On Writing

Clutter is the disease of American writing. We are a society strangling in unnecessary words, circular constructions, pompous frills and meaningless jargon. (7)

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 . . . (8)

 How can the rest of us achieve such enviable freedom from clutter? The answer is to clear our heads of clutter. Clear thinking becomes clear writing; one can’t exist without the other. It’s impossible for a muddy thinker to write good English. (9)

Writers must therefore constantly ask: what am I trying to say? Surprisingly often they don’t know. Then they must look at what they have written and ask: have I said it? Is it clear to someone encountering the subject for the first time? If it’s not, some fuzz has worked its way into the machinery. The clear writer is someone clearheaded enough to see this stuff for what it is: fuzz. (12)

Writing is hard work. A clear sentence is no accident. Very few sentences come out right the first time, or even the third time. Remember this in moments of despair. If you find that writing is hard, it’s because it is hard. (12)

Writing improves in direct ratio to the number of things we can keep out of it that shouldn’t be there. (13)

. . . clutter is the enemy. (16)

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. If it should be pointed out, point it out. If it is interesting to note, make it interesting . . .  (16)

Most first drafts can be cut by 50 percent without losing any information or losing the author’s voice.  (17)

Look for the clutter in your writing and prune it ruthlessly. Be gratetul for everything you can throw away. Reexamine each sentence you put on paper. Is every word doing new work? Can any thought be expressed with more economy? Is anything pompous or pretentious or faddish? Are you hanging on to something useless just because you think it’s beautiful? Simplify, simplify. (17)


Not in the pages I gave you but also choice is Zinsser's comment that "Few people realize how badly they write. Nobody has shown them how much excess or murkiness has crept into their style and how it obstructs what they are trying to say. If you give me an eight-page article and I tell you to cut it to four pages, you'll howl and say it can't be done. Then you'll go home and do it and it will be much better. After that comes the hard part: cutting it to three." (18)

Fix this:

While there are differences in the three accounts (Piott, Cronin, and Schuman) of the adoption of the Initiative and Referendum, it seems that all three accounts were adopted in order to serve a similar purpose. All three accounts show how the Initiative and referendum have helped support the purpose of direct democracy. The point of the Initiative and Referendum is to give the power back to the general public by letting them bring up issues to put on the ballots.