Wenham, MA—“I think that Zinsser encourages us to keep on going when the going gets tough. He makes us realize what the words are that we use and why we use them” said Alyssa Maine, 21. It has been almost 35 years since William Zinsser wrote his book On Writing Well, yet his magnificent piece remains germane to journalists who are looking to improve their writing. Zinsser’s piece draws in the reader early on by making an appeal to humanity and warmth when chasing down a story.
“Good writing has an aliveness that keeps the reader reading from one paragraph to the next, and it’s not a question of gimmicks to “personalize” the author. It’s a question of using the English language in a way that will achieve the greatest clarity and strength” Zinsser says in his first chapter.
This kind of advice that Zinsser gives is a fresh way of understanding for writers in today’s multifaceted media world. With our technologically invaded world, Zinsser calls us back to writing in its most rudimentary form. This kind of writing, he says, is how we draw our audience in and keep them.
“I really liked how blunt he was in telling us how to be good journalists […] I can easily apply that and become a better journalist” said Angela Rodriguez, 20. Above all, Zinsser practices what he preaches and gives it to the reader straight.
Rodriguez summed up what Zinsser does for most journalists, which is to give them a way to become better writers without dancing around the issue. In his book, he talks about simplifying your work in order to make things easier on your reader. In doing so, your audience won’t become distracted and start to daydream.
He also talks about being yourself in a piece and not sounding differently just because you have picked up a piece of paper and pen. He calls us to be ourselves and in doing so we should be writing about things we, as writers, are interested in.
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