But the secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components. Every word that serves no function, every long words that could be a short word, every adverb that carries the same meaning that's already in the verb. every passive construction that leaves the reader unsure of who is doing what-these are the thousand and one adulterants that weaken the strength of a sentence. And they usually occur in proportion to education and rank. . William Zinsser
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  1. All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know. - Ernest Hemingway
  2. I ran across an excerpt today (in English translation) of some dialogue/narration from the modern popular writer, Paulo Coelho in his book: Aleph.(Note: bracketed text is mine.).. 'I spoke to three scholars, ' [the character says 'at last.']. .two of them said that, after death,... - Roman Payne
  3. Every wound is a word. - Lailah Gifty Akita
  4. No writing is wasted. Did you know that sourdough from San Francisco is leavened partly by a bacteria called lactobacillus sanfrancisensis? It is native to the soil there, and does not do well elsewhere. But any kitchen can become an ecosystem. If you bake a... - Erin Bow
  5. Only something extremely dire and disabling will ever stop a real writer from writing. Retirement is never an option. - Warren Adler
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...
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