On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition (Paperback)

Like Sol Stein's "On Writing," Zinsser crafted his book to help writers at any level to become stronger writers. And he notes: "My purpose is not to teach good nonfiction or good journalism, but to teach good English that can be put to those uses, or to any uses. Don't assume that bad English can still be good journalism, or good business writing, or good technical writing, or good travel writing, or good sports writing. It can't. Good English is your passport to wherever you need to go in your writing, your work and your life. All the writers I've quoted in this book are vastly different in personality and style. But all of them write good English. You can, too" (Zinsser, xi).

Unlike Stein, Zinsser chooses to deal with just the subgenres of nonfiction. To this end, "On Writing Well" is separated into four distinct parts that allow writers to focus in on the distinct parts that interest them the most, as well as to make it easier for those who are revisiting the work. From finding ways to make your writing uniquely personal; to dealing with technicalities such as word choice, usage and unity; to the various forms of the nonfiction world, such as interviewing methods, the travel article, the memoir, science and technology articles, business, sports and arts writing; as well as the art of revising and overcoming the fear of writing, Zinsser illustrates all of his concepts with relevant examples and quotes from his own work as well as the work from other creative nonfiction authors. Zinsser's writing is always clear and as such even his most complex topics are easy to understand.

One final quote summarizes Zinsser very nicely, "...good wirting can appear anywhere, even in the lowly newspaper, and... what matters is the writing itself, not the medium where it's published. Therefore I've always tried to write as well as I could by my own standards; I've never changed my style to fit the size or presumed education of the audience I was writing for... Besides wanting to write as well as possible, I wanted to write as entertainingly as possible. When I tell aspiring that they should think of themselves as part entertainer, they don't like to hear it - the word smacks of carnivals and jugglers and clowns. But to succeed you must make your piece jump out of a newspaper or a magazine by being more diverting than everyone else's piece. You must find some way to elevate your act of writing into an entertainment" (288).

And even though my own personal writing isn't always entertaining, I know it's improving. I also know that my writing will take a huge leap forward having immersed myself in William Zinsser's "On Writing Well." In short, it's an essential guide to the art and craft of writing creative nonfiction.

Grade: A

I found Part I and II of the book to be too simplistic and bland. Zinsser spends more time describing and discussing grammar than actually demonstrating and explaining. There are no examples of grammar just descriptions of how to use it. Perhaps, Zinsser wanted to place more emphasis on writing than grammar in the book. It is not until Part III-Forms that Zinsser addresses how to write about a specific topic. He discusses writing topics such as nonfiction, interviews, travel, memoirs, business, sports, arts and humor. I found this to be the most helpful section of the book. Part IV-Attitudes describes the role and importance of writing style and decisions in writing.

If you are looking for a book that teaches grammar or is a reference guide for grammar, this is not it. This book is a reference guide for writers. If you want to learn more about writing particular types of articles or books, refer to Part III-Forms.