Response To William Zinsser's 'On Writing Well'

Response 1: On Writing by Stephen King On Writing by Stephen King provided helpful literary insight on writing technique, tips, and writing in general. One recurring theme that King presented throughout the novel is that in order to be a successful writer, you must consistently read and write. King states, “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut” (King 145). Over my years of education, I have known this to be true. Reading has always been a passion of mine, and I began to notice recently how much my writing has improved as a result of constantly reading. Reading not only expands my vocabulary, but allows me to unconsciously think back to something I have read and possibly use that phrase or idea in my writing. As King explains, “Every book you pick up has its own lesson or lessons, and quite often the bad ones have more to teach than the good
The principal lesson Zinsser is trying to teach is to keep your writing simple and keep an eye out for clutter. Zinsser goes on to explain how “clutter is the disease of American writing,” due to the desire to add purposeless words or phrases used to make someone’s writing sound more professional and significant.
Zinsser includes examples of clutter, “Clutter is the ponderous euphemism that turns a slum into a depressed socioeconomic area, a salesman into a marketing representative and garbage collectors into waste disposal personnel” (Zinsser 14). Zinsser has made me realize how much I use additional words and phrases that serve no purpose to my writing and can be taken out. This is an important lesson to consider while writing, since I know that while writing a formal paper, I try to sound more professional by adding sophisticated phrases and