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© 2026 Juvoni Beckford

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Communication & Influence · 2006

On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction

William Knowlton Zinsser

On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction Cover
Rating
8.5/10
Difficulty
Moderate
Read time
9 hours
Best in
  • Kindle
  • Print

336 pagesRead Jul 21, 2013Staying power: Lingering influence

by Juvoni Beckford·@juvoni

Before readingWhy I picked it up

Being able to express myself in many different ways is very important to me on a personal level. Early out when I started picking up on my reading habit, I knew that I wanted to prioritize picking out books that focused on principles and were time tested. This is one of those books and has been used by some great writers to become even better. For learning, I want to learn from masters, and this book is an effective way to do that.

After readingPosted December 20, 2015

Writing is a craft that can be improved; you aren't born with superb writing abilities. This book is a good start to improving your writing. One central point of the book is that good writing comes from a desire to write well, with repeated effort and careful editing. Your writing should not be to overly detailed or contain too much vague language, less is more and be simple and to the point. The main task is to communicate your central idea and transform the reader from a passive observe into a engaged ally. I also liked that is written in a very approachable manner with some biographical information and other experiences and wouldn't just serve as just a reference manual. The book goes over writing principles, methods and different tones of writing. He also talks about different guidelines for specific kinds of non-fiction like business, sports, travel, humor, arts, etc. Solid book to have in anyone's reading collection.

Three reasons to read it

  1. 01You want to learn how to write better
  2. 02Fundamental Principles for Writing (Non-Fiction focused)
  3. 03Improve your communication

Notes for this book are still being transcribed.

←PreviousMoonwalking with EinsteinJoshua FoerNext→Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten TrackRichard P. Feynman
Buy on AmazonAffiliate ↗

No affiliate link·Goodreads

Awards

  • Changed My Mind

    I finished it believing something I didn't when I started.

  • Lindy Book

    Written over 20 years ago and still holds up. Time already tested it.

  • Pressed Into Hands

    The book I hand to friends most often.

Related Books

Buy on AmazonAffiliate ↗

No affiliate link·Goodreads

Awards

  • Changed My Mind

    I finished it believing something I didn't when I started.

  • Lindy Book

    Written over 20 years ago and still holds up. Time already tested it.

  • Pressed Into Hands

    The book I hand to friends most often.

Related Books

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Related books

On Writing Well cover, this bookSlideThing ExplainerThe Elements of StyleThis bookAlso in Writing & Storytelling

Slide, Thing Explainer and The Elements of Style.

14 books in Writing & Storytelling →