4 ms·
William Zinsser: Writing "On Writing Well" and keeping it up-to-date for 35 years
- jamesbritt 18y agoVery neat. I've just started reading that book.
- Poleris 18y agoMe too: just finished it yesterday. Almost feels like the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon.
- eru 18y agoCare to explain "Baader-Meinhof phenomenon"?
- Poleris 18y agoFrom Wikipedia: The Baader-Meinhof phenomenon occurs when a person, after having learned some (usually obscure) fact, word, phrase, or other item for the first time, encounters that item again, perhaps several times, shortly after having learned it. In this case, after finishing the book I noticed several articles on news sites talking about the author. Perhaps this would be better categorized under the recency effect.
- eru 18y agoOK, thanks. In Germany the Baader-Meinhof name is firmly associated with terrorism. (And that's where the phenomen got its name from, too.)
- euroclydon 18y agoThis guy is awesome! I bought his audio book and "loaned" the MP3s to a friend. He has since begun re-writing many of his essays, AND has enrolled for a $3,000 summer course with Zinsser in NYC. If that's not a ringing anti-DRM endorsement, I don't know what is.
- zaidf 18y agoIf you want to learn to cut the bullshit out of your writing and just make your point, read this book! And then read it again.