On Writing Well

On Writing Well An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction

In addition to exploring the techniques of nonfiction writing, Zinsser discusses sexism in writing, jargon, and psychological writing blocks.
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Reviews

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Bouke van der Bijl@bouk
4 stars
Mar 1, 2023

Writing is very important, because it’s how I bring across ideas and opinions. I also consider writing well to be hard. Without paying attention you can write a lot of text without conveying your initial thought. The worst writing is done in a business context, where process performance optimizations are scheduled to integrate external requirements. A business context is also where good writing can be most impactful. If you write an email that gets sent to 500 people, you better make sure it is easy to read and gets your message across. What else would be the point? Otherwise you waste 500 people’s time. This book is a good overview of writing principles you should follow to make your writing better. I enjoyed the chapters that go into applying the principles to specific topics, although I skipped over the ones that are not relevant to me–sportswriting for example. I am surprised by how well-updated this book has been over the past 40 years, although I am interested in a book like this that is written by a writer from a newer generation.

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Juliana@soundly
3 stars
Jun 14, 2023
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Jesse J. Anderson@jessejanderson
5 stars
Jan 12, 2023
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Belle@bellebcooper
3 stars
Nov 6, 2022
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James Paden@jamespaden
5 stars
Aug 12, 2022
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Thomas Pinder@thomaspinder
5 stars
Aug 12, 2022
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Seyfeddin Başsaraç@seyfeddin
4 stars
Jul 28, 2022