On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition
2006 • 337 pages
Ratings24
Average rating4.3
15
Ratings24
Average rating4.3
On Writing Well has been praised for its sound advice, its clarity and the warmth of its style. It is a book for everybody who wants to learn how to write or who needs to do some writing to get through the day, as almost everybody does in the age of e-mail and the Internet. Whether you want to write about people or places, science and technology, business, sports, the arts or about yourself in the increasingly popular memoir genre, On Writing Well offers you fundamental priciples as well as the insights of a distinguished writer and teacher. With more than a million copies sole, this volume has stood the test of time and remains a valuable resource for writers and would-be writers.
Reviews with the most likes.
This book is simultaneously a must-read and a slog. When it soars, it's the best writing book I've picked up; when it slows down, it's like trudging through waist-high mud. But Zinsser's prose is clear, consistent, and easy to skim. I found in the slower chapters that I could normally read the first and last sentence of each paragraph and get what I needed. This tells me two things: (1) if those particular chapters were more relevant to me (they were focused on particular kinds of non-fiction writing), they would be wellsprings of information; (2) Zinsser so carefully used topic-sentence conclusion-sentence in his writing that his paragraphs can sing with just two sentences. It's startling writing, and refreshing to read. It also wakes you up to your own tics and shortcomings. Terrific book!at first, I wrote “a bit of a slog,” but then remembered Zinnser's advice: if something's a slog, say it's a slog; don't hedge your opinion behind weak phrases.
Faction read as fiction. A really enjoyable, easy to read and useful book that in an easy and effective language inspires me to write and gives me some simple tools to improve my work.
Pour un livre sur l'écriture ça a été une lecture extrêmement fastidieuse. Là où les quelques conseils (épars) sont extrêmement intéressants, l'auteur se perd en exemples à n'en plus finir qui allongent affreusement le livre et fatiguent énormément. Il y avait de plus une certaine inconsistance à mes yeux dans les choix d'extraits bons ou mauvais, basés uniquement sur ce que l'auteur juge être des “mots puissants” et d'autres des “mots faibles”, les deux extraits étant pourtant souvent tout aussi pénibles à lire l'un que l'autre (le premier n'ayant à son égard que l'apanage du temps). Pour un livre appelant à être concis, s'étaler sur 300 pages de manière souvent inutile est un comble. Bref j'en retire quelques apprentissages intéressants, mais ce n'est absolument pas une lecture que j'ai appréciée pour le coup.
