{"id":17143,"date":"2016-02-21T05:25:31","date_gmt":"2016-02-21T10:25:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/?p=17143"},"modified":"2018-01-29T23:57:57","modified_gmt":"2018-01-30T04:57:57","slug":"on-writing-well","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/on-writing-well\/","title":{"rendered":"On Writing Well"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Reading William Zinsser&#8217;s classic tome, On Writing Well is like travelling with a beloved mentor. Every page summarizes important lessons in a conversational tone. My favourite chapter is the one that outlines all the principals of good writing.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Unity is the anchor of good writing. It not only keeps the reader from straggling off in all directions; it satisfies the readers&#8217; subconscious need for order and gives reassurance that all is well at the helm.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Zinsser than outlines all the possible choices a writer makes, including pronoun (first, second or third), tense, mood and the crucial points to be covered in a story using specific, often funny, examples.<\/p>\n<p>Zinsser, William. <em>On Writing Well: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction.<\/em> New York: Harper and Row, 1976. ISBN 0-06-272027-9<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/OnWritingWell.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"17144\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/on-writing-well\/onwritingwell\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/OnWritingWell.jpg?fit=128%2C193&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"128,193\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-title=\"OnWritingWell\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/OnWritingWell.jpg?fit=128%2C193&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-17144\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/OnWritingWell.jpg?resize=128%2C193\" alt=\"OnWritingWell\" width=\"128\" height=\"193\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/OnWritingWell.jpg?w=128&amp;ssl=1 128w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/OnWritingWell.jpg?resize=99%2C150&amp;ssl=1 99w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/OnWritingWell.jpg?resize=64%2C96&amp;ssl=1 64w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 128px) 100vw, 128px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reading William Zinsser&#8217;s classic tome, On Writing Well is like travelling with a beloved mentor. Every page summarizes important lessons in a conversational tone. My favourite chapter is the one that outlines all the principals of good writing. Unity is the anchor of good writing. It not only keeps the reader from straggling off in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17144,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"-1","landing_page":"0","tag":"0","restrict_content":"0"},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"On Writing Well","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[843],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-reviews","post-wrapper","thrv_wrapper"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2buQs-4sv","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":17148,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/reference-books-writing\/","url_meta":{"origin":17143,"position":0},"title":"Improve your Craft with a Writing Reference Book","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"January 26, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Are you a word nerd? If so, consider getting a writing reference book from the following list and support your passion and my work at the same time. If you choose to buy one of these books through my affiliate links, I get a few cents although you don't pay\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Writing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Writing","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17125,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/the-elements-of-style\/","url_meta":{"origin":17143,"position":1},"title":"The Elements of Style","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"January 31, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"William Strunk and E.B. White's Elements of Style makes grammar easy. The 105-page book makes for a quick read too.\u00a0Despite Mark Drery's contention\u00a0\u00a0that the book is a sign of its times, any author who follows the simple rules outlined in Elements of Style will write better prose. The one available\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Book Reviews&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Book Reviews","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/writing\/notable-nonfiction\/book-reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"ElementsofStyle","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/ElementsofStyle.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":20515,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/how-can-you-make-your-linkedin-profile-stand-out\/","url_meta":{"origin":17143,"position":2},"title":"How can you make your LinkedIn profile stand out?","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"January 5, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"It's time to update our LinkedIn profiles again.\u00a0 The social media site continues to improve. My favourite feature is the photo frame that identifies job seekers. I also really like the way the platform puts your headline everywhere. Mine is \"if you're looking for your purpose story, I can help.\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Creative Entrepreneur Adventures&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Creative Entrepreneur Adventures","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/creative-entrepreneur-adventures\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"middle aged man walking against carpet with ornament at dusk","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/pexels-photo-7524312.jpeg?fit=675%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/pexels-photo-7524312.jpeg?fit=675%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/pexels-photo-7524312.jpeg?fit=675%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":18496,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/failed-downtown-malls\/","url_meta":{"origin":17143,"position":3},"title":"Great Long Read: Ontario&#8217;s Failed Downtown Malls","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"February 20, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Thanks to a friend on a Facebook group, I got to read Sean Marshall's wonderful round-up story about struggling malls throughout downtown Ontario. Marshall's work mostly follows the narrative journalism structure form of notable nonfiction. He begins in the 60s and 70s before outlining the thesis of his article. and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Journalism&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Journalism","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/writing\/notable-nonfiction\/journalism\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Notable Nonfiction","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Notable-Nonfiction.jpg?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Notable-Nonfiction.jpg?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Notable-Nonfiction.jpg?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Notable-Nonfiction.jpg?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17310,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/why-profile-your-ancestors\/","url_meta":{"origin":17143,"position":4},"title":"Why Profile Your Ancestors","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"October 19, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I've just published a video outlining why I profile my ancestors. In brief, it says that genealogists who take time to write stories about their ancestors ask better questions, are able to frame their research in time and place, and communicate well. This is the first video in a\u00a0series. To\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Genealogy Ensemble&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Genealogy Ensemble","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/history-worth-remembering\/genealogy-ensemble-history-worth-remembering\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20250,"url":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/brad-williams-snow\/","url_meta":{"origin":17143,"position":5},"title":"Brad Williams talks about Snow in Edmonton","author":"Tracey Arial","date":"November 20, 2020","format":"video","excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/g7HlPI1StCw","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Humour&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Humour","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/category\/cultural-identity\/humour\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/g7HlPI1StCw\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/OnWritingWell.jpg?fit=128%2C193&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17143"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17145,"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17143\/revisions\/17145"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}