Saturday, November 19, 2011

"On Writing Well"

Today's book is “On Writing Well” by William Zinsser, which is a classic with over a million copies sold and a great guide to the basics of writing, as well as more specialized areas, including business writing. Its high sales don't guarantee quality, but this is an excellent book that would even help experts with any form of writing, even if they only needed a refresher.

Simplicity and Clutter
Zinsser begins this chapter by saying “clutter is the disease of American writing.” This is the most important thing I learned from this book. In school, your papers always have a minimum word count, but that leads to students padding their work to beat the deadline. This is one of the worst habits to get into, because you should always do the opposite—eliminate any word you can. This will serve me well in advertising, where I might get only one sentence to make my point.

The Audience
Another thing I've learned from this book and from business podcasts is that your audience is yourself. You can't please everyone, so write or design something that you like. You might have to adopt a different viewpoint and imagine yourself as a potential customer or professional in the relevant field, but don't agonize over pleasing the audience.

Words
Adjectives as nouns, nouns as verbs...these are a couple word usage mistakes. In school I was never taught what to do on the word level, for example to avoid long strings of nouns or turning adjectives into nouns. It was always about overarching principles, such as how to organize the paper as a whole or how to end it. Once you realize that certain categories of words should generally be avoided, such as adverbs, your writing immediately improves. If a word says something, do not use another word to say it again; for example “smile happily” when “smile” will do.

Usage
“Usage” refers to which words are in your vocabulary. “What newly minted words is it OK to use, and who is to be the judge? Is it OK to use 'OK'?” as Zinsser says. According to him, it's a judgment call, and given that, the best way to improve your judgment is to read a lot. And since I read often in several areas, I'm confident in my judgment.

Unity
It's easier to maintain unity in commercial writing, because the goals are always clearer: you're writing to sell product X, increase membership in organization Y, and so on. But you still have to remember the basics of unity: don't switch tenses, pronouns, or mood during your piece.

The Lead & Ending
Business writing emphasizes the opening even more than other forms, since if a letter or other material is read at all, it's likely to be the beginning and end. Again this is in contrast to my high school experience, which focused on a rigid structure rather than grabbing attention. And the hardest thing in writing might be the ending.
“You'll know you have arrived at III when you see emerging on your screen a sentence that begins, “In sum, it can be noted that...” Or a question that asks, “What insights, then, have we been able to glean from...?” These are signals that you are about to repeat in compressed form what you have already said in detail. The reader's interest begins to falter; the tension you have built begins to sag.”
There has to be an element of surprise, yet seem exactly right.

Bits and Pieces
This chapter answers those nagging questions that you're sure you've asked before, but always forget the answer: “Are contractions OK?” “What is the difference between 'that' and 'which'?” and so on. It would make a helpful checklist to avoid mistakes like a lack of credibility, not rewriting, or not trusting your material.

This book is one that is always nearby while I write, and every writer will have writer's block from time to time, so if you're a writer either it or White and Strunk's “The Elements of Style” should always be on your reference shelf.

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