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On Writing Well - William Zinsser
Takeaways Thread Below
Takeaways Thread Below
Remove all unnecessary words
Only write for yourself
Study words
Keep in mind the rhythm and sound of your sentences
Make heavy use of a dictionary and thesaurus
Have variety in your sentence length, order, and words
Have unity in pronoun, tense, and mood
Choose small subjects for writing projects
Aim to leave the reader with just one provocative thought they didn't have before
The first sentence is the most important
Give the last sentence of every paragraph an extra twist of humour or surprise
Find odd facts and absurdities
Collect more material than you will use
Look for your material everywhere
Always look for ways to convey information as a narrative
Don't summarize as your ending
Surprise yourself -> Surprise the audience
Use active, precise verbs
Most adverbs are unnecessary
Most adjectives are unnecessary
Remove all little qualifiers
Be bold and authoritative
Don't use exclamation marks
Use semicolons sparingly
Use dashes
Only use colons for itemized lists
Use 'But' at the beginning of sentences
Don't start or end sentences with 'however'
Use contractions
'That' over 'which'
Only use 'which' to qualify a phrase before a comma
Don't string nouns together
Don't overstate
Be honest
Get rid of problem sentences
Keep paragraphs short, but not too short
Keep rewriting
Read your article aloud from beginning to end
Trust your material
Go with your interest
Use comic devices to disguise serious points
Master good prose before trying to be funny
Don't alter your voice to fit the subject
Don't assume the reader knows anything
Write about how a process works
Reduce abstract principles to images the reader can visualize
Develop one voice readers will recognize when they hear it on the page
Don't be condescending
Don't use clichés
Study writers with taste
Find the best writers in the fields that interest you and read their work aloud
Use short and strong words that will stand the test of time
Be audacious
Enjoy yourself when writing
Write to interest yourself
Write about people you respect
Tell your story in the form of a quest or a pilgrimage
Logic is the glue that holds writing together
Don't make one sentence do too much work
Ask yourself what your reader would want to know next after every sentence
Don't write like everybody else
Write as well as possible
Elevate your writing to entertainment
You have to want to write better than everyone else
