On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction
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- Create Date：2021-08-31 09:53:42
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：William Zinsser
- ISBN：141775057X
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Summary
"On Writing Well" has been praised for its sound advice， its clarity， and its warmth of style。 It is a book for anybody who wants to learn how to write， whether about people or places， science and technology， business， sports， the arts， or about yourself。 Its principles and insights have made it a cherished resource for several generations of writers and students。 This revised 30th anniversary edition contains a new introduction and a new chapter on how to write a family history or a memoir。
Reviews
Dominic Venuso
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Classic， pleasant， and helpful read on some of the basics of writing。 There are some strange quirks I've not heard before。 One was a bias for anglo-saxon English words as opposed to Latin ones。 Things like that seem helpful with the artificial examples given， but of course these aren't actual rules。 Different kinds of words have their use in different ways （as Zinsser's own use of words with Latin origins！）。 Classic， pleasant， and helpful read on some of the basics of writing。 There are some strange quirks I've not heard before。 One was a bias for anglo-saxon English words as opposed to Latin ones。 Things like that seem helpful with the artificial examples given， but of course these aren't actual rules。 Different kinds of words have their use in different ways （as Zinsser's own use of words with Latin origins！）。 。。。more
Leanne
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I read this book on recommendation as part of a Copywriting forum that I'm a member of。 However I thought that it was mediocre and I struggled to get through it， which in a case defeats the purpose of the title。For me good writing is a flow that encourages you to keep reading because you want to find out more but I felt like I just wanted to get through the book to finish it， which is why it took so long for me to read the book。 I read this book on recommendation as part of a Copywriting forum that I'm a member of。 However I thought that it was mediocre and I struggled to get through it， which in a case defeats the purpose of the title。For me good writing is a flow that encourages you to keep reading because you want to find out more but I felt like I just wanted to get through the book to finish it， which is why it took so long for me to read the book。 。。。more
Andrew Jones
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I mean I wasn’t rushing to get back to it。 But it is written well （shockingly） and I picked up some good resources for this upcoming season of life。
Riversue
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Reading Zinsser's sentences is a joy。 If you just study that much in this book you will learn a lot。 Reading Zinsser's sentences is a joy。 If you just study that much in this book you will learn a lot。 。。。more
Aaron
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DNF。 The first half was good information about writing technique and style。 Then， it turned into a book on how to be a journalist。 No thanks。
Prashant gupta
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An all-time classic book for learners of English。
Lizzie Hutchings
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3。5 stars "If you bring to the assignment your general intelligence and your humanity， you can write about any subject。 That's your ticket to an interesting life。"I'm going to be honest。 This was a tough read to get through。 In the future I can see myself referencing this book， as it has so many important insights about writing。 But never again can I imagine myself leisurely reading this cover-to-cover。 William Zinsser was such an entertaining writer。 I found myself laughing out loud at some 3。5 stars "If you bring to the assignment your general intelligence and your humanity， you can write about any subject。 That's your ticket to an interesting life。"I'm going to be honest。 This was a tough read to get through。 In the future I can see myself referencing this book， as it has so many important insights about writing。 But never again can I imagine myself leisurely reading this cover-to-cover。 William Zinsser was such an entertaining writer。 I found myself laughing out loud at some of his witticisms and savage remarks。 I also felt that I learned a lot about writing and how to write better。 His book was indeed very heavily supported by evidence （and found myself skimming over his paragraphs of examples）， and Zinsser seemed to be quite repetitive for many of his chapters。 I think this book - and the reason behind my reading it - put me in a book slump， and I will forever have a grudge for this book because of that。 But overall， I would recommend as a reference to anyone who has a desire to just write well。Have a wonderful afternoon 😎。 。。。more
Karen Chung
