The Book in a few sentences

Nonfiction writing has more of a craft than an art. It is a difficult task that requires dedication, time, and hard work. If you are serious about writing, you must master the principles, express yourself clearly, embrace simplicity, develop respect for words, and learn to enjoy rewriting.

You will need more than your technique, though. Writing is an act of ego, and you should write for yourself; but remember that what makes good nonfiction writing is the personal transaction between writer and reader——the focus on people, the warmth and humanism to which the reader can relate.

Personal Opinion

William Zinsser is a classic in the literature on learning how to write. Newcomers like me will find the essence of nonfiction writing and learn some unexpected principles. More experienced writers will get inspired by the plain truths about the craft and see themselves in the mirror, revealing the strengths and flaws of their writing.

This book is a handbook on how to write nonfiction and, at the same time, an example of good nonfiction writing itself. Zinsser carries you through a well-structured path full of examples in which he shows you the principles, techniques, and forms. Furthermore, he reveals the essence and nuances of what good nonfiction writing means to him. His love and respect for the craft are present and contagious on every page you read.

SUMMARY

THE PRINCIPLES

1. Transaction

Good writing has more of a craft than an art. It requires you to be methodic, organized and dedicate time and hard work to revisit your material. The essence of good writing is rewriting.

There are so many approaches to writing as writers. However, it is naive to think of writing as a fun and easy-going activity that anyone can do professionally without rigorous hard work and writing only when inspired.

Independently of your approach, the difficult part as a writer is sharing a part of yourself, communicating humanity and warmth behind the lines. This personal transaction is what makes nonfiction good writing.

2. Simplicity

One of the secrets of good writing is simplicity: being aware of what you want to communicate and using the fewest and clearest words to make your message clear. If the reader is confused and needs to stop, it is often a sign of poor writing.

Clear writing is the consequence of clear thinking, an ability that needs to be developed and requires conscious practice and hard work.

3. Clutter

Opposing simplicity, clutter——the weeds of writing——are unnecessary packs of words, the use of which contributes nothing to the message. Some examples are:

• Laborious phrases or words:
  “Experience precipitation” → raining
• Euphemisms:
  “Depressed economic area” → slum
• Political correctness:
  “Administrative assistance” → secretary
• Verbal camouflage:
  “Be economical with the truth” → lie
• Longer words, with a shorter option:
  “numerous” → many

“implement” → do
…

• Word clusters:
  “It is interesting to note…”
  “It should be taken into account…”

If it is interesting, make it interesting. If something needs to be taken into account, take it into account. Using these expressions is paternalizing, even offensive to the reader.

When you write something, reread and bracket everything that resembles these examples or is suspicious of being simplifiable. This will help in time to identify and avoid clutter in your writing.

4. Style

Nonfiction writing is a craft based on certain principles, one of the most important being simplicity. But simplicity carried out to an extreme becomes plain impersonal writing, which leads to a fair question: what is left of ourselves in the text? What about style?

Style is something that cannot be learned. It is part of yourself and will remain in your writing. If you try to “learn” it and add pompous stuff on top of your writing, readers will realize it, and you will lose credibility. What the reader really wants is genuine, somebody they can trust. Remember, a fundamental rule in writing is: be yourself.

This is why, as a writer, you first learn the craft, and when you master the principles, you can use them to say things the way you want to. This should come naturally: your style will develop and remain with you if you are yourself.

In order to be yourself and inspire trust, there are two rules to follow while writing: be relaxed and confident. Writing in the first person can help you stay calm, find your voice, express your opinions, and move closer to your identity. You must believe in your identity to inspire confidence and trust. Acknowledge that writing is an act of ego, that you are exposing your uniqueness.

5. The Audience

Who am I writing for? The answer is fundamental: you are writing for yourself. asdf

Imagining the reader before writing will make it difficult to find your voice, stay relaxed, and express yourself freely. If you want the readers to perceive you as a convincing writer and deserve their respect and trust, you need to be yourself. Let the readers be the judges and decide to keep reading by themselves.

Differentiate between craft and attitude. As a writer, your responsibility is to learn and master the craft of writing to avoid the reader leaving due to messiness and unclarity. On the other hand, attitude is how you use the craft to express yourself.

