Everyone can write, but not all ink on a paper becomes an essay. William K. Zinsser considered the essence of good writing and collected his thoughts in a book On Writing Well. I’m glad that the book resolves my three questions surrounding principles, methods and practices in writing.
My first doubt is what’s good writing. As Zinsser learned new material based on the trends in the language and society, he kept revising the book. The writing tools are developed, making writing easier, but the content won’t be helped by these tools. In the introduction, he talked about Email. Email appeared as a substitute for letters and encouraged people’s writing because of its loose formatting requirements, and equates writing with chatting. Another difference is writing is held to a higher standard than speaking. People are more likely to correct us when we write than when we talk, (because writing is permanent, and talking is fleeting). For example, in writing, instead of using “Wow!” as well as a simple adjective, writers adapt a more latent but direct way (hide their thoughts in stories and details), making their words infectious for more readers. It’s a convoluted way that everyone must go through, acquiring old craft of the English language.
In the first essay, Zinsser gave a story about himself and an amateur writer, Dr. Brock. They showed quite different experiences in writing.Two sets of philosophy, one who earns a living with his pen by writing. Dr. Brock wouldn’t rewrite. When writing isn’t going well, he will put his writing aside and do something else. He was “enjoying his life as a man of writing (this is his hobby, not as a job).”; he loved symbols. While in Zinsser’s answers, writing was a drudgery not only based on instantaneous inspiration or talent, lonely, and straightforward. When I started to get confused as those students in the book, Zinsser said “there isn’t any ‘right’ way to do such personal work.” Both attitudes are defensible. What really holds readers is the enthusiasm of the writer for his field, which should be shared by all writers in all fields. I even found some deity in this story. The professional writer is addicted to textifying content but forgives his own desires. The story controls itself by logic, and the writer is a part of its expression. “Humanity and warmth…Good writing has an aliveness.” Without strong desire for himself, I’m wondering where the writing’s pleasure comes from.
Now I learn the sense of good writing, but is there anything more concrete? Zinsser spent two essays on clutter and simplicity. I read the same underlining in Italo Calvino’s Six Memos for the Next Millennium, George Orwell’s Politics and the English Language, and George Whitesides’s essay on scientific writing. Again and again, clutter might be one of the most serious diseases in writing. The author patiently exemplified several kinds of clutter and surprisingly discussed why clutter is hard to cut. “Clutter is the official language used by corporations to hide their mistakes.” When I can’t find an exact verb, I would instead use metaphor/simile, and add long attributes; I get used to saying it’s important instead of showing its importance; words don’t always reflect on behaviors; jargon and paragraph length are considered the most accessible descriptors of “writing capacity.” As the author suggested to his students, I tried bracketing all the unnecessaries in my lines. The conclusion is I really suffer from “clutter” syndrome.
I doubt that bad habits could be camouflaged as style. Clutter could be a loquacious style and we should respect every style. However, when all the clutter is cut off in your essay, “will there be anything left for me?” (concision) This could be opinions for readers, as well as style for writers. Clutter is a symbol of unclear thinking, while the fundamental rule for style is: be yourself. “I like reading.” The prerequisite is to recognize my identity. We use “I think” (hedging word, banned in business, a lot in academia) when feeling not so confident, “an easy escape into opinion.” We may use “my friend said” in the same condition because of lack of confidence or experience. The most passive words must be “I don’t have stories.” Writers must “relax, and they must have confidence.”
The book is long but not redundant. Every opinion hits my weakness, maybe not only me. It’s a great seed to grow your own “writing tree.” I’ll read it carefully and reread it again and again. (do as said)