But apart from these lazinesses of logic, what makes the story so tired is the failure of the writer to reach for anything but the nearest cliche'. "Shouldered his way, " "only to be met, " "crashing into his face, " "waging a lonely war, " "corruption that is rife, " "sending shock waves, " "New York's finest, " - these dreary phrases constitute writing at its most banal. We know just what to expect. No surprise awaits us in the form of an unusual word, an oblique look. We are in the hands of a hack, and we know it right away, We stop reading. William Zinsser
Some Similar Quotes
  1. This is what love does: It makes you want to rewrite the world. It makes you want to choose the characters, build the scenery, guide the plot. The person you love sits across from you, and you want to do everything in your power to... - David Levithan
  2. Some moments are nice, some arenicer, some are even worthwritingabout. - Charles Bukowski
  3. Living with him is like being told a perpetual story: his mind is the biggest, most imaginative I have ever met. I could live in its growing countries forever. - Sylvia Plath
  4. There comes a time in your life when you have to choose to turn the page, write another book or simply close it. - Shannon L. Alder
  5. When you're missing a peice of yourself, aching, gut wrenching emptiness begins to take over. Until you find the link that completes your very soul, the feeling will never go away. Most people find a way to fill this void, material possessions, a string of... - Jennifer Salaiz
More Quotes By William Zinsser
  1. Don’t try to visualize the great mass audience. There is no such audience–every reader is a different person.
  2. Write about small, self-contained incidents that are still vivid in your memory. If you remember them, it's because they contain a larger truth that your readers will recognize in their own lives. Think small and you'll wind up finding the big themes in your family...
  3. I almost always urge people to write in the first person. Writing is an act of ego and you might as well admit it.
  4. Less is more.
  5. There are some writers who sweep us along so strongly in their current of energy-- Normal mailer, Tom Wolfe, Toni Morrison, William F. Buckley, Jr., Hunter Thompson, David Foster Wallace, Dave Eggers--that we assume that when they go to work the words just flow. Nobody...
Related Topics