One of the three writing gems, alongside Several Short Sentences About Writing and The Elements of Style.

Zinsser believes and strongly advocates that strong writing begins with clear thinking. He urges the readers of his book to constantly ask themselves: “What am I trying to say?” and to prune ruthlessly if sections lack purpose.

If Klinkenberg focused on making sure every sentence has purpose, Zinsser does the exact same with the words.

My Notes

Writing isn't art until you've earned it through craft. Zinsser keeps hammering this point throughout. You don't get to be Hemingway on day one. You get to be a mechanic, fixing sentences, cutting clutter, and sometimes obsessing over word choice. The art comes after you've internalized the mechanics so deeply that they become invisible.

At Agora, we have seen "find your voice" advice gets thrown around a lot. But Zinsser would laugh at that. Voice wasn't something to seek. It's what emerges after one strips aways everything fake. All the academic posturing, the fancy vocabulary, and the dictionary adjectives. Kill them all, Zinnsser advices. Stop the intellectual performance. What's left is the voice.

The chapter about clutter is a big one. "It is important to note that"—why? Just note it. "In order to"—just say "to." These little parasites are everywhere. They can make the writing feel important but it will be empty.

There's this tension between crafting yourself as a writer and crafting the actual writing. Zinsser says they're the same thing: you become a writer by doing the craft work, not by calling yourself one. Reminds me of Foucault's "techniques of the self"—you construct your identity through repeated practices, not declarations.

The bit about confidence was good too. He says most bad writing comes from fear—fear of judgment, fear of not sounding smart enough. So we hide behind complexity. But good writing requires almost arrogant simplicity. Drop that intellectual staging.

One practical takeaway I got is the post-writing is equally as important as the writing itself. I will edit my posts now.

Amazing book. Zinsser put together every writer's guidebook.