Harper Perennial On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction

I have had a better share of read on the topic, from that of popular writers to the writing coaches but none proved as effective and made it in a conversational form than this one. I would recommend this to anyone who needs guidance and mentoring without jargons

Spedizione arrivata in tempo, oggetto come da descrizione, libro ben scritto.

Buen libro, tiempo y forma cumplido para el envío , aún que no fue para si no un regalo lo disfrutaron mucho

Good writing cannot be achieved unless the writer can organise his thoughts, first in his mind, then on paper. Even as I write this review, the lessons I learned in the chapters of On Writing Well are fresh in my mind. The book not only helped me develop the rigour and clarity in my writing, it also sparked a new enthusiasm to not just write, but write well. William Zinsser tells with clear examples that clutter and clichés in writing are present everywhere, we read them so often that we’ve become numb, narrowing our sense of what a good piece of writing looks like. Then he elegantly shows what it looks like. Humour and optimism are “lubricants in writing”, it also requires “a good musical ear, a sense of rhythm and a feeling for words”, he says. My favourite chapter of this book is A Writer’s Decision in which William Zinsser deconstructs one of his travel piece on Timbuktu, which had appeared in Condé Nast Traveller magazine. Leading up to that section, with my fresh pair of reading eyes and heightened reading senses, I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. That chapter summed it up for me, the experiences of Timbuktu lingered for several days in my mind, so did the intertwined writing lessons. I imagined that I was reading the Timbuktu article in the magazine and thought, “how could someone, after reading it, not want to visit Timbuktu and relive for themselves what William Zinsser did”. The book is neatly organised, starting with the fundamental principles of writing, followed by the methods to use during the execution. At this point you’re hooked which is when he takes you with him to dive deep and long into the various forms of writing — such as an interview, a travel, a business, or a science article — each consisting of some brilliant examples to take home an important lesson. In the last section, he covers attitudes which one can develop to become a complete writer. Never ever will I be fooled and mislead again by a poor piece of writing even if it appears in the most prestigious publication. On the other hand, I’ve realised that a fresh piece can appear even in the least reputed newspaper.

Zinsser's book is top-notch. It provides solid, easy to remember guidelines for how to make your writing cleaner and crisper. I am a writer and have to write both academic and popular pieces, and this book really helped me to understand the difference in writing styles and how to improve my own style. Zinsser takes you through the various styles of writing (and types, e.g. sports, fiction, etc.) and explains the do's and don'ts of each. The best part about the book is that the guidelines are easy to remember, such as (paraphrasing) don't use more words when less can do the same job. One big plus is that the book is also very humourous and provides great examples to follow along with. A lot of people shy away from writing books because a) there are so many out there that it's intimidating to choose one, and b) most are generally quite pedantic and boring. Zinsser's book, on the other hand, is quite engaging for a "how to" book and stands above the rest because it combines easy-to-use guidelines with solid examples and a good wit. After just one read through I found my writing improving very quickly, and since then I always have it close at hand. Even after many years this is still one of the best writing books, and along with Strunk and White's "The Element's of Style" this is one of the classic, must-have writing guides. This book has greatly improved my writing. I plan to have it on my bookshelf for life, and to consult it often!

英語の書き方よく分からないので、購入しました、先日YouTubeで同じ本を持っている方と仲間になって、ライブの参加もできて、楽しかった。