I am totally in love with E.B. White. I’m reading “Elements of Style” by William Strunk and E.B. White. I’m also reading “On Writing Well” by William Zinsser. These were college books of mine, that I totally forgot about. They are classics, not only about writing … but life in general.
This is E.B. White.
William Zinsser is amazing.
He writes:
On Simplicity:
“Clutter is the disease of American writing. We are a society strangling in unnecessary words, circular constructions, pompous thrills and meaningless jargon. The answer to clear writing is a clear head. The answer is to clear our heads of clutter. Clear thinking becomes clear writing: one can’t exist without the other. It is impossible for a muddy thinker to write good English.”
On Style:
“First, then, learn to hammer in the nails, and if what you build is sturdy and serviceable, take satisfaction in its plain strength.”
“But you will be impatient to find a “style” – to embellish the plain words so that readers will recognize you as someone special. You will reach for gaudy similes and tinseled adjectives, as if “style” were something you could buy at a style store and drape onto your words in bright decorator colors. Resist this shopping expedition: there is no style store.
“Style is organic to the person doing the writing, as much a part of him as his hair, or, if he is bald, his lack of it. Trying to add style is like adding a toupee. At first glance the formerly bald man looks young and even handsome. But at second glance – and with a toupee there is always a second glance – he doesn’t look quite right. The problem is not that he doesn’t look well groomed; he does, and we can only admire the wigmaker’s almost perfect skill. The point is that he doesn’t look like himself.
“This is the problem of the writer who sets out deliberately to garnish his prose. You lose whatever it is that makes you unique. The reader will usually notice if you are putting on airs. He wants the person who is talking to him to sound genuine. Therefore a fundamental rule is: be yourself.”
“No rule, however, is harder to follow. It requires the writer to do two things which by his metabolism are impossible. He must relax and he must have confidence.
“Telling a writer to relax is like telling a man to relax while being prodded for possible hernia, and, as for confidence, he is a bundle of anxieties.
“What can be done to put the writer out of these miseries? Unfortunately, no cure has yet been found. I can only offer the consoling thought that you are not alone. Some days will go better than others; some will go so badly that you will despair of ever writing again. We have all had many of these days and will have many more.”
Isn’t this great? I love this book. So simple: just be yourself.
There is another nice section in this book that says you actually need to HEAR the sentences, because they are not words on a page but sounds. You hear a sentence, and that’s how you write. I do this constantly. I hear myself talking to myself, and my fingers simply transcribe the conversation. It’s not channeling, but it’s me listening to myself talking to myself and writing down what’s being said.
On The Audience:
“Soon after you confront this matter of preserving your identity (in recognizing your style), another question will occur to you: “Who am I writing for?”
“It’s a fundamental question and it has a fundamental answer: you are writing for yourself. Don’t try to visualize the great mass audience. There is no such audience – every reader is a different person. Don’t try to guess what sort of things editors want to publish or what you think the country is in a mood to read. Editors and readers don’t know what they want to read until they read it. Besides, they’re always looking for something new.”
“Don’t worry about whether the reader will “get it” if you indulge a sudden impulse for humor or nonsense. If it amuses you in the act of writing, put it in. You are writing primarily to entertain yourself, and if you go about it with confidence you will also entertain the readers who are worth writing for.”
That’s William Zinsser. On Writing Well.
It’s exactly why I find this blog to be such a joy – i write to amuse myself.
It’s all for me.
Hi Lisa
Yes, I agree “Elements of Style” is a great work.
I’m enjoying your blog and finding it inspirational as i start my third day of the ACIM workbook.
Best, Martin