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Quote by William Zinsser

“...being "rather unique" is no more possible than being rather pregnant.”

Quote by William Zinsser

Book:On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction

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On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction

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Author

William Zinsser

William Zinsser was an American writer renowned for his concise, clear, and humorous writing style. His works spanned a variety of fields including literature, history, and practical writing, with his most famous titles being 'On Writing Well' and 'American Writing'. Zinsser's writing style has had a profound impact on modern writing. more

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“There are some writers who sweep us along so strongly in their current of energy--Normal mailer, Tom Wolfe, Toni Morrison, William F. Buckley, Jr., Hunter Thompson, David Foster Wallace, Dave Eggers--that we assume that when they go to work the words just flow. Nobody thinks of the effort they made every morning to turn on the switch. You also have to turn on the switch. Nobody is going to do it for you.”

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Book:On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction

Source: On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction

“Let us make sure that future generation writes our biography.”

“There are few experiences as depressing as that anxious barren state known as writer's block, where you sit staring at your blank page like a cadaver, feeling your mind congeal, feeling you talent run down your leg and into your sock.”

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“Vulnerability has a strength of its own.”

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Author:William Zinsser

“It wont do to say that the reader is too dumb or too lazy to keep pace with the train of thought. If the reader is lost, it's usually because the writer hasn't been careful enough”

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Book:On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction

Source: On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction

“But apart from these lazinesses of logic, what makes the story so tired is the failure of the writer to reach for anything but the nearest cliche'. "Shouldered his way," "only to be met," "crashing into his face," "waging a lonely war," "corruption that is rife," "sending shock waves," "New York's finest," - these dreary phrases constitute writing at its most banal. We know just what to expect. No surprise awaits us in the form of an unusual word, an oblique look. We are in the hands of a hack, and we know it right away, We stop reading.”

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Book:On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction

Source: On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction

“I'm often dismayed by the sludge I see appearing on my screen if I approach writing as a task--the day's work--and not with some enjoyment.”

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Book:On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction

Source: On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction

“Love is either too much of heaven, or too much of earth to find a home with thee.”

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“Love writes without words.”

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“If we bloggers have offended, Think but this, and all is mended, That you have but wander’d here While this wordage did appear. And this sprightly, vigorous theme, No more yielding but a dream. © 2025, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.”

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