If people don’t like what you say or how you say it, save your time. Let the reader find you. Those who like what you write about and how you write, or even those who want to observe and be part of your journey, will form an audience around you.

Some of the most enjoyable writing comes from writers who write for themselves and don’t care about what people will think about it. This gives the prose a sense of personality, humanity, and warmth that keep the readers wondering about what is being explained—even if they are not interested in the subject: they are experiencing an intimate moment with the writer.

6. Words

Journalese is a writing style typical of magazines, newspapers, and TV shows, in which they use cheap words, clichés, and complicated formulations to introduce forced sensationalism. You need to avoid this style, develop a respect for words, and discover their nuances if you want to write good nonfiction.

More enriching alternatives are: to develop the habit of reading the old masters; to get used to looking for the meaning of words you don’t know and search for alternative synonyms—using a dictionary and a thesaurus—to make your writing more colorful and expressive; and to read about the craft of writing.

Good nonfiction writers have something of a poet: they care about cadence, sound, pace, and rhythm. You should start thinking in these terms and read your work aloud. This will give you a better understanding of how readers listen to your work and help you introduce elements into your writing that make it more enjoyable.

7. Usage

There is no simple answer to the question, “What makes one word good and another cheap?”. This is a subjective matter and, as such, requires your ow reasoning, preferences, and understanding of the language——forming your own taste.

Who are the taste-makers? There is no easy answer for that either. Lexicographers know that the usage rules are relative to the context and, therefore, easy to bend.

You can follow two principles:

1. Use any word if it helps you to express yourself clearly and simply.
2. Be liberal in accepting new words but conservative in grammar.

METHODS

8. Unity

The only way to learn writing is by going through the process of writing on a regular basis. Writing an article daily will make you a better writer in 6 months. Your writing will not necessarily be good, but you will be a better writer. Why? Because writing is the quest of solving a problem: finding facts, organizing the material, narrative, intention, tone, clarity, or style. Only by solving many issues, you do get better at it.

Unity is the anchor for good writing. It satisfies the readers’ need for clarity and prevents them from quitting reading due to your bad-sounding prose becoming a decyphering problem for them.

You will need to be consistent in three elements:

1. Pronouns:
   Decide in which person you want to talk to and stick to it.
2. Tenses:
   Choose your main tense and use others only if necessary.
3. Mood:
   Choose how you want to sound, your tone, and your attitude.

Some nonfiction writers suffer from a “definitiveness complex,” meaning they want to write something that will last forever, that becomes the last word on a subject. This is nonsense, an impossible pursuit. You definitely want to think small, choose a corner within your topic, and start writing about it. Writing too widely will drain your enthusiasm and make you lose your readers with it.

Instead of trying to say too many things, successful nonfiction writers usually leave the reader with one provocative thought or idea. Try to decide beforehand what point you want to make, and your tone and attitude will be derived from here.

Remember to go with the flow. Even if you decide beforehand your tone, mood, or tense, you can always change your mind. Acknowledge this change and adjust if necessary.

9. The lead and the ending

The first sentence is the most important in your writing: it should make the reader look forward to proceeding to the second one. The second one should do the same. The last phrases of a paragraph should make the reader want to move to the following paragraph, and so on. This created momentum is called the “lead”.

The first sentence should induce the reader to read the second one. The second one should do the same, and so on and so for. This created momentum is called the “lead”.

There is no magic recipe for this. You need to find a way to capture the reader’s attention. But avoid clichés like “once upon a time”, “what would a future archeologist say”, etc.——they are clumsy, predictive, and boring. Leads can be found everywhere. If you read things you usually wouldn’t, you can gather facts about your daily landscape that will make your leads unique. Storytelling is the most compelling method available to create a lead.

On the other hand, knowing how to end is crucial for good nonfiction. Try to do something more memorable and creative than the typical “Intro-Body-Summary” structure. If an article starts repeating information, the reader will leave. Think of alternative narrative forms like the “hero’s journey” or a “full circle”, linking the end with the beginning.

You can also surprise readers with unexpected quotations, facts, or small twists. Surprise is the most refreshing tool that nonfiction has, and it makes the greatest impact on an ending.

When to finish is also a question open for debate. A rule of thumb should be: “When you feel ready to stop, look for the nearest exit and stop”. It is better to stop too early than too late.

