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William Zinsser Quotes

Good writing is lean and confident Picture Quote #1

Good writers are visible just behind their words Picture Quote #1

Don’t be kind of bold. Be bold Picture Quote #1

To defend what you’ve written is a sign that you are alive Picture Quote #1

Writing and learning and thinking are the same process Picture Quote #1

People read with their ears, whether they know it or not Picture Quote #1

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Scholarship hath no fury like that of a language purist faced with sludge Picture Quote #1

Writing is a craft not an art Picture Quote #1

Hard writing makes easy reading. Easy writing makes hard reading Picture Quote #1

Four basic premises of writing: clarity, brevity, simplicity, and humanity Picture Quote #1

I almost always urge people to write in the first person... Writing is an act of ego and you might as well admit it Picture Quote #1

If writing seems hard, it’s because it is hard. It’s one of the hardest things people do Picture Quote #1

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One of underestimated tasks in nonfiction writing is to impose narrative shape on an unwieldy mass of material Picture Quote #1

Writing improves in direct ratio to the things we can keep out of it that shouldn’t be there Picture Quote #1

Don’t try to guess what sort of thing editors want to publish or what you think the country is in a mood to read. Editors and readers don’t know what they want to read until they read it. Besides, they’re always looking for something new Picture Quote #1

I have no interest in teaching writers how to sell. I want to teach them how to write. If the process is sound, the product will take care of itself, and sales are likely to follow Picture Quote #1

There are all kinds of writers and all kinds of methods, and any method that helps you to say what you want to say is the right method for you Picture Quote #1

$Don’t hedge your prose with little timidities. Good writing is lean and confident... Every little qualifier whittles away some fraction of the reader’s trust. Readers want a writer who believes in himself and in what he is saying. Don’t diminish that belief. Don’t be kind of bold. Be bold Picture Quote #1$

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My commodity as a writer, whatever I’m writing about, is me. And your commodity is you. Don’t alter your voice to fit the subject. Develop one voice that readers will recognize when they hear it on the page, a voice that’s enjoyable not only in its musical line but in its avoidance of sounds that would cheapen its tone: breeziness and condescension and clichés Picture Quote #1

Rewriting is the essence of writing well: it’s where the game is won or lost. The idea is hard to accept. We all have emotional equity in our first draft; we can’t believe that it wasn’t born perfect. But the odds are close to 100 percent that it wasn’t Picture Quote #1

Noise is the typographical error and the poorly designed page... Ambiguity is noise. Redundancy is noise. Misuse of words is noise. Vagueness is noise. Jargon is noise Picture Quote #1

What I want to do is to make people laugh so that they’ll see things seriously Picture Quote #1

You can solve most of your writing problems if you stop after every sentence and ask: what does the reader need to know next? Picture Quote #1

I try to make what I have written tighter, stronger and more precise, eliminating every element that’s not doing useful work. Then I go over it once more, reading it aloud, and am always amazed at how much clutter can still be cut Picture Quote #1

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Don’t say you were a bit confused and sort of tired and a little depressed and somewhat annoyed. Be tired. Be confused. Be depressed. Be annoyed. Don’t hedge your prose with little timidities. Good writing is lean and confident Picture Quote #1

There’s not much to be said about the period except that most writers don’t reach it soon enough Picture Quote #1

Ultimately the product that any writer has to sell is not the subject being written about, but who he or she is Picture Quote #1

Believe in your own identity and your own opinions. Proceed with confidence, generating it, if necessary, by pure willpower. Writing is an act of ego and you might as well admit it. Use its energy to keep yourself going Picture Quote #1

Examine every word you put on paper. You’ll find a surprising number that don’t serve any purpose Picture Quote #1

I think a sentence is a fine thing to put a preposition at the end of Picture Quote #1

