On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction

by William Zinsser

Ultimately the product that any writer has to sell is not the subject being written about, but who he or she is.

Clutter is the disease of American writing. We are a society strangling in unnecessary words, circular constructions, pompous frills and meaningless jargon.

But the secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components.

Clear thinking becomes clear writing; one can’t exist without the other. It’s impossible for a muddy thinker to write good English.