---
aliases: ["On Writing Well"]
Is A: Note
Author: "William Zinsser"
Topics: ["[[topic-writing]]"]
URL: "https://example.com/writing-well"
---
# On Writing Well
*William Zinsser*

Zinsser's guide to non-fiction writing is built on a single conviction: clutter is the disease of American writing, and surgery is the cure. Every word in a sentence must earn its place; every sentence must advance the piece. This is not about writing short -- it is about writing clean. Zinsser rails against corporate jargon, unnecessary qualifiers, passive voice, and the kind of throat-clearing preambles that plague most business writing. His ideal is prose that is so clear that the reader never has to re-read a sentence, and so economical that removing any word would damage the meaning.

For a newsletter writer, this book is effectively a technical manual. Newsletter readers are impatient -- they are reading during a coffee break, between meetings, on their phones. Every unnecessary sentence is a reason to stop reading. Zinsser's principles -- cut adverbs, prefer active voice, lead with the interesting part, never use a complicated word when a simple one will do -- directly translate to higher open rates, better engagement, and more trust. Readers may not be able to articulate why they find one newsletter better than another, but clarity of writing is almost always a major factor.

Beyond the sentence-level craft, Zinsser makes an important argument about voice and authenticity. He insists that good non-fiction writing sounds like a person talking, not a corporation communicating. This means using "I" when appropriate, having opinions, and letting your personality come through. For indie creators who compete against faceless media companies, this is a strategic advantage, not just a stylistic choice. Your voice is what makes your newsletter irreplaceable. Zinsser's advice is to find your natural voice and then refine it relentlessly, cutting away everything that is not genuinely you.

## Key takeaways

- Clutter is the enemy of good writing -- every word must earn its place, every sentence must advance the piece
- Rewriting is the essence of writing: the first draft is for getting ideas down, subsequent drafts are for cutting and clarifying
- Active voice is almost always better than passive voice: it is clearer, more direct, and more engaging
- Write for yourself first -- if you are bored writing it, the reader will be bored reading it
- Unity of pronoun, tense, mood, and tone is essential: pick your approach and stick with it throughout the piece
- Good non-fiction sounds like a person talking, not an institution communicating -- warmth and personality are assets, not indulgences
- The lead (opening) is the most critical part of any piece: if you do not hook the reader in the first two sentences, nothing else matters

## How I apply this

- My editing process is directly shaped by Zinsser. After drafting a newsletter edition, I do a "clutter pass" where my only goal is to cut words and simplify sentences. I typically cut 20-30% of the draft in this pass, and the result is always better. If a sentence does not survive scrutiny, it goes.
- I read every edition aloud before publishing. Zinsser's emphasis on writing that sounds like a person talking is best tested by literally hearing it spoken. Awkward phrasing, unnecessary qualifiers, and convoluted sentences become immediately obvious when you say them out loud.
- I use Zinsser's "lead" advice to force myself to start every newsletter edition with the most interesting or surprising point, not with context or preamble. This was hard to adopt -- my instinct is to "set the stage" -- but it has measurably improved my open-to-read-through rates.

## Related

- [[writing-for-clarity-vs-writing-for-credit]]
- [[the-real-job-of-a-newsletter]]
- [[newsletter-growth-is-about-trust]]
- [[on-consistency-in-creative-work]]
- [[note-show-your-work]]
- [[note-building-a-second-brain]]
- [[note-how-minds-change]]
- [[topic-writing]]
- [[topic-content-strategy]]
- [[topic-newsletter-growth]]
