On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction

This book is a timeless guide to nonfiction writing, covering essential principles like clarity, simplicity, and style. Zinsser provides practical techniques for crafting engaging prose, through nine major genres including interviews, travel, sports, memoirs, science and so on. Beyond technique, he inspires writers to find joy in the craft, emphasizing discipline and revision. With its clear advice and engaging style, this book is invaluable for anyone looking to improve their writing whether for work, storytelling, or personal expression. A must-read classic.

The importance of this book is not difficult to explain - this is an essential must have for all interested in books, not only for those who write, but for anyone who reads; at the end of it, youll be better in both. The book focuses on how to write well non-fiction, but virtually all its comments do apply also to fiction. And it goes further and helps to understand why good writing is good writing and why good literature is good literature. My favourite part is that dedicated to the basics: what not to do when writing, and specifically how to avoid, as the author calls it, the "clutter", with many examples of that "clutter": how banks, insurance companies, large corporations and, most obviously and constantly, the politians use the language not to explain, but to conceal what they mean, or to look more important; and all by means of using longer (and generally useless, many times gramaically incorrect) expressions. Thus: the very silly "at the present time" instead of the plain yet far more correct "now". There are an array of examples like this one. As I said in the title of this review: a must have for anyone who reads or write; for anyone.

As you would expect this is very well written and gives clear guidance on how to improve your writing. It is litterd with fantastic examples and anecdotes to brighten up what can be a dry subject. It lacks some of the charm of Eats, shoots and leaves. but makes up for it in depth. Having studied Journalism a decade ago I wish I'd had this book then. It taught me everything I should have learnt but was never taught. It demonstrates the subtleties of using the English language. Which, it seems to me, that between school, college and uni they expect you to learn but never actually teach. It took me only a week to read this book and I am a more confident writer as a result. There are some chapters that are specific to particular types of writing such as sports, or memoir so you can skip these if not suitable for your needs. This book is written by a journalist and so it is geared around getting you to write snappier more engaging pieces that would suit the news or feature stories. I wouldn't recommend it for academic writing so much. My only criticism is Zinsser's attempt to wipe out the semi-colon in favour of the dash. How will we wink then ;)

Good writing cannot be achieved unless the writer can organise his thoughts, first in his mind, then on paper. Even as I write this review, the lessons I learned in the chapters of On Writing Well are fresh in my mind. The book not only helped me develop the rigour and clarity in my writing, it also sparked a new enthusiasm to not just write, but write well. William Zinsser tells with clear examples that clutter and clichés in writing are present everywhere, we read them so often that we’ve become numb, narrowing our sense of what a good piece of writing looks like. Then he elegantly shows what it looks like. Humour and optimism are “lubricants in writing”, it also requires “a good musical ear, a sense of rhythm and a feeling for words”, he says. My favourite chapter of this book is A Writer’s Decision in which William Zinsser deconstructs one of his travel piece on Timbuktu, which had appeared in Condé Nast Traveller magazine. Leading up to that section, with my fresh pair of reading eyes and heightened reading senses, I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. That chapter summed it up for me, the experiences of Timbuktu lingered for several days in my mind, so did the intertwined writing lessons. I imagined that I was reading the Timbuktu article in the magazine and thought, “how could someone, after reading it, not want to visit Timbuktu and relive for themselves what William Zinsser did”. The book is neatly organised, starting with the fundamental principles of writing, followed by the methods to use during the execution. At this point you’re hooked which is when he takes you with him to dive deep and long into the various forms of writing — such as an interview, a travel, a business, or a science article — each consisting of some brilliant examples to take home an important lesson. In the last section, he covers attitudes which one can develop to become a complete writer. Never ever will I be fooled and mislead again by a poor piece of writing even if it appears in the most prestigious publication. On the other hand, I’ve realised that a fresh piece can appear even in the least reputed newspaper.

I've been writing online for a year before I read this book. What I've learnt in this book has improved the clarity and quality of my writing. My writing reads better. It's understood better now.

A great book that taught me the do's and don'ts. After reading the first few chapters, I edited my MS and cut 1100 words off one chapter. It's simple lessons and examples make it an easy and enjoyable read as well as an essential tool for all creative non-fiction writers.

Spedizione arrivata in tempo, oggetto come da descrizione, libro ben scritto.

This was recommended to me on X when I asked how I can become a better copywriter. I was not disappointed. Great ideas about how to write, why to write and the technicalities in the middle. If you are interested in writing commercially or otherwise, it's a great primer on writing with no assumed knowledge. I admit he is a bit left leaning politically however it's not strong and easily dismissed. Good read

Buen libro, tiempo y forma cumplido para el envío , aún que no fue para si no un regalo lo disfrutaron mucho

Zinsser's book is top-notch. It provides solid, easy to remember guidelines for how to make your writing cleaner and crisper. I am a writer and have to write both academic and popular pieces, and this book really helped me to understand the difference in writing styles and how to improve my own style. Zinsser takes you through the various styles of writing (and types, e.g. sports, fiction, etc.) and explains the do's and don'ts of each. The best part about the book is that the guidelines are easy to remember, such as (paraphrasing) don't use more words when less can do the same job. One big plus is that the book is also very humourous and provides great examples to follow along with. A lot of people shy away from writing books because a) there are so many out there that it's intimidating to choose one, and b) most are generally quite pedantic and boring. Zinsser's book, on the other hand, is quite engaging for a "how to" book and stands above the rest because it combines easy-to-use guidelines with solid examples and a good wit. After just one read through I found my writing improving very quickly, and since then I always have it close at hand. Even after many years this is still one of the best writing books, and along with Strunk and White's "The Element's of Style" this is one of the classic, must-have writing guides. This book has greatly improved my writing. I plan to have it on my bookshelf for life, and to consult it often!

英語の書き方よく分からないので、購入しました、先日YouTubeで同じ本を持っている方と仲間になって、ライブの参加もできて、楽しかった。