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“Writing organizes and clarifies our thoughts. Writing is how we think our way into a subject and make it our own. Writing enables us to find out what we know—a

by jilles 2y ago

“Writing organizes and clarifies our thoughts. Writing is how we think our way into a subject and make it our own. Writing enables us to find out what we know—and what we don’t know—about whatever we’re trying to learn.” ― William Knowlton Zinsser, Writing to Learn One of the books that got me into writing for myself.

space_oddity 2y ago
Do you have any specific writing habits or techniques that you developed as a result of reading this book?
- jilles 2y ago
  Yes! I write more. Instead of writing about things I know well, I write about things I want to know better. It reveals gaps in my knowledge I was not aware of. For example, I can start write "We are using X instead of Y because..." and realize I do not truly know the reason. Which leads me to investigate and then finish the sentence.
benhoyt 2y ago
I just finished "On Writing Well" by William Zinsser. Here's a little blurb I just wrote about it: What a great book! Zinsser uses such crisp, engaging prose. He covers how to write, why to write, and what to write. He uses lots of examples from his own writing and from others -- good and bad. Stories abound. This is not a boring grammar book. Here's a taste -- he starts the chapter called "The Lead and the Ending" with these stark statements: "The most important sentence in any article is the first one. If it doesn't induce the reader to proceed to the second sentence, your article is dead." Punchy and self-referential. There's a decent amount about good technique, but it's more about style and voice. The second half of the book covers topics like "Writing in Your Job" (without sounding passive or using buzzwords) and "Writing Family History and Memoir" (that's actually why my brother lent me the book). And it finishes with an inspiring chapter on the craft of writing called "Write as Well as You Can". If you want to learn to write better, read this book. If you don't, definitely read it.

by jilles 2y ago

space_oddity 2y ago

Do you have any specific writing habits or techniques that you developed as a result of reading this book?

jilles 2y ago
Yes! I write more. Instead of writing about things I know well, I write about things I want to know better. It reveals gaps in my knowledge I was not aware of. For example, I can start write "We are using X instead of Y because..." and realize I do not truly know the reason. Which leads me to investigate and then finish the sentence.

benhoyt 2y ago

I just finished "On Writing Well" by William Zinsser. Here's a little blurb I just wrote about it: What a great book! Zinsser uses such crisp, engaging prose. He covers how to write, why to write, and what to write. He uses lots of examples from his own writing and from others -- good and bad. Stories abound. This is not a boring grammar book. Here's a taste -- he starts the chapter called "The Lead and the Ending" with these stark statements: "The most important sentence in any article is the first one. If it doesn't induce the reader to proceed to the second sentence, your article is dead." Punchy and self-referential. There's a decent amount about good technique, but it's more about style and voice. The second half of the book covers topics like "Writing in Your Job" (without sounding passive or using buzzwords) and "Writing Family History and Memoir" (that's actually why my brother lent me the book). And it finishes with an inspiring chapter on the craft of writing called "Write as Well as You Can". If you want to learn to write better, read this book. If you don't, definitely read it.