Substitute 'damn' every time you're inclined to write 'very;' your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.” — Mark Twain It’s none of their business that you have to learn to write. Let them think you were born that way.” — Ernest Hemingway

For sports writing, Zinsser recommends going beyond reporting the stats of a game, and try hanging out with longtime fans to understand the overarching stories that take place within any high-drama field such as baseball, football, and tennis. We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.” — Kurt Vonnegut

A person is a fool to become a writer. His only compensation is absolute freedom. He has no master except his own soul, and that, I am sure, is why he does it.” — Roald Dahl An absolutely necessary part of a writer’s equipment, almost as necessary as talent, is the ability to stand up under punishment, both the punishment the world hands out and the punishment he inflicts upon himself.” — Irwin Shaw Don’t annoy your readers by over-explaining—by telling them something they already know or can figure out. Trust your material Attitudes Cheat your landlord if you can and must, but do not try to shortchange the Muse. It cannot be done. You can’t fake quality any more than you can fake a good meal.” — William S. Burroughs

If I had to give young writers advice, I would say don’t listen to writers talking about writing or themselves.” — Lillian Hellman I went for years not finishing anything. Because, of course, when you finish something you can be judged.” — Erica Jong

I’m a productivity coach ready to help another 10.000 men and women across the world work less, achieve more, and live fulfilling, abundant lives without distractions, fear, or procrastination getting in the way. Here’s some of the best advice from the book. Keep in mind next time you write — and the quality of your output will be greatly improved. The best writers write, every single day Why does writing matter? If there’s anyone who might know the answer, it’s the people who write — and continue to write, despite adverse circumstances. Here are a few pennies for their thoughts.

Just as insidious are all the word clusters with which we explain how we propose to go about our explaining: “ I might add,” “ It should be pointed out,” “ It is interesting to note.” If you might add, add it. When it should be pointed out, point it out. If it is interesting to note, make it interesting. Continue to build. Every paragraph should amplify the one that preceded it. Give more thought to adding solid detail and less to entertaining the reader. But take special care with the last sentence of each paragraph—it’s the crucial springboard to the next paragraph. Such considerations of sound and rhythm should go into everything you write. If all your sentences move at the same plodding gait, which even you recognize as deadly but don’t know how to cure, read them aloud. For coverage of the arts, Zinsser encourages students not to be intimidated by their impressions of an artwork, but also to only declaim a judgment once they have absorbed as much information about the artist and the work as possible. The race in writing is not to the swift but to the original. Make a habit of reading what is being written today and what was written by earlier masters. Writing is learned by imitation.Exercise the writing muscle every day, even if it is only a letter, notes, a title list, a character sketch, a journal entry. Writers are like dancers, like athletes. Without that exercise, the muscles seize up.” — Jane Yolen No matter how you do it, the introduction must show people what’s in it for them. Put yourself in their shoes and consider what would appeal to them the most. What would you want to read? Give them a taste of that right from the start. 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.” 3. Simplicity is hard. If your intro is terrible, nobody will keep reading no matter how brilliant, interesting, or thought-provoking the rest of the piece is. You might as well be a person wearing a fedora in their Tinder profile picture! The solution to simplify is to clear our heads of clutter. Clear thinking becomes clear writing. Writers must therefore constantly ask: What am I trying to say? Then they must look at what they have written and ask: have I said it? Clutter