from these lazinesses of logic, what makes the story so tired is the failure of the writer to reach for anything but the nearest cliche'. "Shouldered his way," "only to be met," "crashing...”

“It wont do to say that the reader is too dumb or too lazy to keep pace with the train of thought. If the reader is lost, it's usually because the writer hasn't be careful enough.”

“Beware, then, of the long word that's no better than the short word: "assistance" (help), "numerous" (many), "facilitate" (ease), "Individual" (man or woman), "remainder" (rest), "initial" (first),...”

“Even a poor translator couldn't kill a style that moves with such narrative clarity.”

“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. It's a question of using the English lan...”

“Writing is such a lonely work that I try to keep myself cheered up.”

“I'm often dismayed by the sludge I see appearing on my screen if I approach writing as a task--the day's work--and not with some enjoyment.”

“The writer, his eye on the finish line, never gave enough thought to how to run the race.”

“The final advantage is the same that applies in every other competitive venture. If you would like to write better than everyone else, you have to want to write better than everyone else. You must ...”

“Don't annoy your readers by over-explaining--by telling them something they already know or can figure out. Try not to use words like "surprisingly," "predictably" and "of course," which put a valu...”