The essential guide for nonfiction writers
Written: Jan 10 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Following these suggestions will take your writing to new levels
Cons: After reading this, you'll never be able to read nonfiction in quite the same way
The Bottom Line: If you care about nonfiction, as a reader or professional writer, you owe it to yourself to absorb this one.
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| bwayman's Full Review: On Writing Well: An Informal Guide to Writing Non-... |
Anyone who writes nonfiction or has a serious to do so in the future would do well to make this book a part of their life. That may sound like an overstatement, but no book I know has so much priceless wisdom regarding the craft of writing nonfiction.
Too many of the nonfiction writing guides on the shelves today were written by classroom theoreticians. Zinsser spent many years as a professional journalist, so his guidelines come from solid real-world experience. His primary point is simple -- great nonfiction writing requires clarity, humanity and warmth. Once a writer has a solid command of basic writing technique, it is easier to allow those qualities to come through. When that happens, a writer's voice naturally asserts itself.
Zinsser deals with the nuts and bolts of writing -- parts of speech, punctuation, etc. -- but this is not an "Elements of Style" handbook. It goes beyond that to explore how those elements help to truly form a writer's style. His points are always practical, and many are backed up with real life examples from his professional and teaching careers. And his calls for clarity and simplicity had me silently cheering in heartfelt agreement.
He also gives specific advice for many nonfictional forms, from memoirs to sports columns -- and it all makes amazing sense. I particularly enjoy his explanation of the difference between reviewers and critics. (In brief, critics know a medium so well they can put any new work in a cultural context - reviewers just write reviews of the isolated work.)
He also includes valuable advice on the serious power of humor in nonfiction, and solid ideas on how to get beyond your own fear of writing.
This book made me re-examine my own work -- some of it stood up, but some profited mightily from the resulting revisions.
Reading this book is more than an education -- its a joy that I've returned to savor again and again. No wonder ON WRITING remains the classic in its field. There is no other book on the topic that comes within miles of matching it.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
bwayman
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Member: John Kenrick
Location: New York, NY
Reviews written: 33
Trusted by: 8 members
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