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

by Zinsser, William

• ISBN13: 9780060891541
• ISBN10: 0060891548
• eBook ISBN(s): 9780062250506
• Additional ISBN(s): 9780060006648, 9780062735232
• Edition: 30th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-04-01
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publications

About This Book

On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction

ISBN: 9780060891541

About This Book

"On Writing Well" by William Zinsser is a beloved classic that has been a staple for writers and aspiring writers for decades. This definitive guide to writing nonfiction celebrates its thirtieth anniversary, offering sound advice, clarity, and a warm style that makes it accessible to everyone.

Who Uses It?

Primarily, this book is used by students and professionals in various fields who need to write clear and compelling prose. Whether you're writing about people, places, science, technology, business, sports, or the arts, "On Writing Well" provides fundamental principles and insights from a distinguished practitioner. It's also a valuable resource for anyone who needs to do some writing to get through the day in the age of email and digital communication.

History and Editions

The book grew out of a course that William Zinsser taught at Yale. It has been praised for its timeless advice and has stood the test of time with over a million copies in print. The 30th Anniversary Edition, published on April 5, 2016, continues to be a valued resource for writers and would-be writers.

Author and Other Works

William Zinsser is a renowned author known for his practical advice and real-life examples. In addition to "On Writing Well," he has written other notable works such as "Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir" and "Writing About Your Life." His writing style is characterized by its clarity and warmth, making complex concepts easy to understand.

Detailed Information

ISBNs and Formats

Hardcover: ISBN-13: 9780060891541

eTextbook: ISBN-13: 9780062250506 (The ebook for "On Writing Well" is available right here on eCampus.com!)

eTextbook: ISBN-13: 9780062250507 (The ebook for "On Writing Well" is available right here on eCampus.com!)

Paperback: ISBN-13: 9780062250506

Rental Options: Available through eCampus.com with various rental durations

Publication Details

Publisher: HarperCollins

Publication Date: April 5, 2016

Number of Pages: 336

Language: English

Item Weight: 0.76 pounds

Dimensions: 5.31 x 8.00 x 0.76 inches

Other Editions and Formats

The book is available in various formats, including paperback and e-book editions. The e-book versions are easily accessible through eCampus.com, ensuring that readers can choose their preferred format.

Related ISBNs

9780062250506

9780062250507

Rental options are available through eCampus.com for all formats of "On Writing Well."

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION	ix
PART I Principles
1 The Transaction	3	(3)
2 Simplicity	6	(6)
3 Clutter	12	(5)
4 Style	17	(7)
5 The Audience	24	(8)
6 Words	32	(5)
7 Usage	37	(12)
PART II Methods
8 Unity	49	(5)
9 The Lead and the Ending	54	(13)
10 Bits & Pieces	67	(28)
PART III Forms
11 Nonfiction as Literature	95	(5)
12 Writing About People: The Interview	100	(16)
13 Writing About Places: The Travel Article	116	(16)
14 Writing About Yourself: The Memoir	132	(15)
15 Science and Technology	147	(18)
16 Business Writing: Writing in Your Job	165	(13)
17 Sports	178	(15)
18 Writing About the Arts: Critics and Columnists	193	(14)
19 Humor	207	(24)
PART IV Altitudes
20 The Sound of Your Voice	231	(10)
21 Enjoyment, Fear and Confidence	241	(12)
22 The Tyranny of the Final Product	253	(8)
23 A Writer's Decisions	261	(20)
24 Writing Family History and Memoir	281	(14)
25 Write as Well as You Can	295	(10)
SOURCES	305	(6)
INDEX	311

Excerpts

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

Chapter One

The Transaction

A school in Connecticut once held "a day devoted to the arts," and I was asked if I would come and talk about writing as a vocation. When I arrived I found that a second speaker had been invited -- Dr. Brock (as I'll call him), a surgeon who had recently begun to write and had sold some stories to magazines. He was going to talk about writing as an avocation. That made us a panel, and we sat down to face a crowd of students and teachers and parents, all eager to learn the secrets of our glamorous work.

