William Zinsser quotes

If you write for yourself, you'll reach all the people you want to write for. (William Zinsser)
The best way to learn to write is to study the work of the men and women who are doing the kind of writing you want to do. View quote
William Zinsser
Nobody becomes Tom Wolfe overnight, not even Tom Wolfe. View quote
William Zinsser
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. View quote
William Zinsser
Good writers are visible just behind their words. View quote
William Zinsser
Make a habit of reading what is being written today and what has been written before. Writing is learned by imitation. View quote
William Zinsser
Nobody ever stopped reading E. B. White or V. S. Pritchett because the writing was too good. View quote
William Zinsser
The writers job is like solving a puzzle, and finally arriving at a solution is a tremendous satisfaction. View quote
William Zinsser
Memoir is the art of inventing the truth. View quote
William Zinsser
The writer who cares about usage must always know the quick from the dead. View quote
William Zinsser
All writing is ultimately a question of solving a problem. (William Zinsser)
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. View quote
William Zinsser
A writer will do anything to avoid the act of writing. View quote
William Zinsser
Journalism is writing that first appears in any periodic journal. View quote
William Zinsser
Good writing is lean and confident. View quote
William Zinsser
If you lose the dullards back in the dust, that's where they belong. You don't want them anyway. View quote
William Zinsser
It's a fitting irony that under Richard Nixon "launder" became a dirty word. View quote
William Zinsser
Never hesitate to imitate another writer - every person learning a craft or an art needs models. Eventually you'll find your own voice and will shed the skin of the writer you imitated. View quote
William Zinsser
Writing is hard work. A clear sentence is no accident. Very few sentences come out right the first time, or even the third time. Remember this in moments of despair. If you find that writing is hard, it's because it is hard. It's one of the hardest things that people do. View quote
William Zinsser
Writing improves in direct ratio to the things we can keep out of it that shouldn't be there. View quote
William Zinsser
You are writing for yourself. (William Zinsser)
You must find some way to elevate your act of writing into entertainment. View quote
William Zinsser
Writing is thinking on paper, or talking to someone on paper. If you can think clearly, or if you can talk to someone about the things you know and care about, you can write - with confidence and enjoyment. View quote
William Zinsser
Probably the finest travel book ever written by an American is Walden, though Thoreau only went a mile out of town. View quote
William Zinsser
My roster of the new literature, in short, would include all the writers who come bearing new information and who present it with vigor, clarity and humanity. View quote
William Zinsser