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“On Writing Well” by William Zinsser is like the Bible for nonfiction writing
And it can be applied to anything you write – books, blogs, emails, tweets, etc.
Here are my 5 biggest takeaways
THREAD
And it can be applied to anything you write – books, blogs, emails, tweets, etc.
Here are my 5 biggest takeaways
THREAD
1) “Clutter is the disease of American writing”
Everyone tries to do too much with their writing
They sacrifice clarity to sound sophisticated
Everyone tries to do too much with their writing
They sacrifice clarity to sound sophisticated
Instead, focus on removing unnecessary baggage from your writing
Examples:
“With the exception of” (say “except”)
“Due to the fact that” (say “because”)
“For the purpose of” (say “for”)
Ask yourself if every word is adding new value to the message
Simplify whenever possible
Examples:
“With the exception of” (say “except”)
“Due to the fact that” (say “because”)
“For the purpose of” (say “for”)
Ask yourself if every word is adding new value to the message
Simplify whenever possible
2) When crafting your writing to please your audience, stop trying to write for anyone but yourself
Every reader is different – it’s impossible to know what each and every reader wants you to say
So say what you want to say, and if it amuses you, it’ll likely amuse your readers
Every reader is different – it’s impossible to know what each and every reader wants you to say
So say what you want to say, and if it amuses you, it’ll likely amuse your readers
3) Keep unity of pronouns (I, you, etc.)
Keep unity of tense (past, present, future)
And keep unity of mood (excited, casual, serious, etc.)
Keep unity of tense (past, present, future)
And keep unity of mood (excited, casual, serious, etc.)
4) Focus on one point for the reader to take away
Not two or five
One point, and you’ll more easily maintain unity and get the point across clearly
Not two or five
One point, and you’ll more easily maintain unity and get the point across clearly
5) Your most important sentence is your first sentence, with its job being to get your reader to read the next sentence
That next sentence is your next most important sentence, and so on until the lead is over
That next sentence is your next most important sentence, and so on until the lead is over
If these points interest you, I suggest you read the book
It’s packed with actionable advice on becoming the best writer you can be
You can purchase it through my Amazon affiliate link here https://amzn.to/3ndNOdI
It’s packed with actionable advice on becoming the best writer you can be
You can purchase it through my Amazon affiliate link here https://amzn.to/3ndNOdI