10. Bits & Pieces

The following are suggestions about several topics.

Verb:

• Use active verbs instead of passive ones.
• Be precise and avoid verbs with ambiguous meanings.

Adverb:

• Don’t use adverbs that carry the same meaning as a verb.
• Most of the adverbs are unnecessary. Use them only if they add meaning.

Adjective:

• Most adjectives are also unnecessary. Use them only if they add meaning.
• Using adjectives for the sake of it is self-indulgent and a burden for the reader.

Little Qualifiers:

“Quite a bit”, “very”, “a little”, “sort of”, “kind of”, etc. These little qualifiers portray no confidence and destroy your image and voice as a writer.

Punctuation:

For a deeper explanation, you should use a grammar or a book of style. The following are some basic recommendations:

1. Period:
   Avoid long phrases, and use periods more often.
2. Exclamation mark:
   Use exclamation points only when necessary to remark emotion or give emphasis. But avoid it to make clear to the reader that something is important; this is condescending and disrespectful.
3. Semicolon:
   Semicolons slow the pace of the reading and look 19th century old. Use them only to relate thoughts after a sentence.
4. Dash:
   Use dashes to justify the first part of a sentence or thoughts within a longer sentence.
5. Colon:
   Use to have a short pause between two words or phrases. The dash has overtaken most of the colon’s stylish usage.

Mood Changers

• Use words like “But” or “Yet” at the beginning of the sentence.
• Don’t use “However”, or “Nevertheless”, at the beginning of a sentence. Use instead the form “…,however,…”.
• Using words like “today”, “now”, etc. will also help with clarity.

Contraction:

Use the ones already existing in the dictionary. Refrain from using them or making them feel unnatural.

That and Which:

Use them properly:

• …bring the notes, that were not used
  →specifies which notes (others that are used might be present too).
• …bring the notes, which were not used.
  →further explains something about the notes (no other notes are present).

Concept Nouns:

Avoid using dead sentences with the form “noun + is”. Use a personal sentence instead. Ex:

• Not Good: “The common reaction is incredulous laughter”.
• Better: “People commonly react with incredulous laughter”.

Creeping Nouns:

Avoid euphemisms and journalese.

Overstatements:

Don’t overreact with your comparisons and metaphors. Humor is at its best if you try to introduce it with subtlety and irony. Let the reader decide, understand, and catch the jokes.

Credibility:

Protect your reputation. If readers realize you are trying to make them believe something false, they will be suspicious of the rest of your writing and will not accept a single word.

Dictation:

Tend to be pompous, sloppy, and redundant. If you dictate to somebody, at least take care of revising, editing, or rewriting.

Writing is not a contest:

Many writers feel a lot of pressure when they perceive themselves as competing against all other writers——who are statistically better than them. Don’t be that kind of writer. Forget about other people. You compete with yourself!

The most important thing is to have the goal of mastering the craft, and this is a personal journey.

The quick fix:

Often, after you tried everything and spent an incredible amount of time trying to make a sentence work, you might realize the solution lies in just removing it from your text.

Paragraphs:

• Paragraphs should be short and contain your ideas. They help the reader to understand the structure of your thinking.
• Read other nonfiction writers to get a feeling of how you should do it.

Sexism:

Don’t use offensive and damaging words. Using General words instead of gendered or avoiding clichés is part of the basic respect the writer should have toward the readers.

It is, however, preferable to some writers to use he or she instead of a plural form to stick with the idea of a single person going through something.

Rewriting:

• Rewriting is the essence of nonfiction writing; learn to enjoy it and be grateful for every change you can make.
• Writing is not a finished product. Texts are an evolving creature that can develop with time and every rewrite you invest in them.
• Reading aloud will help you identify where the reader might find problems or get stuck.

Writing with computers:

Technology has made writing much easier than before. Make use of these benefits to write faster and cleaner.

Trust your material:

Trust your ability to communicate what you want to explain. Don’t annoy the readers by overexplaining or telling them something they already know or can know through your material.

Go with your interests:

Any topic is valid if you decide to write seriously about it. Write about fields you enjoy. If you write for yourself and follow your interests, the readers will find you.

