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Image of the quote is loading... SaveSave I almost always urge people to write in the first person. Writing is an act of ego and you might as well admit it. - Quote by William Zinsser

I almost always urge people to write in the first person. Writing is an act of ego and you might as well admit it.

William Zinsser
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Look for the clutter in your writing and prune it ruthlessly. Be grateful for everything you can throw away. Reexamine each sentence you put on paper. Is every word doing new work? Can any thought be expressed with more economy? Is anything pompous or pretentious or faddish? Are you hanging on to something useless just because you think it's beautiful?...Simplify, simplify.
William Zinsser
The reader is someone with an attention span of about 30 seconds.
William Zinsser
Was the whole matter of aptitudes a myth – a copout used by people like me to avoid subjects that would force us to think inTherefore threatening ways?
William Zinsser
But the secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components. Every word that serves no function, every long words that could be a short word, every adverb that carries the same meaning that's already in the verb. every passive construction that leaves the reader unsure of who is doing what-these are the thousand and one adulterants that weaken the strength of a sentence. And they usually occur in proportion to education and rank.
William Zinsser
Editors are licensed to be curious.
William Zinsser
I never think of him as a scholar assaulting me with how much he knows, but as a teacher eager to share a lifelong passion for the subject.
William Zinsser
It's no fun to think about infinity and no cinche to write about it. Again, it helps to look for some human link.
William Zinsser
Probably every subject is interesting if an avenue into it can be found that has humanity and that an ordinary person can follow.
William Zinsser
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