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Friendship Quotes

Motivational Quotes

Inspirational Quotes

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Text Quotes

Good writing is lean and confident (William Zinsser Quotes) Good writers are visible just behind their words (William Zinsser Quotes) Don’t be kind of bold. Be bold (William Zinsser Quotes) To defend what you’ve written is a sign that you are alive (William Zinsser Quotes) Writing and learning and thinking are the same process (William Zinsser Quotes) People read with their ears, whether they know it or not (William Zinsser Quotes) Scholarship hath no fury like that of a language purist faced with sludge (William Zinsser Quotes) Writing is a craft not an art (William Zinsser Quotes) Hard writing makes easy reading. Easy writing makes hard reading (William Zinsser Quotes) Four basic premises of writing: clarity, brevity, simplicity, and humanity (William Zinsser Quotes) I almost always urge people to write in the first person... Writing is an act of ego and you might as well admit it (William Zinsser Quotes) If writing seems hard, it’s because it is hard. It’s one of the hardest things people do (William Zinsser Quotes) One of underestimated tasks in nonfiction writing is to impose narrative shape on an unwieldy mass of material (William Zinsser Quotes) Writing improves in direct ratio to the things we can keep out of it that shouldn’t be there (William Zinsser Quotes) Don’t try to guess what sort of thing editors want to publish or what you think the country is in a mood to read. Editors and readers don’t know what they want to read until they read it. Besides, they’re always looking for something new (William Zinsser Quotes) I have no interest in teaching writers how to sell. I want to teach them how to write. If the process is sound, the product will take care of itself, and sales are likely to follow (William Zinsser Quotes) There are all kinds of writers and all kinds of methods, and any method that helps you to say what you want to say is the right method for you (William Zinsser Quotes) Don’t hedge your prose with little timidities. Good writing is lean and confident... Every little qualifier whittles away some fraction of the reader’s trust. Readers want a writer who believes in himself and in what he is saying. Don’t diminish that belief. Don’t be kind of bold. Be bold (William Zinsser Quotes) My commodity as a writer, whatever I’m writing about, is me. And your commodity is you. Don’t alter your voice to fit the subject. Develop one voice that readers will recognize when they hear it on the page, a voice that’s enjoyable not only in its musical line but in its avoidance of sounds that would cheapen its tone: breeziness and condescension and clichés (William Zinsser Quotes) Rewriting is the essence of writing well: it’s where the game is won or lost. The idea is hard to accept. We all have emotional equity in our first draft; we can’t believe that it wasn’t born perfect. But the odds are close to 100 percent that it wasn’t (William Zinsser Quotes) Noise is the typographical error and the poorly designed page... Ambiguity is noise. Redundancy is noise. Misuse of words is noise. Vagueness is noise. Jargon is noise (William Zinsser Quotes) What I want to do is to make people laugh so that they’ll see things seriously (William Zinsser Quotes) You can solve most of your writing problems if you stop after every sentence and ask: what does the reader need to know next? (William Zinsser Quotes) I try to make what I have written tighter, stronger and more precise, eliminating every element that’s not doing useful work. Then I go over it once more, reading it aloud, and am always amazed at how much clutter can still be cut (William Zinsser Quotes) Don’t say you were a bit confused and sort of tired and a little depressed and somewhat annoyed. Be tired. Be confused. Be depressed. Be annoyed. Don’t hedge your prose with little timidities. Good writing is lean and confident (William Zinsser Quotes) There’s not much to be said about the period except that most writers don’t reach it soon enough (William Zinsser Quotes) Ultimately the product that any writer has to sell is not the subject being written about, but who he or she is (William Zinsser Quotes) Believe in your own identity and your own opinions. Proceed with confidence, generating it, if necessary, by pure willpower. Writing is an act of ego and you might as well admit it. Use its energy to keep yourself going (William Zinsser Quotes) Examine every word you put on paper. You’ll find a surprising number that don’t serve any purpose (William Zinsser Quotes) I think a sentence is a fine thing to put a preposition at the end of (William Zinsser Quotes)

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