FORMS

11. Nonfiction as Literature

Although nonfiction was at some point in history considered a lesser genre, after WWII, readers shifted from the romantic style of the 19th century towards realism and started demanding and appreciating the nonfiction characteristics of the 20th century.

Nonfiction is the path that allows most people to write about what they like and know. This is how good journalism becomes good literature.

The following are the major forms you will encounter:

12. The Interview

Learning to ask questions to people to discover the most interesting they hide is a precious tool you can have. People’s thoughts, feelings, and opinions will enrich your texts the most if you introduce them with their own words and not through your own filter as a writer. The writer’s goal is to unlock the information people have in their heads.

Nonfiction is based on people. Therefore, you should master the interview form:

• Pretend you are writing for a real publication.
• Decide on who you want to interview.
• Learn the skills of interviewing by performing interviews.
• Do the necessary previous investigation diligently.
• Overcome the fear of invading people’s privacy. Most people want to talk about them.
• Use a voice recorder.

As an interviewer, you have the moral duty to stay true to the interviewee’s words, meanings, and intentions. You can, however, change the words to make your work more literary. The foremost consideration is not to tergiversate somebody’s words.

13. Travel article

The major nonfiction theme is humans, but humans tend to be in a place. This is why you should learn to write about places. This is the most difficult thing to do, and even experienced writers are at their worst here.

Consider these major traps:

1. Don’t talk too much about your personal experience of the place since the reader will not be able to identify with your writing.
2. Don’t make use of vague adjectives or clichés. Develop your own style.

Feel free to write about well-known places. Find the details that are significant to you, and remember, it is not your place until you write about it.

14. Memoir

The memoir is one of the most beautiful forms of nonfiction, yet most people avoid it. Get rid of your fear and give yourself permission to write about yourself.

Don’t put the attention on yourself. Otherwise, this will portray you as an egotist, and the reader will lose interest. A memoir is not about describing yourself and your adventures; it is about using a framework of your life——a picture in space and time——to depict the people that crossed your life, the places, and the situation. Your goal is to make the reader travel back in time and make them feel what you felt back then.

15. Science

Forget about the cliché of science versus liberal arts students. If you are a liber arts person, you can write about how something works and focus on people around any scientific subject. On the other hand, if you are a scientist, you already have the structured thinking necessary to express something clearly.

The key to writing nonfiction about science is to learn to write sequentially. Similar to a “how-to” book, the principle of sequential writing helps the writer write with structure and clarity while helping the readers understand and go through a topic they have no idea about.

16. Business Writing

Most of the business writing is dead. Fear of being perceived as unsophisticated, weak, or incompetent traps people into the corporative culture of using impersonal forms, bureaucratic style, and intellectual-sounding words——for what clarity is most often sacrificed.

17. Sports

Commonly, sports writers fall into the trap of clichés and easy-to-understand words that only fans understand, not taking this kind of writing seriously. This is why; if you don’t know much about a sport, you might become a better sports writer because you will approach the subject from a different and refreshing perspective.

If you give it a try, remember how essential it is to acknowledge that professional athletes are doing something complicated. Your role as a writer is to make the reader feel how it feels to perform the sport——to communicate the feelings and the struggle related to their performance.

18. Arts

In order to be able to write about the arts, you need to have accumulated a body of knowledge, a special sensibility, and an appreciation for the medium. You need to be a critic.

Critizigin in your writing is easy and might give you some instant attention, but writing in admiration and transmitting a sense of understanding of the craft and humanity behind it is more memorable and, therefore, difficult.

The difference between a critic and a reviewer is that the reviewer expresses an opinion, while the critic makes an aesthetic analysis or judgment supported by a body of knowledge.

19. Humor

Most people don’t realize that humor writing is a serious act and a difficult task to achieve.

Humor is a tool writers use to express important things that nobody is saying in such a way that raises interest and makes us think about the contradictions and critiques exposed behind the fun.

There are different humor tools and devices——irony, satire, parody, nonsense——but anything can be expressed in a key of humor if you find the right comic frame.

Some general recommendations are:

• Learn to write good “straight” English.
• Do not repeat jokes.
• Trust the readers’ capacity to understand and think for themselves.
• Avoid vulgarity and scorn.
• Don’t overdo or exaggerate facts too much.
• If you make things up, make sure the reader will not be aware of it; otherwise, they will lose interest, and it will not be fun.

