212 Quotes by William Zinsser

All writers should strive to deliver something fresh-something editors or readers won't know they want until they see it.

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.

Don’t be kind of bold. Be bold.

Not everybody has a talent for painting, or for the piano, or for dance. But we can write our way into the artist’s head and into his problems and solutions. Or we can go there with another writer.

Don’t try to visualize the great mass audience. There is no such audience – every reader is a different person.

Clear thinking becomes clear writing; one can’t exist without the other.

Writing improves in direct ratio to the things we can keep out of it that shouldn’t be there.

Good writers are visible just behind their words.

Writing is hard work. A clear sentence is no accident. Very few sentences come out right the first time, or even the third time. Remember this in moments of despair. If you find that writing is hard, it’s because it is hard. It’s one of the hardest things that people do.