Dr. Brock was dressed in a bright red jacket, looking vaguely bohemian, as authors are supposed to look, and the first question went to him. What was it like to be a writer?

He said it was tremendous fun. Coming home from an arduous day at the hospital, he would go straight to his yellow pad and write his tensions away. The words just flowed. It was easy. I then said that writing wasn't easy and wasn't fun. It was hard and lonely, and the words seldom just flowed.

Next Dr. Brock was asked if it was important to rewrite. Absolutely not, he said. "Let it all hang out," he told us, and whatever form the sentences take will reflect the writer at his most natural. I then said that rewriting is the essence of writing. I pointed out that professional writers rewrite their sentences over and over and then rewrite what they have rewritten.

"What do you do on days when it isn't going well?" Dr. Brock was asked. He said he just stopped writing and put the work aside for a day when it would go better. I then said that the professional writer must establish a daily schedule and stick to it. I said that writing is a craft, not an art, and that the man who runs away from his craft because he lacks inspiration is fooling himself. He is also going broke.

"What if you're feeling depressed or unhappy?" a student asked. "Won't that affect your writing?"

Probably it will, Dr. Brock replied. Go fishing. Take a walk. Probably it won't, I said. If your job is to write every day, you learn to do it like any other job.

A student asked if we found it useful to circulate in the literary world. Dr. Brock said he was greatly enjoying his new life as a man of letters, and he told several stories of being taken to lunch by his publisher and his agent at Manhattan restaurants where writers and editors gather. I said that professional writers are solitary drudges who seldom see other writers.

"Do you put symbolism in your writing?" a student asked me.

"Not if I can help it," I replied. I have an unbroken record of missing the deeper meaning in any story, play or movie, and as for dance and mime, I have never had any idea of what is being conveyed.

"I love symbols!" Dr. Brock exclaimed, and he described with gusto the joys of weaving them through his work.

So the morning went, and it was a revelation to all of us. At the end Dr. Brock told me he was enormously interested in my answers -- it had never occurred to him that writing could be hard. I told him I was just as interested in his answers -- it had never occurred to me that writing could be easy. Maybe I should take up surgery on the side.

As for the students, anyone might think we left them bewildered. But in fact we gave them a broader glimpse of the writing process than if only one of us had talked. For there isn't any "right" way to do such personal work. There are all kinds of writers and all kinds of methods, and any method that helps you to say what you want to say is the right method for you. Some people write by day, others by night. Some people need silence, others turn on the radio. Some write by hand, some by word processor, some by talking into a tape recorder. Some people write their first draft in one long burst and then revise; others can't write the second paragraph until they have fiddled endlessly with the first.

But all of them are vulnerable and all of them are tense. They are driven by a compulsion to put some part of themselves on paper, and yet they don't just write what comes naturally. They sit down to commit an act of literature, and the self who emerges on paper is far stiffer than the person who sat down to write. The problem is to find the real man or woman behind the tension.

Ultimately the product that any writer has to sell is not the subject being written about, but who he or she is. I often find myself reading with interest about a topic I never thought would interest me -- some scientific quest, perhaps. What holds me is the enthusiasm of the writer for his field. How was he drawn into it? What emotional baggage did he bring along? How did it change his life? It's not necessary to want to spend a year alone at Walden Pond to become involved with a writer who did.

This is the personal transaction that's at the heart of good nonfiction writing. Out of it come two of the most important qualities that this book will go in search of humanity and warmth. Good writing has an aliveness that keeps the reader reading from one paragraph to the next, and it's not a question of gimmicks to "personalize" the author. It's a question of using the English language in a way that it will achieve the greatest clarity and strength.

Can such principles be taught? Maybe not. But most of them can be learned.

On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition
The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction. Copyright © by William Zinsser. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.

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Excerpted from On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction by William K. Zinsser
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.