caitlancole's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Racism
sandylynn's review against another edition
5.0
Everyone needs a copy of this book. EVERYONE. And also Strunk and White's Guide to Style. Bad punctuation be damned!
_bea's review against another edition
4.0
Smartly written with the feeling of truly knowing what he's talking about. Though aimed towards nonfiction writing, I believe that some of the advice could be brought over to fiction writing as well. Very informative!
zena_ryder's review against another edition
4.0
Because this book is such a classic, I expected Zinsser's writing advice to be conservative. But it's not. Although I don't agree with everything he says (which is to be expected), I do generally agree with his advice. He doesn't have a problem with breaking certain grammar rules, for example, if doing so serves a greater purpose. "I think a sentence is a fine thing to put a preposition at the end of." :)
I have never read any of his articles, so I wasn't familiar with his style. This book is a pleasure to read! And whatever stage you're at in your writing career, you will find some valuable gems in here. Here are a couple I found useful:
"The moral for nonfiction writers is: think broadly about your assignment. Don't assume that an article for Audubon has to be strictly about nature, or an article for Car & Driver strictly about cars. Push the boundaries of your subject and see where it takes you. Bring some part of your own life to it; it's not your version of the story until you write it."
On interviewing experts: "Trust your common sense to figure out what you need to know, and don't be afraid to ask a dumb question. If the expert thinks you're dumb, that's his problem."
If you're new to writing, you'll find tidbits like this helpful:
"[C]lear writing is the result of a lot of tinkering."
"There's not much to be said about the period except that most writers don't reach it soon enough."
If you want to get better at the craft of writing, I recommend this book.
I have never read any of his articles, so I wasn't familiar with his style. This book is a pleasure to read! And whatever stage you're at in your writing career, you will find some valuable gems in here. Here are a couple I found useful:
"The moral for nonfiction writers is: think broadly about your assignment. Don't assume that an article for Audubon has to be strictly about nature, or an article for Car & Driver strictly about cars. Push the boundaries of your subject and see where it takes you. Bring some part of your own life to it; it's not your version of the story until you write it."
On interviewing experts: "Trust your common sense to figure out what you need to know, and don't be afraid to ask a dumb question. If the expert thinks you're dumb, that's his problem."
If you're new to writing, you'll find tidbits like this helpful:
"[C]lear writing is the result of a lot of tinkering."
"There's not much to be said about the period except that most writers don't reach it soon enough."
If you want to get better at the craft of writing, I recommend this book.
kateraed's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent writing advice! I wish someone had handed me this in late high school or early college. The chapter on making writing concise should be required reading for anyone with an email account.
awashinfeeling's review
4.0
I recommend this book as a must-have work of reference for all (would-be) writers out there. Although Zinsser explains that this book is specifically for non-fiction, some of his suggestions can easily be applied to fictional works as well. Removing word clutter, for instance, is useful for prose writing too. It's helpful and I try to follow some of his advice.
I don't agree with all of Zinsser's views of good writing. Some of his ideas are outdated, others are straitlaced. For example, his use of the generic He would be considered sexist today - and rightly so. He generally dislikes gender-neutral words (eg. flight attendant) and sounds tediously "Victorian" at times. Interestingly enough, I get the impression that he doesn't consider himself a language purist but he would surely look like one now.
I don't agree with all of Zinsser's views of good writing. Some of his ideas are outdated, others are straitlaced. For example, his use of the generic He would be considered sexist today - and rightly so. He generally dislikes gender-neutral words (eg. flight attendant) and sounds tediously "Victorian" at times. Interestingly enough, I get the impression that he doesn't consider himself a language purist but he would surely look like one now.
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