On Writing Well Book Summary

Book Summary

15 min

Brief Summary

Like any craft, writing comes with a lot of practice. Expect a lot of failures. Did you know J.K. Rowling’s pitch for Harry Potter was rejected 12 times? With every failure, you learn something invaluable and become a better writer. Your only competition is you.

Just remember to keep it simple and easy to understand. It takes a sprinkle of genius to understand something complex and write in a way so a fifth-grader can understand. Couple that with a consistent tone, careful word choice, and most importantly, your inner voice.

About the Author

William Knowlton Zinnser was an American writer and a literary mastermind. He started his career writing for the New York Herald Tribune, working as a feature writer, editorial writer, film critic, and drama editor. Over his lifelong writing career, he has contributed to various leading magazines.

He taught writing at Yale University. During his career, Zinnser wrote 18 books, all of which demonstrate his profound love for writing.

Topics

Communication Skills

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Key Insights

A blank page can send shivers down your spine. A million questions start whirling inside your head in a hurricane of possibilities. What should you write? Which words to choose? Where to even begin? It’s all very overwhelming.

Don’t panic. We’ll let you in on a couple of tricks that will make writing a breeze. On Writing Well by William Zinsser is a guide to honing your writing skills and perfecting your craft. It offers just the right tools so you can do wonders with your words.

The write way, where less is more

“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough,” said Albert Einstein.

The secret sauce to good writing is simplicity. What happens when an article rambles on and doesn’t get to the point? Precisely, you toss it aside and say, “Ain’t nobody got time for that.”

Newbies think it’s cool to jam fluff. Remember, the reader wants to read, not read between the lines. Slash down that fluff and declutter like a maniac. Write, rewrite, and repeat.

Clear words come from clear thoughts. Ask yourself, what are you trying to say? Have you said it in the best way possible? Be your critic and be ruthless. Break long sentences into shorter ones. The more concise your craft, the better.

As Zinsser says, “writing improves in direct ratio to the number of things we can keep out of it that shouldn’t be there.”

Be yourself is all that you can do

Is an iPhone different from a Chinese rip-off? Lame question, but in a nutshell, that’s authenticity for you.

Words are your wardrobe. These words reflect your personality. Although finding your voice is no walk in the park, here’s how you get this ball rolling.

For one, don’t just gaze into the paper waiting for inspiration to strike. Start writing. It’ll be uncomfortable at first but after a couple of sentences or paragraphs, you’ll be in the groove. Force yourself to write everyday so you ride that learning curve. Practice is the only name of the game.

Next up, use personal pronouns. The more opinionated you are, the faster you can paint your voice into words. There’s no mass audience waiting to read your words. Take your sweet time and don’t worry whether the reader “gets it” if you throw in a sudden impulse of humor. You are writing for yourself, so enjoy it to the fullest.

The right words can achieve anything

If writing is war, then words are your arsenal. Good writing comes from originality, but also from imitation. Read your favorite authors. If you like being sarcastic in what you write, read the famous authors that have a knack for doing that and you’ll learn as you go.

Words ebb and flow, and that’s where the magic is. If your sentences march in the same plodding gait that puts people to sleep, it’s about time you breathed fresh life into your words. Always avoid run-of-the-mill cliches, and for the love of God, don’t look up synonyms and jam in a sentence without knowing what it...