Writing is such a lonely work that I try to keep myself cheered up.

~ William Zinsser

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I'm often dismayed by the sludge I see appearing on my screen if I approach writing as a task--the day's work--and not with some enjoyment.

~ William Zinsser

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The writer, his eye on the finish line, never gave enough thought to how to run the race.

~ William Zinsser

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The final advantage is the same that applies in every other competitive venture. If you would like to write better than everyone else, you have to want to write better than everyone else. You must take an obsessive pride in the smallest details of your craft. And you must be willing to defend what you've written against the various middlemen--editors, agents, and publishers--whose sights may be different from yours, whose standards are not as high. Too many writers are browbeaten into settling for less than their best.

~ William Zinsser

William Zinsser On Writing On Writing Well The Writing Process Write Writer Writers Writers Life Writing Writing Advice Written Wrote

Good writing is good writing, whatever form it takes and whatever we call it.

~ William Zinsser

William Zinsser On Writing On Writing Well Write Writer Writers Writing

...being rather unique is no more possible than being rather pregnant.

~ William Zinsser

William Zinsser On Writing On Writing Well Write Writer Writers Writes Writing Writing Advice

Most writers sow adjectives almost unconsciously into the soil of their prose to make it more lush and pretty, and the sentences become longer and longer as they fill up with stately elms and frisky kittens and hard-bitten detectives and sleepy lagoons. This is adjective-by-habit - a habit you should get rid of. Not every oak has to be gnarled. The adjective that exists solely as a decoration is a self-indulgence for the writer and a burden for the reader.

~ William Zinsser

William Zinsser Adjectives On Writing On Writing Well Write Writer Writers Writing Writing Advice

Most writers sow adjectives almost unconsciously into the soil of their prose to make it more lush and pretty, and the sentences become longer and longer as they fill up with stately elms and frisky kittens and hard-bitten detectives and sleepy lagoons. This is adjective-by-habit - a habit you should get rid of. Not every oak has to be gnarled. The adjective exists solely as a decoration is a self-indulgence for the writer and a burden for the reader.

~ William Zinsser

William Zinsser Adjectives On Writing On Writing Well Write Writer Writers Writing Writing Advice

But on the question of who you're writing for, don't be eager to please.

~ William Zinsser

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Learn to enjoy this tidying process. I don't like to write; I like to have written. But I love to rewrite. I especially like to cut: to press the DELETE key and see an unnecessary word or phrase or sentence vanish into the electricity. I like to replace a humdrum word with one that has more precision or color. I like to strengthen the transition between one sentence and another. I like to rephrase a drab sentence to give it a more pleasing rhythm or a more graceful musical line. With every small refinement I feel that I'm coming nearer to where I would like to arrive, and when I finally get there I know it was the rewriting, not the writing, that wont the game.

~ William Zinsser

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