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

— William Zinsser

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

If a philosophical writer cannot be followed, the difficulty of his subject can be placed only in mitigation of his offense, not in condo nation of it. There are too many expert witnesses on the other side.

— William Zinsser

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

I never think of him as a scholar assaulting me with how much he knows, but as a teacher eager to share a lifelong passion for the subject.

— William Zinsser

It's no fun to think about infinity and no cinch to write about it. Again, it helps to look for some human link.

— William Zinsser

It won't do to say that the reader is too dumb or too lazy to keep pace with the train of thought. If the reader is lost, it's usually because the writer hasn't been careful enough

— William Zinsser

It won't do to say that the reader is too dumb or too lazy to keep pace with the train of thought. If the reader is lost, it's usually because the writer hasn't been careful enough.

— William Zinsser

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. Furthermore, I like to strengthen the transition between one sentence and another. Furthermore, 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 won't the game.

— William Zinsser

Look for the clutter in your writing and prune it ruthlessly. Be grateful for everything you can throw away. Reexamine each sentence you put on paper. Is every word doing new work? Can any thought be expressed with more economy? Is anything pompous or pretentious or faddish? Are you hanging on to something useless just because you think it's beautiful?... Simplify, simplify.

— William Zinsser