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As a writer I try to operate within a framework of Christian principles, and the words that are important to me are religious words: witness, pilgrimage, intention.
William Zinsser
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William Zinsser
Age: 92 †
Born: 1922
Born: October 7
Died: 2015
Died: May 12
Journalist
Literary Critic
Writer
New York City
New York
William Knowlton Zinsser
Within
Religious
Pilgrimage
Christian
Operate
Words
Framework
Important
Witness
Trying
Intention
Writer
Principles
More quotes by William Zinsser
Telling a writer to relax is like telling a man to relax while being prodded for a possible hernia.
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Be wary of security as a goal. It may often look like life's best prize. Usually it's not.
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Journalism is writing that first appears in any periodic journal.
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Good writers are visible just behind their words.
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The game is won or lost on hundreds of small details.
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A writer will do anything to avoid the act of writing.
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Writing is hard work.
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Clutter is the disease of American writing.
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Editors are licensed to be curious.
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Writing is thinking on paper.
William Zinsser
Not every oak has to be gnarled, every detective hard-bitten. The adjective that exists solely as a decoration is a self-indulgence for the writer and an obstacle for the reader.
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If a good word already exists, there is no need to invent something painful.
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Clutter is the official language used by corporations to hide their mistakes.
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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.
William Zinsser
Much of my writing has taken the form of a pilgrimage: to sacred places that represent the best of America, to musicians and other artists who represent the best of their art.
William Zinsser
Make a habit of reading what is being written today and what has been written before. Writing is learned by imitation.
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Writers can write to affirm and to celebrate, or they can write to debunk and destroy the choice is ours.
William Zinsser
Every successful piece of nonfiction should leave the reader with one provocative thought that he or she didn't have before. Not two thoughts, or five - just one. So decide what single point you want to leave in the reader's mind.
William Zinsser
Writers must constantly ask: what I am trying to say? Surprisingly often, they don't know.
William Zinsser
But nothing has replaced the writer. He or she is still stuck with the same old job of saying something that other people will want to read.
William Zinsser
