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Quotes from On Writing Well — William Zinsser

1922–2015 United States

← All quotes by William Zinsser

30 quotes

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.

On Writing Well (1976)

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.

On Writing Well (1976)

Good writing is lean and confident.

On Writing Well (1976)

I've never heard anybody smile.

On Writing Well (1976)

Nobody ever stopped reading E. B. White or V. S. Pritchett because the writing was too good.

On Writing Well (1976)

This is a book by a writer who does some teaching, not a book by a teacher who does some writing, and one of the satisfactions of the craft is that there's always something new to learn.

On Writing Well (1976)

Be a writer. Write things down.

On Writing Well (1976)

You are writing for yourself.

On Writing Well (1976)

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.

On Writing Well (1976)

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.

On Writing Well (1976)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: William Zinsser (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.