Each professional needs to develop his or her skill set to be a valuable person. This is true for technical writers, too.

Technical writers’ skill set consists of not only technical things. The second part of the profession name indicates that writing is the crucial component of the skill set.

That’s why every day I do exercises to improve my writing (in native language, mostly). At the beginning of my training process, it was uncomfortable and sometimes extremely hard. However, my mentors helped me a lot. Honestly, they continued support me.

Unfortunately, I didn’t meet anyone from my mentors’ group in person. Actually, all of them are far away in time. In the past. Among my favorite mentors and teachers are William Strunk Jr., E.B. White, William Zinsser, Hardy Hoover, Dorothea Brande and many others. I’m learning how to write through their wonderful books.

In the article I’d like to share with you my thoughts after reading William Zinsser’s book “On Writing Well. The Classic Guide To Writing Nonfiction”.

Information about the author

William Zinsser was a writer, editor, journalist and teacher. He wrote 19 books. The most famous of them is “On Writing Well. The Classic Guide To Writing Nonfiction”.

What is the book about?

“On Writing Well” is about writing principles and how to apply them to the different forms of nonfiction. In the book Zinsser teaches his readers to write about people and places, business and education, sports and arts, science and technology.

Who is the target audience of the book?

Everyone who is interested in writing.

The contents of the book

“On Writing Well” includes four parts:

  1. Principles.
  2. Methods.
  3. Forms.
  4. Attitudes.

In the first part of the book Zinsser describes seven principles of writing:

  1. The transaction.
  2. Simplicity.
  3. Clutter.
  4. Style.
  5. The audience.
  6. Words.
  7. Usage.

The second part is about methods of good writing, such as unity, the lead and the ending. Also, in that part Zinsser gives his advice on how to use various components of speech in writing correctly.

The third part contains helpful information for writing in different nonfiction genres.

In the last part Zinsser recommends to writers how to organize their long articles.

What did I learn?

As I mentioned before, I’m learning to write while reading my mentors’ books. When I read the books, I try to notice specific author’s vocabulary, original sentence structures, and general style. Then I apply new knowledge to my writing. Who would have thought that I’m on the right track?

Let’s see what Zinsser says about learning to write and reading.

Make a habit of reading what is being written today and what was written by earlier masters. Writing is learned by imitation. If anyone asked me how I learn to write, I’d say I learned by reading the men and women who were doing the kind of writing I wanted to do and trying to figure out how they did it.

And what about exercises?

The only way to learn to write is to force yourself to produce a certain number of words on a regular basis.

It wasn’t the only surprise for me in the book. When I was reading “On Writing Well” I found many things which confirms I’m truly on the right track. Earlier my writing based on my intuition and instincts, mainly. But Zinsser explained to me the rules. After reading the book my writing has become more conscious.

Unfortunately, I can’t list all the interesting things from the book. It would be a huge article with many spoilers. I’ll only touch a few points which could be implemented in technical writing.

The first item I knew was the personal transaction. It is the main idea of good writing. The term means how a writer communicates with his or her readers. That communication consists of the following important characteristics: humanity, warmth, and the author’s passion. Of course, technical documentation is not fiction. At the same time, technical documentation is created by people and for people. That’s why every technical document should be based on the personal transaction.

I often find myself reading with interest a topic I never thought would interest me - some scientific quest, perhaps. What holds me is the enthusiasm of the writer for his field.

The second item I learned was clear writing. It means that the writer has to answer three simple questions (by Zinsser):

  • What am I trying to say?
  • Have I said it?
  • Is it clear for someone meeting the subject?

It seems so obvious and simple. However, many technical writers don’t pay their attention to these questions when creating their documentation. As a result, readers could be confused by such documentation.

Clear thinking becomes clear writing; one can’t exist without the other.

The third item was about sentence structures and complex phrases. Firstly, the writer needs to get rid of unnecessary words in every sentence. Secondly, the writer should avoid the complicated phrases (or the long words) that have replaced the short words with the same meaning (Zinsser gives some examples, such as “at this point in time” instead of “now”, “numerous” instead of “many”). Thus, sentences will be shorter and more understandable for readers. By the way, it is one of the main principles of technical writing.

But the secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components. Every word that serves no function, every long word that could be a short word, every adverb that carries the same meaning that’s already in the verb, every passive construction that leaves the reader unsure of who is doing what - these are the thousand and one adulterants that weaken the strength of a sentence.

Conclusion

“On Writing Well” has about 300 pages. Almost every one of them is a treasury.

If you want to improve your writing skills and you’ve never read William Zinsser’s book “On Writing Well. The Classic Guide To Writing Nonfiction”, I highly recommend it.

Furthermore, if you’re a technical writer, the book would be a great resource for your professional development.

At the end of the review I would like to add one more Zinsser’s quote. Here it is.

Writing is thinking on paper. Anyone who thinks clearly can write clearly, about anything at all.