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The best guide I've ever read to writing nonfiction is William Zinsser's "On Writing Well". If you do any writing for work or pleasure, his advice is indispens
by idlewords 10y ago
The best guide I've ever read to writing nonfiction is William Zinsser's "On Writing Well". If you do any writing for work or pleasure, his advice is indispensable:
https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Well-Classic-Guide-Nonfiction/dp/0060891548 https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Well-Classic-Guide-Nonfiction...
- krmmalik 10y agoCompletely agree. I learned more in 2 weeks of reading Zinsser than I did in 3 yrs of English at high school.
- combatentropy 10y agoCompletely agree. However I first read the Elements of Style. In 2 days of reading Strunk & White I unlearned 3 years of high school English. Later I read Zinsser and found him to be saying the same things. But a lot of people say that Zinsser's take is easier to read.
- chatmasta 10y agoOn Writing Well and Elements of Style were required reading in almost every English class I took. Sounds like you had some bad teachers.
- krmmalik 10y agoIt's not a part of our curriculum in the UK. I, and many others like me, had never heard of him before.
- igravious 10y agoThe 1-star reviews are more than a mite worrying. https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Well-Classic-Guide-Nonfiction/product-reviews/0060891548/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_viewopt_srt?ie=UTF8&filterByStar=one_star&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=recent&pageNumber=1 https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Well-Classic-Guide-Nonfiction... I tend to rely more on 1-star reviews than 5-star ones. I find them to be more reliable guides. May I suggest that you write well in spite of the advice given here rather than because of it. :)
- wglb 10y agoWhat in the book, from your reading, is the bad advice?
- tptacek 10y agoI disagree with Zinsser about colons.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- tptacek 10y agoIt's a really good book.
- igravious 10y agoOkay, I'll give it a look-see. I didn't mean to be overly negative.
- Throwaway23412 10y agoI tend to look at the percentage of ratings. Literally 1% of the book's reviews are 1-star reviews. Saying that 1% of 1-star ratings is "more than a mite worrying" seems overly negative to me. I'm genuinely interested in what you buy online if 1% of 1-star ratings immediately deters you.