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People and places are the twin pillars on which most nonfiction is built. Every human event happens somewhere, and the reader wants to know what that somewhere was like.

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
Human
Event
Humans
Somewhere
Every
Places
Like
Built
People
Reader
Twin
Events
Pillars
Wants
Nonfiction
Happens
Twins

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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.
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What I want to do is to make people laugh so that they'll see things seriously.
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Thought is action in rehearsal.
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People read with their ears, whether they know it or not.
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Writing and learning and thinking are the same process.
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There's no subject you don't have permission to write about. Students often avoid subjects close to their heart ... because they assume that their teachers will regard those topics as 'stupid.' No area of life is stupid to someone who takes it seriously. If you follow your affections you will write well and will engage your readers.
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When you're ready to stop, stop. If you have presented all the facts and made the point you want to make, look for the nearest exit.
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I almost always urge people to write in the first person. ... Writing is an act of ego and you might as well admit it.
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Good writing is lean and confident.
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Never hesitate to imitate another writer - every person learning a craft or an art needs models. Eventually you'll find your own voice and will shed the skin of the writer you imitated.
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Writing wasn't easy and wasn't fun. It was hard and lonely, and the words seldom just flowed.
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There's no sentence that's too short in the eyes of God.
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Writing is a craft not an art.
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If the nails are weak, your house will collapse. If your verbs are weak and your syntax is rickety, your sentences will fall apart.
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Writing is not a special language that belongs to a few sensitive souls who have a 'gift for words'. Writing is the logical arrangement of thought. Anyone who thinks clearly should be able to write clearly---about any subject at all.
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Writing is linear and sequential Sentence B must follow Sentence A, and Sentence C must follow Sentence B, and eventually you get to Sentence Z. The hard part of writing isn't the writing it's the thinking. 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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Few people realize how badly they write. Nobody has shown them how much excess or murkiness has crept into their style.
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The game is won or lost on hundreds of small details.
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