Never have so many people written so profusely and with so few inhibitions. Which means that it was never really a cognitive problem. It was a cultural problem, rooted in that old bugaboo of American education: fear.

10 Tips on writing from legendary writer William Zinsser

You’ll never make your mark as a writer unless you develop a respect for words and a curiosity about their shades of meaning that is almost obsessive. The English language is rich in strong and supple words. Take the time to root around and find the ones you want.

1. Don’t make lazy word choices

“Clear thinking becomes clear writing; one can’t exist without the other. It’s impossible for a muddy thinker to write good English.”

2. Avoid jargon and big words

“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.”

3. Writing is hard work

“Writing is an intimate transaction between two people, conducted on paper, and it will go well to the extent that it retains its humanity.”

4. Write in the first person

“Sell yourself, and your subject will exert its own appeal. Believe in your own identity and your own opinions. Writing is an act of ego, and you might as well admit it.The more you keep in first person and true to yourself, the sooner you will find your style

5. Be true to yourself and you'll find your style

Don’t ask who your audience is…you are the audience: You are writing primarily to please yourself, and if you go about it with enjoyment you will also entertain the readers who are worth writing for.

6. You are your own audience

Study the masters but also your contemporaries: “. If anyone asked me how I learned 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.”

7. Writing is best learned by imitation

Yes, the thesaurus is your friend: “The Thesaurus is to the writer what a rhyming dictionary is to the songwriter–a reminder of all the choices–and you should use it with gratitude. If, having found the scalawag and the scapegrace, you want to know how they differ, then go to the dictionary.”

8. There's nothing wrong with consulting a thesaurus

This helps in the search for rhythm and sound: “Good writers of prose must be part poet, always listening to what they write.”

9. Read everything you write out loud

“Decide what corner of your subject you’re going to bite off, and be content to cover it well and stop.”

10. Don’t ever believe you are going to write anything definite

For anyone who can’t stand to hear the word ‘unique’ modified, Zinsser has this to say: “…being ‘rather unique’ is no more possible than being rather pregnant.’”

Bonus tip

William Zinsser stressed simplicity and efficiency, but also style and enthusiasm. Here are 10 of his many tips for improving your writing. Open Culture, openculture.com

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Reading & Writing

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Society, Arts & Culture

10 Writing Tips from Legendary Writing Teacher William Zinsser

New month. New day. New leaf. So you’ve woken up and decided you’re finally going to take on the big, big problem that’s been weighing on you — perhaps it’s shoring up your public libraries, helping homeless dogs and cats, or fighting climate change.

If you want to take on big problems. Try thinking like a bee

The lifespan of a worker bee ranges from six weeks in the summer to twenty weeks in the winter. Most of which is spent gathering nectar to make honey.

Bee Work Lives

A bee in her lifetime makes only 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey” — a tiny fraction of the hundred pounds of honey that a typical colony needs to survive. The most remarkable thing is that they don't even do it for themselves. A bee won’t directly benefit from the honey she makes; instead, it will allow future generations to thrive after she is gone.

The small things are enough

This too is how we can change the world — by not worrying about the size of our contributions and by letting our efforts join the actions of others.

How to change the world

Keep making honey. Your 1/12th of a teaspoon counts.

It counts

Honey bees can show us the power to be found in thinking small, says beekeeper Marianne Gee.

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Productivity

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Personal Development

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Problem Solving

If you want to take on big problems, try thinking like a bee

Findings from the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022395620310517" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Journal of Psychiatric Research </a> point to a negative focus on the past as a fundamental aspect of depression. The study found that childhood trauma was associated with elevated depressive symptoms, but only among those who showed a tendency to focus on the past over the present and future.As expected, participants with depression showed a greater tendency toward a negative past perspective and a fatalistic present perspective than compared to participants without depression. They also showed a lower tendency toward positive past, and future perspectives.﻿

Findings from the Journal of Psychiatric Research point to a negative focus on the past as a fundamental aspect of depression. The study found that ...

10 Writing Tips from Legendary Writing Teacher William Zinsser

If you want to take on big problems, try thinking like a bee

A tendency to focus on the past plays a key role in increasing depressive symptoms among individuals with childhood trauma

Andrea Lasso