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So I've read another book on writing， this one focusing on journalistic non-fiction。 It was recommended by a Medium writer， and since it's one I seem to have missed I picked it up。 Some parts dragged a bit for me， like the chapter on humor， strangely enough。 Part of the problem with that was I live in East Asia， where standards for humor are very different than in the West。 You generally need to avoid sarcasm or anything that makes fun of someone else， and it's not just Joan Rivers who gets thro So I've read another book on writing， this one focusing on journalistic non-fiction。 It was recommended by a Medium writer， and since it's one I seem to have missed I picked it up。 Some parts dragged a bit for me， like the chapter on humor， strangely enough。 Part of the problem with that was I live in East Asia， where standards for humor are very different than in the West。 You generally need to avoid sarcasm or anything that makes fun of someone else， and it's not just Joan Rivers who gets thrown out with that one， so I think I'll look for advice on humor in another place。 Zinsser reiterates the advice given by almost any successful author， i。e。 that you need to aim for expressing things clearly， in simple terms that everybody can easily understand and follow， rather than trying to show off the tongue-twisting words and hip idioms you picked up recently。 And very very importantly， to get rid of anything and everything that doesn't move the narrative along。 We can all do well to be reminded of this often。 The part that impressed me most was one of the last chapters， on how to tell your own family story。 His advice was to skip interviewing everybody in your family and life who lived through the same times with you， and just tell your own story， as you experienced it， focusing on the things emotionally powerful enough to remain with you till the present。 Good guidance， I think。I'm a university professor who also writes magazine articles （in Chinese， but most of the same principles apply） on things I've taught over the years。 Much of Zinsser's advice is particularly apropos for this kind of writing， and I've had to constantly keep some form of it in mind over my years， now moving into decades， of writing for the general public。If you're a "how to write" book junkie like me， I can recommend this one。 。。。more
bartman
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Perfect companion to Elements of Style， or vice versa。
Ali Hashemian
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Not mine:کتاب درباره خوب نوشتن اثر ویلیام زینسر کتابی است مطرح و مفید برای آنانی که دوست دارند، خوب بنویسند。 زینسر بهعنوان نویسنده، منتقد فلم، ویراستار و چهرهیی سرشناس، در این کتاب نویسندگان را به شفافنویسی و دوری از ابهامگویی تشویق کرده است。
David
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Wonderful book on writing。
Haylie
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2。5 stars。 Only found like three out of twenty chapters helpful
Cory
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I’ll write better forever after thanks to Zinsser’s master class on being concise， precise， and interesting。
Nasrin Velzel
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Very helpful with sound and practical advice on writing
Sierra
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A classic。 I read this for journalism class。 It was “updated” for the modern world at some point…but the out of date references are still there and rather entertaining。
Marco Neumann
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A mandatory and enjoyable read。
Gabrielė Bužinskaitė
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Unpleasant truth: very few of us write well。This book is a strong start when you cannot define good writing， but you think you can produce it。 I’m sure it will humble you。 The author shares the most common writing mistakes — I started seeing them everywhere。 He focuses on what to avoid if you want people to read your non-fiction。 For me， the most important message of the book is this: keeping the reader’s attention is the hardest thing to do。 University didin’t teach me that; my work has always Unpleasant truth: very few of us write well。This book is a strong start when you cannot define good writing， but you think you can produce it。 I’m sure it will humble you。 The author shares the most common writing mistakes — I started seeing them everywhere。 He focuses on what to avoid if you want people to read your non-fiction。 For me， the most important message of the book is this: keeping the reader’s attention is the hardest thing to do。 University didin’t teach me that; my work has always been read thoroughly and with care。 But professors are paid to do it。 Real readers are not。 I only have few seconds to prove myself before they leave。Even though the book was valuable to me， I only learnt what doesn’t work。 The author didn’t address literary devices （alliteration， litotes， personification， etc。） that can enrich my writing and entertain the reader。 Also， he barely discussed grammar， syntax and punctuation。 No writing will be worth reading if it’s not grammatically correct （unless you are the next Bukowski）。 So， it is a good start so you don’t embarrass yourself， but it won’t teach you the specifics of writing。“Clutter is the disease of American writing。 We are a society strangling in unnecessary words， circular constructions， pompous frills and meaningless jargon。” 。。。more
Khoa
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Great practical advice。 Read really well。 I learned the personality of the me when writing should be similar to the personality of the me when speaking。
The Bibliophile
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This book was different。 It is the first nonfiction book I have read in a while。 Despite reading it for school and not by choice， I have no regerts spending hours annotating it。 The insight， advice， and tips this book provided are beyond useful。 The way this book was written made it interesting to read and but at the same time taught me so much。 I 100% recommend this book to anyone who writes at all or is looking for something inspirational。