ATTITUDES

20. The sound of your voice

As a writer, your most valued commodity is yourself——your voice. You should create your voice and don’t let the subject or other people change it.

Some writers confuse a sincere and clear voice——the so-called “effortless style”——with simplicity and effortlessness. The opposite is true. Clarity is the result of a huge effort. In an attempt to sound casual, some readers tend to use the breeziness style, which is not only crude and corny but also more difficult to read.

21. Enjoyment, fear, and confidence

Writing is a lonely activity. Therefore enjoyment is a positive thing to include in your work. If something amuses you, there is no reason why you shouldn’t exclude it from your writing and keep yourself cheered up.

On the opposite side, fear is also a strong feeling that can freeze writers. This is usually acquired early in education when students are forced to produce material under time pressure and about things far from their interests. Follow your interests and keep engaged in the process of writing.

Curiosity is another necessary tool. Curious writers, who are interested in different things, keep themselves interesting, and with them their work too. Write about something you find interesting, and your writing will reflect your enjoyment.

22. The tyranny of the final product

Writing is not a zero-sum game; there is no win or failure to achieve. The winning experience for a writer is finishing the work and the learning gains made through the writing process. Apart from mastering the craft of writing, learning to enjoy the process is paramount if you want to become a writer.

One of non-fiction writers’ most untaught skills is organizing a large work. The biggest issue usually being compression. The best solution for this is to give yourself enough time to identify what you really want to write about and what your story truly is. Then you can focus on that and restrain your work to a smaller set.

Writing is directly related to your character. If your values are sound, you have a clear intention, and you write with humanity and integrity, you will have a product you can sell.

23. A writer’s decision

Writing is a linear process. Clarity will depreciate if the writing doesn’t have a sequential, logical order. When you write and finish a paragraph or a sentence, consider what the reader needs or wants to know next. Answering those questions will help you make the right decisions to keep continuity and a logical structure.

Use any device at your disposal to make your work clear. For example, using asterisks after a paragraph or section can help the reader prepare for a framework change.

Another important decision you have to make is when to end. Finding a general rule is difficult, but once your message is expressed, you should try to find the next exit. Make sure that the ending always feels right.

Writing is a journey, an exploring process. Be brave and get out of your comfort zone. It is always scary to start something new, but you will always learn something you can keep when returning back home.

Your material is not going to come to you. You need to decide what you want, how to do it, and then take action and do it.

24. Writing Family History and Memoir

Memoirs are usually a form that writers become interested in later in their life, after having children or when some relatives are up to pass away. The writer is the custodian of memory.

There are two possibilities for writing a memoir. The first is to write from the point of view of myself in the time that happened. The second is writing from the current point of view. The former has produced more powerful works in numbers, but the latter also has good examples.

An issue that can arise is privacy. If you intend to publish the work, it is a general courtesy to let any mentioned family member read the manuscript before publishing it. But in the end, this is your work, your memories, and you have the right to write about it. If somebody thinks differently, they are free to write their own memoir.

Remember that a memoir should not be a scorn or revenge mechanism. Get rid of anger and whining. Use your memoirs not as a victim but as a survivor. The remembered memoirs are those written with love, kindness, and forgiveness.

A family memoir can be a giant and challenging task. The best advice is to make reducing decisions. Don’t try to encompass everything and everyone. Focus on those people who are relevant to you and trust your most vivid memories.

The best approach is to write a memoir at a time and, after a while, try to connect them and give them a logical structure.

25. Write as well as you can

Writing is not a discipline where breakthroughs happen. Changes are rare; therefore, the best approach for new writers is to learn to write with simplicity and clarity, mastering the principles described in this book and working hard.

You need to embrace the learning process and the hard work. If you don’t take the decision and commit to it with passion and even obsession, you will not be able to master the craft.

At some point, you will need to fight to defend your own style and voice. Don’t let editors transgress your work. If you feel something needs to stay, fight for it. Remember that a good editor approaches your work with an objective eye and tries to help you improve your work and make it clear to the reader. They try to find the best solution with you that best serves the finished product.

Finally, remember that you write for yourself and that your writing should serve your purposes. Writing well means also believing in yourself and your writing skills.