On Writing Well

I guess I'll just continue to write about writing until I'm ready to stop. One of my long term favorite writers on the subject is William Zinsser, who was with the New York Tribune for thirteen years, wrote a column for Life for five years, was a contributor to The New Yorker, taught writing at Yale University, and was the general editor for the Book-of-the-Month Club.

In his book, On Writing Well: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction, he writes: "For ultimately the product that any writer has to sell is not his subject, but who he is. I often find myself reading with interest about a topic that I never thought would interest me--some unusual scientific quest, for instance. What holds me is the enthusiasm of the writer for his field. How was he drawn into it? What emotional baggage did he bring along? How did it change his life? It's not necessary to want to spend a year alone at Walden Pond to become deeply involved with a man who did.

"This is the personal transaction that's at the heart of good nonfiction writing. Out of it comes two of the most important qualities that this book will go in search of humanity and warmth. Good writing has an aliveness that keeps the reader reading from one paragraph to the next, and it's not a question of gimmicks to 'personalize' the author. It's a question of using the English language in a way that will achieve the greatest strength and the least clutter.

"Can such principles be taught? Maybe not. But most of them can be learned."

Any thoughts?