Fighting clutter is like fighting weeds-the writer is always slightly behind. William Zinsser More Quotes by William Zinsser More Quotes From William Zinsser You must find some way to elevate your act of writing into an entertainment. Usually this means giving the reader an enjoyable surprise. Any number of devices will do the job.... These seeming amusements in fact become your 'style.' When we say we like the style of certain writers, what we mean is that we like their personality as they express it on paper. William Zinsser writing jobs mean Writing is such lonely work that I try to keep myself cheered up. If something strikes me as funny in the act of writing, I throw it in just to amuse myself. If I think it's funny I assume a few other people will find it funny, and that seems to me to be a good day's work. William Zinsser good-day lonely writing The sound of the bat is the music of spring training. William Zinsser training sound spring Writers are the custodians of memory, and that's what this chapter is about: how to leave some kind of record of your life and of the family you were born into. William Zinsser custodians records memories When you're ready to stop, stop. If you have presented all the facts and made the point you want to make, look for the nearest exit. William Zinsser want facts looks 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 be a short word, every adverb that carries the same meaning that’s already in the verb, every passive construction that leaves the reader unsure of who is doing what—these are the thousand and one adulterants that weaken the strength of a sentence. And they usually occur in proportion to the education and rank. William Zinsser secret writing long Never forget that you are practicing a craft with certain principles. William Zinsser crafts never-forget principles Much of my writing has taken the form of a pilgrimage: to sacred places that represent the best of America, to musicians and other artists who represent the best of their art. William Zinsser taken writing art Most writers sow adjectives almost unconsciously into the soil of their prose to make it more lush and pretty. The sentences become longer and longer as they fill up with stately elms and graceful boughs and frisky kittens and sleepy lagoons. William Zinsser lagoons adjectives soil What I want to do is to make people laugh so that they'll see things seriously. William Zinsser humor work funny A writer is always working. William Zinsser always-working writing Writers who think THEY are being criticized when only that writing is being criticized are beyond a teacher's reach. Writing can only be learned when a writer coldly separates himself from what he has written and looks at it with the objectivity of a plumber examining a newly piped bathroom to see if he got all the joints tight. William Zinsser writing teacher thinking Every successful piece of nonfiction should leave the reader with one provocative thought that he or she didn't have before. Not two thoughts, or five - just one. So decide what single point you want to leave in the reader's mind. William Zinsser successful mind two Rewriting is the essence of writing well - where the game is won or lost. William Zinsser essence games writing Readers must be given room to bring their own emotions to a piece so crammed with emotional content; the writer must tenaciously resist explaining why the material is so moving. William Zinsser emotional rooms moving Probably every subject is interesting if an avenue into it can be found that has humanity and that an ordinary person can follow. William Zinsser humanity ordinary interesting It's a fitting irony that under Richard Nixon "launder" became a dirty word. William Zinsser sarcasm sarcastic dirty Although the frankfurter originated in Frankfurt, Germany, we have long since made it our own, a twin pillar of democracy along with Mom's apple pie. In fact, now that Mom's apple pie comes frozen and baked by somebody who isn't Mom, the hot dog stands alone. What it symbolizes remains pure, even if what it contains does not. William Zinsser mom dog food Editors are licensed to be curious. William Zinsser curious editors If a good word already exists, there is no need to invent something painful. William Zinsser good-words painful needs