Summary Of On Writing Well By Zinsser

Upon reading chapters one through four of “On Writing Well”, I’ve summarized the key ideas amongst these resourceful pages. In chapter one, “The Transaction”, Zinsser tells us to bring personality into writing, but at the same time to bring clarity and strength for the sake of the reader. Also, he tells us that in order to accomplish this action we have to find inspiration, or motivation to begin. According to his experience however, that has not been an easy task to fulfill. In transition to chapter two, “Simplicity”, Zinsser explains that the context of our writing should not be so challenging to comprehend for the reader. If the reader has to reread a sentence or two in attempt to distinguish what the writer is trying to say, reading the remainder of the work automatically becomes a burden, and they will not continue.
He says, “Our national tendency is to inflate and therefore sound important.” But, Zinsser describes this as unnecessary. In chapter three, “Clutter”, Zinsser points out that if you want to mean what you say, first you have to say what you mean. You should not neglect simplicity. By listing all these words that have no use in helping get your point across, you’re just creating clutter. Concluding the summaries; chapter four, “Style”, Zinsser says to just relax and have confidence. He states that “this is the problem with writers who set out to garnish their prose. You lose what makes you unique.” He explains how some writers feel as if no one will care about their opinions, but he believes that “people will care if you tell them something interesting.” He ends the chapter telling us to “Believe in your own identity and opinions. Writing is about