One of underestimated tasks in nonfiction writing is to impose narrative shape on an unwieldy mass of material. William Zinsser More Quotes by William Zinsser More Quotes From William Zinsser I try to make what I have written tighter, stronger and more precise, eliminating every element that's not doing useful work. Then I go over it once more, reading it aloud, and am always amazed at how much clutter can still be cut. William Zinsser cutting reading trying Finding a voice that your readers will enjoy is largely a matter of taste. Saying that isn't much help-taste is a quality so intangible that it can't even be defined. But we know it when we meet it. William Zinsser quality voice writing Clutter is the disease of American writing. William Zinsser jargon disease writing People and places are the twin pillars on which most nonfiction is built. Every human event happens somewhere, and the reader wants to know what that somewhere was like. William Zinsser events want people Telling a writer to relax is like telling a man to relax while being prodded for a possible hernia. William Zinsser hernias relax men Today the outlandish becomes routine overnight. The humorist is trying to say that it's still outlandish. William Zinsser routine trying today Don’t try to visualize the great mass audience. There is no such audience—every reader is a different person. William Zinsser writing trying life The writer who cares about usage must always know the quick from the dead. William Zinsser usage who-cares care The writers job is like solving a puzzle, and finally arriving at a solution is a tremendous satisfaction. William Zinsser arriving satisfaction jobs Many of us were taught that no sentence should begin with "but." If that's what you learned, unlearn it - there's no stronger word at the start. It announces a total contrast with what has gone before, and the reader is thereby primed for the change. William Zinsser taught stronger writing What I want to do is make people laugh so that they'll see things seriously. William Zinsser
