William Zinsser Quotes

One of underestimated tasks in nonfiction writing is to impose narrative shape on an unwieldy mass of material.

William Zinsser

• Writing
• Shapes
• Narrative
• Nonfiction
• Underestimated

• Previous
• Next

Quotes to Explore

• Writing an essay is like a school assignment: I have my topic, I organize my thoughts, and I write it. I have complete control over what I'm doing. Writing a novel is like setting out on a journey without knowing who or what I'll encounter, how long it's going to take, or where I'm going to end up.

  

  Tawni O'Dell
  • Up
  • Long
  • Writing

• I wasn't one of those kids who grew up wanting to write or who read a particular book and thought: 'I want to do that!' I always told stories and wrote them down, but I never thought writing was a career path, even though, clearly, someone was writing the books and newspapers and magazines.

  

  Gayle Forman
  • Up
  • Writing
  • Book

• It usually takes me 20 to 90 minutes to write a song because once I start, I don't stop. If I start writing a song, and you try to have a conversation with me, you're a bad person.

  

  Halsey
  • Writing
  • Bad
  • Song

• I didn't have that thing that Michael Bolton did; my star power - my charisma - was not a match to my writing ability.

  

  Dan Hill
  • Writing
  • Power
  • Star

• Writing anything, it sorta starts the way you'd build a castle at the beach. You're just taking your hands and you're mounting up sand.

  

  Aaron Sorkin
  • Up
  • Writing
  • Beach

• '(Songwriting) It's a gift. It all comes from somewhere. I started out really young, when I was four, five, six, writing poems, before I could play an instrument. I was writing about things when I was eight or 10 years old that I hadn't lived long enough to experience.'

  

  Willie Nelson
  • Long
  • Writing
  • Experience

• It sounds odd, but I was a singer and started writing songs, and I didn't have anything in mind. Maybe it crossed my mind that it would be cool to have a hit record and a career, but that was so out of reach that I don't think I thought about it that much.

  

  Bill Medley The Righteous Brothers
  • Writing
  • Mind
  • Career

• I think I get certain pleasure from writing what I'm performing.

  

  Ellie Kemper
  • Writing

• The more you write, the more you're capable of writing.

  

  Paul Theroux
  • Writing

• Have a working spouse, because you won't earn a living from writing - not at first, if ever. My wife worked for years to support us.

  

  Piers Anthony
  • Writing
  • Support
  • Wife

• Writing is a really good first step toward that goal of knowing yourself.

  

  Jewel Kilcher
  • Good
  • Writing

• I did try to write stories in college because I was interested in writing, and I was interested in the sound of language, but I was just no good at narrative and at fiction.

  

  Billy Collins
  • Good
  • Writing
  • College

• When you start early, and you're writing for free, there's a lot of producers that will take advantage of you... It is seared in my brain forever.

  

  Allison Schroeder
  • Writing
  • Free
  • Brain

• Writing a book of poetry is like dropping a rose petal down the Grand Canyon and waiting for the echo.

  

  Don Marquis
  • Writing
  • Book
  • Poetry

• I grew up performing in glee club at my school; I was the ostrich in 'Peter Pan,' and then I was super-involved in church choir and worship leading at my church. So I always loved music and was involved with it, but never really thought it was what I wanted to do until I started writing.

  

  Kelsea Ballerini
  • Up
  • Music
  • Writing

• It is not about writing those hits again. I am sure I could write them, but it is about the sensibilities.

  

  Alison Moyet
  • Writing

• When I first told people I was writing a book, some would say that was interesting, but others thought it was some holiday project and I would lose interest. I think my parents thought the same thing, and they were surprised when I kept going. I'm not sure I thought I would keep going, but then it became a big part of my life.

  

  Alexandra Adornetto
  • People
  • Life
  • Writing

• I'd been in college studying English creative writing and history when I made the decision to join the Marines in the runup to the Iraq war.

  

  Phil Klay
  • Writing
  • War
  • History

• Writing fantasy lets me imagine a great deal more than, say, writing about alligators, and lets me write about places more distant than Florida, but I can tell you things about Florida and alligators, let you make the connection all on your own.

  

  Terry Brooks
  • Writing
  • Imagine
  • Fantasy

• In retrospect, I have devoted my scientific life mainly to the question to what extent infectious agents contribute to human cancer, trusting that this will contribute to novel modes of cancer prevention, diagnosis and, hopefully, later on, also to cancer therapy.

  

  Harald zur Hausen
  • Life
  • Question
  • Cancer

• The Victorian language of flowers began with the publication of 'Le Language des Fleurs,' written by Charlotte de Latour and printed in Paris in 1819. To create the book - which was a list of flowers and their meanings - de Latour gathered references to flower symbolism throughout poetry, ancient mythology, and even medicine.

  

  Vanessa Diffenbaugh
  • Book
  • Poetry
  • Flower

• I have music on when I write. I don't like the isolation otherwise and find the silence deadening.

  

  Darren Shan
  • Music
  • Silence

• The world when I was 13 wasn't truly driven by tabloid magazines and social media and reality shows. I was able to have a little more of a private life.

  

  LeAnn Rimes
  • Life
  • World
  • Reality

• One of underestimated tasks in nonfiction writing is to impose narrative shape on an unwieldy mass of material.

  

  William Zinsser
  • Writing
  • Shapes
  • Narrative