You Don’t Need to Like Me to Write Better - A Review of On Writing Well by William Zinsser

         

       “This has been a book about decisions” (265), writes William Zinsser in and about On Writing Well. Whether good or bad, decisions are made in writing, and this aptly applies to Zinsser’s book. While his other sixteen books range from interviews to satirical essays, this particular handbook is a guide to a wide variety of nonfiction writing that he has used in the past. Chockfull of useful tips and advice, this is a book for all disciplines of writing.

            On Writing Well starts with chapters explaining how to use general ideas like voice and style that should be used in any kind of nonfiction writing. It then progresses into more focused chapters on specific disciplines of writing, such as interviews and business writing. The organization of the book itself allows the guide to serve as an easy reference for writers of nonfiction. If a writer just wanted to know how to write a certain type of nonfiction, all he or she has to do is look up where the chapter starts. The chapters are also just broad enough to include most kinds of writing that anyone would ever use. For example, the chapter on travel writing addresses writing about observing culture as well as climate. The information the sections contain is also practical enough to be applicable but still prepares the reader for any situation he or she may come across. Zinsser explains the concepts easily and clearly enough that writers of varying skill levels, whether amateur or professional, can still learn and improve their writing. As a writer who has rarely written nonfiction and has even less often enjoyed it, I found On Writing Well to be a great crash course on nonfiction writing. By the end of the book, I felt that I could depend on it for reference if I needed to write nonfiction.

            As Zinsser educates the reader on how to write, he incorporates what he is teaching promptly into how he writes. As a result, the reader is able to see what the method looks like in practice and experiences exactly what any other person would feel after reading nonfiction using it. The reader is then able to take the role of a writer and imitate the example in his or her own paper. Nonfiction writers can use the examples in Zinsser’s book immediately as an aid to improve their own writing.

What I learned in On Writing Well was widely applicable and practical for me. This surprised me since I personally enjoy fiction over nonfiction. Even more than reading fiction, I love writing it. Zinsser definitely, though probably not on purpose, provides assistance for the creative writer. Most, if not all, principles of writing outlined in this book can also be applied to creative writing, such as the development of voice, style, and humor. Sometimes I forgot I was even reading about nonfiction specifically because I continually thought about how I could apply what I learned about nonfiction in writing creatively in poems or short stories, such as Zinsser’s advice to, when a writer comes across a part that is just really awkward, seeing if it is really necessary to the writing.. No doubt the writing skills I learned will be utilized readily in future writing.

Zinsser obviously has a great amount of experience and knowledge in nonfiction writing, and while this makes On Writing Well a very useful book and guide, it is also his greatest downfall in my opinion. He writes so confidently and is so sure of himself as a writer that his utilization of voice, which he writes about many times throughout his book, causes him to sound snobbish and arrogant. Although he uses excerpts from other writers, he writes as if he is the best, if not the perfect, example of high-quality nonfiction writing. Because of his excellent skill at weaving his voice through the entire guide, while Zinsser writes about the mechanics of nonfiction writing, the reader is only able to focus on the author’s own overconfident voice. It serves only to distract of the guide’s valuable information as well as frustrate the reader.

            On Writing Well can be effectively used to learn nonfiction writing or how to teach it, and as a tutor and student of writing, I found it to be quite useful. Though I feel that he is an accomplished writer and teacher, I felt annoyed at Zinsser by the end. I strongly appreciate his decisions as a writer and instructor but his book might have been easier to enjoy the book as well as benefit from it if he held back on his confidence.

Works Cited

"On Writing Well, 25th Anniversary: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction." Amazon. Amazon. Web.               27       Jan. 

      Zinsser, William. On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction. New York:                                        HarperCollins, 2001. Print.