On Writing Well The Classic Guide To Writing Nonfiction: 30th Anniversary Edition
Notes
Think broadly about your assignment. Don’t assume that an article for Audubon has to be strictly about nature, or an article for Car & Driver strictly about cars. Push the boundaries of you subject and see where it takes you. Bring some part of your own life to it; it’s not your version of the story until you write it.
ritz replies...
Itâ??s too easy for people to talk about a subject with no life an excitement. Are you writing an article or documentation? Take the time to bring some relationships and relevance into the words, paintings, photos, interfacesâ?Š
Does this mean that taste can be learned? Yes and no. Perfect taste, like perfect pitch, is a gift from God. But a certain amount can be acquired. The trick is to study writers who have it. Never hesitate to imitate another writer. Imitation is part of the creative process for anyone learning an art or craft.
ritz replies...
Whatâ??s the difference between copying and imitating? Not sure. I think imitating is understanding the method or style and using it when appropriate. Copying is when you see something you like, or thatâ??s popular, and use it to gain a similar audience without any real grasp on why it works.
A graphic designer with taste knows that less is more: that design is the servant of the written word. A designer without taste will smother the writing in background tints and swirls and decorative frills.
ritz replies...
Itâ??s relatively easy to make something complicated look okayâ??itâ??s infinitely harder to make something simple look good. The design should be there only to make the message more clear.
Actually a simple style is the result of hard work and hard thinking; a muddled style reflects a muddled thinker or a person too arrogant, or too dumb, or too lazy to organize his thoughts.
ritz replies...
Oh snap! Iâ??ll let that one stand on itâ??s ownâ?Š
We are suspicious of pretentiousness, of all the fad words that our social scientists have coined to avoid making themselves clear to ordinary mortals. I urged them to be natural. How we write and how we talk is how we define ourselves.
ritz replies...
So eloquently rephrased by Vanilla Ice: â??Quick to the point, to the point, no fakinâ??â?Šâ?
The memo, the business letter, the administrative report, the financial analysis, the marketing proposal, the note to the boss, the fax, the e-mail, the Post-It—all the pieces of paper that circulate through your office every day are forms of writing. Take them seriously. Countless careers rise or fall on the ability or the inability of employees to state a set of facts, summarize a meeting or present an idea coherently.
ritz replies...
Itâ??s never good to give people that feeling of â??I donâ??t get it.â? Unless itâ??s a great idea that people canâ??t grasp, but thatâ??s still debatable.
Surprisingly often a difficult problem in a sentence can be solved by simply getting rid of it. Unfortunately, this solution is usually the last one that occurs to writers in a jam. First they will put the troublesome phrase through all kinds of exertions—moving it to some other part of the sentence, trying to rephrase it, adding new words to clarify the thought or to oil whatever is stuck… When you find yourself at such an impasse, look at the troublesome element and ask, “Do I need it at all?” Probably you don’t.
ritz replies...
It feels like such a cop-out, but running into problems and asking if theyâ??re needed is very effective. Iâ??m a huge fan of every word, feature or element proving itâ??s worthâ??if itâ??s not obviously needed you should take it out.
As for what point you want to make, every successful piece of nonfiction should leave the reader with one provocative thought that he or she didn’t have before. Not two thoughts, or five—just one. So decide what single point you want to leave in the reader’s mind.
ritz replies...
People are paying attention less and less. The shotgun blast methodology doesnâ??t do a lot of good anymore. Pick an idea that someone, somewhere, can get excited about and go with itâ?Š Even if the only person is you!
Every writing project must be reduced before you start to write. Therefore think small. Decide what corner of your subject you’re going to bite off, and be content to cover it well and stop. Often you’ll find that along the way you’ve managed to say almost everything you wanted to say about the entire subject.
ritz replies...
I need a Hummer to pick up groceriesâ?Š No! Stop. The Mazda works just fine. Simple and effective is the way to go.
Dan's lists
Personal MBA: Psychology & Communication
The Psychology & Communication category will show you how the human mind works. (http://personalmba.com/best-business-books/psychology-communication/)
Description edit
On Writing Well has been praised for its sound advice, its clarity and the warmth of its style. It is a book for everybody who wants to learn how to write or who needs to do some writing to get through the day, as almost everybody does in the age of e-mail and the Internet. Whether you want to write about people or places, science and technology, business, sports, the arts or about yourself in the increasingly popular memoir genre, On Writing Well offers you fundamental priciples as well as the insights of a distinguished writer and teacher. With more than a million copies sole, this volume has stood the test of time and remains a valuable resource for writers and would-be writers.
Additional information
- Pages: 336
- ISBN: 0060891548
- EAN: 9780060891541
- Dewey: 808.042
- Binding: Paperback
- Publisher: Collins Business
Less glamorous gains made along the way—learning, wisdom, growth, confidence, dealing with failure—aren’t given the same respect because they can’t be given a grade.
ritz replies...
But those are the most important thingsâ?Š A quick learner who isnâ??t afraid to take risks who has the experience and knowledge that comes with many failures is the exact person I want to work with!