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Never let anything go out into the world that you don't understand.

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
Anything
Never
World
Understand

More quotes by William Zinsser

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Four basic premises of writing: clarity, brevity, simplicity, and humanity.
William Zinsser
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Probably every subject is interesting if an avenue into it can be found that has humanity and that an ordinary person can follow.
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If a good word already exists, there is no need to invent something painful.
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You can solve most of your writing problems if you stop after every sentence and ask: what does the reader need to know next?
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Dare to tell the smallest of stories if you want to generate large emotions.
William Zinsser
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Make a habit of reading what is being written today and what has been written before. Writing is learned by imitation.
William Zinsser
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Thought is action in rehearsal.
William Zinsser
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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.
William Zinsser
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Nobody told all the new e-mail writers that the essence of writing is rewriting. Just because they are writing with ease and enjoyment doesn't mean they are writing well.
William Zinsser
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Rewriting is the essence of writing well - where the game is won or lost.
William Zinsser
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Clear thinking becomes clear writing one can't exist without the other.
William Zinsser
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A writer will do anything to avoid the act of writing.
William Zinsser
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Many of us were taught that no sentence should begin with but. If that's what you learned, unlearn it - there's no stronger word at the start. It announces a total contrast with what has gone before, and the reader is thereby primed for the change.
William Zinsser
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Writing is no respecter of blueprints.
William Zinsser
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Journalism is writing that first appears in any periodic journal.
William Zinsser
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You'll never make your mark as a writer unless you develop a respect for words and a curiosity about their shades of meaning that is almost obsessive. The English language is rich in strong and supple words. Take the time to root around and find the ones you want
William Zinsser
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Writing and learning and thinking are the same process.
William Zinsser
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Editors are licensed to be curious.
William Zinsser
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Today the outlandish becomes routine overnight. The humorist is trying to say that it's still outlandish.
William Zinsser
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Don't try to guess what sort of thing editors want to publish or what you think the country is in a mood to read. Editors and readers don't know what they want to read until they read it. Besides, they're always looking for something new.
William Zinsser