By Jessica Figurido
Wenham, MA - One can almost hear the typing sound from across the room, when William Zinsser pulls together another one of his writings. With seventeen books down and many more to come, it seems as if his writing may never stop, and for many that’s high praise. “You learn to write by writing” Zinsser says in his newest edition of On Writing Well, “It’s a truism, but what makes it a truism is that it’s true. The only way to learn to write is to force yourself to produce a certain number of words on a regular basis.” College students all across the nation are using Zinsser's book as a tool to improve their own writing.
Growing up, Gordon College student Michael Hottleman, 22, always perceived writing as a competition amongst his peers. “It was encouraging to read Zinsser’s quote of ‘Writing is not a completion with others, but only one with yourself.’ -- It took a weight off my shoulders.” Feeling a sigh of relief, Hottleman will no longer put any more pressure on his writing then he needs to. Due to Zinsser’s book it has given him an inspiration to write stress free.
But Hottleman was not the only reader encouraged by Zinsser’s book. Christian Bradley, 19, now places less strain on his writings. “His writing gives you biases for writing and journalism” Bradley says, and continues, “Today’s academic writing teaches the younger generations not to use words like ‘but,’ yet Zinsser says it’s sometimes the best way to start off a sentence.” – What a release! Bradley and many other readers have now been given the okay to write more personally and not by standard teaching.
When stress is released from writers they are able to write with more of an open mind, making the writing easier. And as the New York TImes puts it, “On Writing Well is a bible for a generation of writers looking for clues to clean, compelling prose.”
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