On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction

William Zinsser

Harper Collins, Sep 11, 2012 - Business & Economics - 336 pages

"On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition EPB is a bible for a generation of writers looking for clues to clean, compelling prose." —New York Times

A beloved classic and the definitive volume on the art of writing nonfiction

On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition EPB, which grew out of a course that William Zinsser taught at Yale, has been praised for its sound advice, its clarity, and for the warmth of its style. It is a book for anybody who wants to learn how to write or who needs to do some writing to get through the day, as almost everybody does. 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, this guide on clear writing offers you both fundamental principles and 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.

This classic book on writing well offers timeless advice from a master of the craft, including:

• Simplicity and Clarity: Learn how to strip every sentence to its cleanest components and fight the disease of clutter. Zinsser shows that clear thinking is the basis for clear writing.
• The Rewriting Process: Discover why rewriting is the essence of the craft. Good writing is no accident; learn to enjoy the process of tinkering, refining, and cutting your first draft by as much as 50 percent.
• Finding Your Voice: Move beyond the rules to develop a style that is organic to you. Zinsser’s fundamental rule is to be yourself, relax, and write with confidence and humanity.
• Writing About People and Places: Master the twin pillars of most nonfiction by learning how to interview subjects and evoke the mood of a place with significant, memorable details.

Contents

• Unity: 49
• Bits Pieces: 67
• Forms: 93
• The Interview: 100
• The Travel Article: 116
• The Memoir: 132
• Science and Technology: 147
• Writing in Your Job: 165
• Sports: 178
• Critics and Columnists: 193
• Humor: 207
• The Sound of Your Voice: 231
• Enjoyment Fear and Confidence: 241
• The Tyranny of the Final Product: 253
• A Writers Decisions: 261
• Writing Family History and Memoir: 281
• Write as Well as You Can: 295
• SOURCES: 305
• INDEX: 311

About the author

William Zinsser is a writer, editor and teacher. He began his career on the New York Herald Tribune and has since written regularly for leading magazines. During the 1970s he was master of Branford College at Yale. His 17 books, ranging from baseball to music to American travel, include the influential Writing to Learn and Writing About Your Life. He teaches at the New School in New York.

Bibliographic information

• Title: On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction
• Author: William Zinsser
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: Harper Collins, 2012
• ISBN: 0062250507, 9780062250506
• Length: 336 pages
• Subjects: Business & Economics / Business Communication / General; Business & Economics / Economics / General; Business & Economics / Education; Business & Economics / Leadership; Business & Economics / Marketing / General; Business & Economics / Motivational; Education / Teaching / General; Education / Teaching / Subjects / Language Arts; Language Arts & Disciplines / General; Language Arts & Disciplines / Writing / Nonfiction (incl. Memoirs)