Review: Zinsser, On Writing Well (2006 ed.)

On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction by William Zinsser

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is a book on writing nonfiction, but the first part, which is about the mechanics of writing, is applicable to fiction as well and is full of good advice. Zinsser wrote it to be a companion to Strunk & White, and it's much less dictatorial in tone (although it's very clear that Zinsser believes in the rightness of what he's saying)---more "helpful wisdom" than "fiats from on high." He also does a really good job of explaining clearly why the mechanics matter. I found the later parts of the book, about writing specific kinds of nonfiction, interesting if not personally useful (and you never know what might come in handy).

Four and a half stars, round up to five.



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