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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.

— William Zinsser On Writing Well (1976)

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More quotes by William Zinsser

Good writers are visible just behind their words.

On Writing Well (1976)

If you write for yourself, you'll reach all the people you want to write for.

On Writing Well (1976)

The writer who cares about usage must always know the quick from the dead.

On Writing Well (1976)

Memoir is the art of inventing the truth.

On Writing Well (1976)

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.

On Writing Well (1976)

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: William Zinsser (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.