Jon Barr
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Underlined at least one thing on every page。 Entertaining while educating the reader on the process of writing， specifically non-fiction。 The main takeaway for me was that writing is not a beautiful， enjoyable outpouring of words from a font， but work。 The true art is in rewriting， crafting the original sentences into something you can be proud of。The quote I underlined， starred， and dwelt upon for a few minutes after was on page 280 （paperback） "Decide what you want to do。 Then decide to do it。 Underlined at least one thing on every page。 Entertaining while educating the reader on the process of writing， specifically non-fiction。 The main takeaway for me was that writing is not a beautiful， enjoyable outpouring of words from a font， but work。 The true art is in rewriting， crafting the original sentences into something you can be proud of。The quote I underlined， starred， and dwelt upon for a few minutes after was on page 280 （paperback） "Decide what you want to do。 Then decide to do it。 Then do it。" 。。。more
Alejandra Solís
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Educational and entertaining， this book is one to keep on your bookshelf for the years to come。 I really enjoyed reading through Zinsser's recommendations and guidelines， mixed with his own stories and analysis of his favourite texts。 This is a book where every chapter could be its own little book， and could be developed in many ways， but Zinsser， masterful as he is， manages to imprint his voice and style to make these guidelines his own。 I loved all of it！ Educational and entertaining， this book is one to keep on your bookshelf for the years to come。 I really enjoyed reading through Zinsser's recommendations and guidelines， mixed with his own stories and analysis of his favourite texts。 This is a book where every chapter could be its own little book， and could be developed in many ways， but Zinsser， masterful as he is， manages to imprint his voice and style to make these guidelines his own。 I loved all of it！ 。。。more
Carla
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This one remains a classic because it covers everything fundamental about telling a story or writing about your own story。
Salman Mustafa Husain
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A good piece of writing doesn't come forth spontaneously。 It emerges through the painstaking efforts of a writer who organizes paragraphs， designs sentences， weighs words and manages punctuation。 They rewrite a thousand times， and then once more just to be sure。In this book， Zinsser discusses the techniques that can help lift your writing from a convoluted mess of words to a smooth progression of ideas。 A good piece of writing doesn't come forth spontaneously。 It emerges through the painstaking efforts of a writer who organizes paragraphs， designs sentences， weighs words and manages punctuation。 They rewrite a thousand times， and then once more just to be sure。In this book， Zinsser discusses the techniques that can help lift your writing from a convoluted mess of words to a smooth progression of ideas。 。。。more
Lan Anh
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A great book actually， the one you have to revisit from time to time。 One of my biggest takeaway from this book is that， you should write clearly， both in ideas and in word choice。 Don't use two words to describe the same thing， use less adjective （because adjective limit the imagination of the readers）， and don't state the same things many times - the readers will get bored。 And yeah， cross out the words that is not necessary in the sentence。 I was surprised to see how many words/phrase I can c A great book actually， the one you have to revisit from time to time。 One of my biggest takeaway from this book is that， you should write clearly， both in ideas and in word choice。 Don't use two words to describe the same thing， use less adjective （because adjective limit the imagination of the readers）， and don't state the same things many times - the readers will get bored。 And yeah， cross out the words that is not necessary in the sentence。 I was surprised to see how many words/phrase I can cross out or rephrase into something shorter in my writing。 。。。more
Mike Degen
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Extremely influential on the way I write
Yarely Banuelos
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Not only was this book enjoyable to read， but I learned the foundations for great writing。 I have hated the writing process in the past， with lack of words and feeling lost， but I now know that writing consists of a lot of thinking， rewriting， and care。
Jag
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Very helpful book， recommended to several colleagues
India Lee Starks
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One of the best books on writing。 I’ve returned to re-read this book three times now。 His in instruction is clear， light， and refreshing。 His style makes reading about writing enjoyable， believe it or not。
Vic Terek
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Practical and useful， this book shines with clear and concise advice on improving one’s writing。 The writer researched a wide range of disciplines and kept it engaging with practical and thoughtful examples throughout the book。 Would be useful for everyone who aspires to write better！
Susan
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