What is your most beloved book on writing?
We all have them–the worn paperback, pages glazed with yellow highlighting, margins crowded with scribbled notes. The books we hold in our heads, in our composing muscles–these guides have taught us our craft.
The pages of these books contain our “aha” moments. We recognize a long-practiced tic that impedes our readers’ comprehension or delight. (Hey–who knew that “just” does not need to be inserted before every other adjective?) That’s the first step–discovery. These beloved writing books teach us to investigate our own practices. And when we find aspects of our craft that need help, these books tell us how to improve. Concretely. With really good examples.
I could list several most beloved books on writing, but I’ll stick with one for now: William Zinsser’s On Writing Well. Originally published in 1976, the 30th anniversary edition contains Zinsser’s short introduction detailing the changes he’s made over the three decades and six revisions of the book’s publication history.
One of my favorite chapters is called “Bits and Pieces,” which ranges from adverbs to punctuation, from “creeping nounism” to credibility. Here are the first two paragraphs of a section called “Little Qualifiers”:
Prune out the small words that qualify how you feel and how you think and what you saw: “a bit,” “a little,” “sort of,” “kind of,” rather,” “quite,” “very,” “too,” “pretty much,” “in a sense” and dozens more. They dilute your style and your persuasiveness.
Don’t say you were a bit confused and sort of tired and a little depressed and somewhat annoyed. Be confused. Be tired. Be depressed. Be annoyed. Don’t hedge your prose with little timidities. Good writing is lean and confident. (70)
If you don’t have a beloved book on writing, go find one. I envy the joy you’ll feel in a first-time reading of Zinsser’s book. But the best thing about these writing guides? As in any relationship, that initial flush of discovery turns into the solidity of a long-term friendship as we return again and again to the wisdom and guidance in these pages. Here are some of the books I consider friends (the list contains a range of books that inspire me–they’re not all writing guides or how-to books):
Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones
Renni Brown and Dave King, Self-Editing for Fiction Writers
James Scott Bell, Plot & Structure
Raymond Obstfeld, Novelist’s Essential Guide to Crafting Scenes and Fiction First Aid
Louise DeSalvo, Writing As a Way of Healing
Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way
Keri Smith, Wreck This Journal
Donald Murray, The Craft of Revision
Brenda Ueland, If You Want to Write
Raw Words Editing 