Book Byte #155 "On Writing Well" by William Zinsser

The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction

?? Curious Quote from the Author

“Decide what you want to do. Then decide to do it. Then do it.”

“Don’t try to visualize the great mass audience. There is no such audience—every reader is a different person.”

“Writing is hard work. A clear sentence is no accident. Very few sentences come out right the first time, or even the third time. Remember this in moments of despair. If you find that writing is hard, it’s because it is hard.”

“Writing is an act of ego, and you might as well admit it.”

“Examine every word you put on paper. You'll find a surprising number that don't serve any purpose.”

“There are many good reasons for writing that have nothing to do with being published. Writing is a powerful search mechanism, and one of its satisfactions is to come to terms with your life narrative. Another is to work through some of life’s hardest knocks—loss, grief, illness, addiction, disappointment, failure—and to find understanding and solace.”

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

“The only way to learn to write is to force yourself to produce a certain number of words on a regular basis.”

“The secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components.”

“Don't be kind of bold. Be bold.”

“Less is more.”

“Look for the clutter in your writing and prune it ruthlessly. Be grateful for everything you can throw away. Reexamine each sentence you put on paper. Is every word doing new work? Can any thought be expressed with more economy?”

“If the nails are weak, your house will collapse. If your verbs are weak and your syntax is rickety, your sentences will fall apart.”

“Don’t say you were a bit confused and sort of tired and a little depressed and somewhat annoyed. Be confused. Be tired. Be depressed. Be annoyed. Don’t hedge your prose with little timidities. Good writing is lean and confident.”

?? Cognition of the Book’s Big Idea:

Writing is a skill that everybody may possess. Recall to simplify your sentences, have faith in your natural writing style, and eliminate superfluous words and concepts from your writing. Without a doubt, following these fundamental guidelines will make your writing better. Not a single but about it! Most likely, you were instructed not to start statements with "but." However, it's a rule best ignored! "But" alerts the reader to a change in tone or direction. Using a "but" or "yet" to indicate a sentence that changes the flow of your writing can make it easier for the reader to follow along.

???Fixing the Tech Industry

Writing is actually a very useful skill in progressing our Careers. We write a lot of emails per day, and each one we write can have major implications on showing up for ourselves and our jobs.

Practicing writing well will put you ahead of the majority of people who just pick the easiest autofill response and can help you stand out in the role you want to excel in. Because no matter what you want to achieve, communication is the way you are going to achieve it when it involves the decisions of others.

??Collaborate with others with this Social Media Prompt:

What part of writing would you like to improve in your life?

My Software Stack: I use Skool for my Online Community Platform and ClickFunnels for my Landing Pages, Payments, and Email Sequencing. I use Substack for my Newsletter and Taskade for AI Note Taking/Second Brain/Project Management. I use my Personal Amazon Store for Tech and Book Recommendations.

Try out the "Think and Grow Rich Challenge" by Russell Brunson and Learn more about the First Self Help Author Napoleon Hill