WENHAM, MA-- “I love Uncle Will!”, said Alyssa Maine, 21, of Gordon College. She wasn’t talking about someone related to her, but about William Zinsser’s book On Writing Well.
Zinsser has affectionately been called “Uncle Will” because of how helpful his book is, and how appreciative journalists today are for his writing. Zinsser first published his book in 1976, and journalists today find it as helpful.
“I have often found myself unsure of how to best say exactly what I want to say. Don’t care about who will read what you write,” said Maine who’s learning about Zinsser in her journalism class. “Write for yourself, and yourself only. Zinsser gives the courage to write on, and write from that place of ego.”
Zinsser gives practical methods on how to write an article well. It is simple advice that every journalist needs to know. He writes on the use of clutter in articles, “most first drafts can be cut by 50 percent without losing any information or losing the authors voice.”, says Zinsser. Students grow up writing papers and assignments with adverbs and adjectives, but Zinsser stands by his belief of less clutter. “You will clutter your sentence and annoy the reader if you choose a verb that has a specific meaning…”
“I like him. I mainly enjoyed his chapter on grammar.” Stuart Knechtle, 22, said of Zinsser. “Because I felt although I’ve had grammatical lessons growing up, his succinct discourse on things such as qualifiers and mood changes gave me a fresh look at writing.” Knechtle also felt as Maine did, that Zinsser is helpful and emphasizes the important principles of becoming a great journalist.
Both Knechtle and Maine are aspiring journalists, and are grateful to Uncle Will for his advice. Journalists have been using Zinsser since he first published his book, and he is still being used in this next generation of journalists. Maine said, “he encourages writers to write what they want to write.”
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