On writing well

On writing well

and writing is, finally, a craft, with its own set of tools, which are words. Like all tools, they have to be used right. On Writing Well is a craft book. That's what I set out to write 25 years ago—a book that would teach the craft of writing warmly and clearly—and its principles have never changed; they are as 4/10/ · On Writing Well Addeddate Identifier OnWritingWell Identifier-ark ark://t5r79fj2b Ocr ABBYY FineReader Ppi plus-circle Add Review. comment. Reviews There are no reviews yet. Be the first one to write a review. 55, Views. 43 Favorites On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction

On Writing Well - William Zinsser (Book Summary)

The main job of a professional non-fiction writer is working on the text. William Zinsser says that writing is an art. A person who does not write due to lack of inspiration evades his work and cannot earn his bread. Writers are hardworking loners.

They rarely see colleagues and never spin in bohemian literary circles. Each writer has his own method of work, but they all transfer a piece of themselves to the paper, on writing well. The personality that arose on paper is much more constrained than the one that holds the pen. The reader needs to find a real on writing well behind this constraint and become interested in him. Good interaction non-fiction rests on this interaction. eBook Print. Our speech is cluttered with unnecessary turns.

It seems to us: if the phrase is simple — something is wrong on writing well it. To write well, you must on writing well to simplify each phrase. Long words, adverbs, participles, passive constructions clog the text and make it difficult to understand. A person forced to wade through a text as through a jungle will soon on writing well tired of this activity. Most often this is due to the negligence of a writer who poorly composed a phrase or misused a word.

Remember this and do not despair. The quality of the written is directly proportional to the number of harmful little things that the author managed to remove, so you need to follow every word. Many turns can on writing well replaced in one word. Do not use long or buzzwords — they can strangle your text. To clear what is written, enclose the words and passages that do not perform useful work in brackets.

You will immediately understand on writing well needs to be removed. The writer needs to become recognizable, and, therefore, develop a corporate identity. Having cleared the text, some begin to decorate it — to look for catchy epithets and comparisons. At first glance, such a text looks good, but then it begins to seem unnatural. You can develop your style in only one way — by remaining yourself. The most natural-looking text is written in the first person.

However, this style is not suitable for all genres. Do not hide behind obscure pronouns, firmly adhere to your views, and your personality will be noticed. Insert jokes into the text, not being afraid that someone will not understand them, on writing well. If you like these jokes, someone else will definitely like them.

But then he needs to like it, only then will the reader become yours, on writing well. The writer must not on writing well be fluent in technical techniques but also approach the craft of writing as a creative act. Be true to yourself, and over time, your style will be freed from debris and fog, formed and honed. The style of any author can kill journalistic jargon — a mixture of cheap, template words. The presence of such jargon distinguishes the literary day laborer from a real writer.

Avoid this with all your might. Pick up rare and unusual words. Swarm in dictionaries more often. A dictionary of synonyms will be especially useful. Watch how your phrases sound. A person hears each phrase with his inner ear, so rhythm and alliteration are very important.

Words are your only tools; use them skillfully and inventively. And remember: someone invisible always listens to you. They learn to write when they write.

Choose a pronoun — decide which person you will write from. Ensure the unity of time — choose the tense of the verbs with which you are comfortable writing. Keep the unity of tone in the text. Choose a casual, friendly, on writing well, or formal tone and never mix them. Remember that not a single, even the narrowest, on writing well, the topic can be fully covered — your current final outcome tomorrow will inevitably become intermediate.

There is only one thesis, a fundamental thought in a work, on writing well. It often happens that the decisions you make are wrong, and the thread of the narrative leads you in a completely different direction, on writing well.

Do not be a slave to a predefined plan and move where the soul calls. The most important part of the article is the conception. The purpose of the inception is one — to interest. Use an original thought, an elegant paradox, a joke, or just start telling an interesting story. The reader should immediately understand what your article is about and whether it is worth reading. Build paragraph to paragraph tension.

Make the end of each paragraph sharp and unexpected so that the reader wants to move on to the next. No less important is the ending of the article. Do not drag it out, take stock of what was said earlier. The perfect ending should slightly surprise readers with its unexpectedness, but look absolutely correct.

If you have stated all the facts and conveyed the idea, just put an end. For the ending, a sharp phrase may come in handy that will surprise the reader. Avoid the passive voice. Text stuffed with passive constructions bores the reader.

Remember: the shorter the better. Use active verbs that give the text pressure and dynamism. Often, adverbs are unnecessary ballast.

Adjectives should also be treated with caution, otherwise, your text will turn out to be overly flowery and magnificent. They dilute the phrase, make it unconvincing. A novice writer can get confused in a long-phrase. The best way out of this situation is to put a point in the middle of the sentence and break it into two parts. Text composed of short and concise phrases is easier to read. An exclamation mark is used to emphasize the gravity of the phrase.

Do not place it too often and mark them your jokes. A semicolon allows you to add another thought related to it to the first part of the phrase. The reader pauses a little on this sign, so use it carefully so as not to slow down the text. A dash reinforces the conclusion or generalization, and two dashes highlight an additional thought inserted in the middle of a phrase.

This sign pushes, speeds up the text. In the proposals where they are present, there are no actors, which means there is no life. Often there are phrases with garlands of nouns. Each such garland can be replaced on writing well one word, best of all — with a verb, and rid the text of ballast. Exaggerations — bombs with rude humor.

Do not spoil your text with them, on writing well. But credibility for a non-fiction writer is a necessary thing. Do not let the reader catch yourself in a hoax, otherwise, you will lose his trust forever, on writing well. Sometimes there are phrases that cannot be rebuilt. Short paragraphs will also make the article more readable because a solid text only scares the reader away.

The optimal paragraph length is sentences, on writing well. Each paragraph is a separate whole, one in meaning and in structure. Among the books that are published today, more and more non-fiction appears. People do not want to read fictional stories, but the truth about their life. Most famous non-fiction writers withdrew from journalism. Modern non-fiction writers not only know how to clearly state facts but also write beautifully.

If a person wants to learn how to write and work with text, he is better off not taking for on writing well novel, but for articles, on writing well. To take a good interview, on writing well, you need to be able to talk to your interlocutor. His words will always be better than yours because they reveal his essence. The liveliness of your writings will be directly proportional to the number of quotes that you can insert into them.

BOOK REVIEW: On Writing well by William Zinsser

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7 Inspiring Writing Tips From On Writing Well

On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction and writing is, finally, a craft, with its own set of tools, which are words. Like all tools, they have to be used right. On Writing Well is a craft book. That's what I set out to write 25 years ago—a book that would teach the craft of writing warmly and clearly—and its principles have never changed; they are as 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 both fundamental principles as well as the insights of a distinguished practitioner. With over a million copies in print, this volume has stood the test of time and remains a valued resource for writers and would-be writers/5(K)