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

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Quotes to Explore

• I've got plenty of quirks. I go to an office early in the morning. Early in the morning is really good writing time. I take anywhere between six to eight showers a day. I'm not exaggerating. I'm not a germaphobe: it's all about a fresh start.

  

  Aaron Sorkin
  • Time
  • Good
  • Writing

• 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

• All art is propaganda, and ever must be, despite the wailing of the purists. I stand in utter shamelessness and say that whatever art I have for writing has been used always for propaganda for gaining the right of black folk to love and enjoy. I do not care a damn for any art that is not used for propaganda.

  

  W. E. B. Du Bois
  • Writing
  • Love
  • Art

• My writing has changed a lot. From 16 to 19, I've changed a lot. My kind of writing in the beginning was very observational; now it's grown very personal for me. I use it as a diary in many ways.

  

  Oliver Sim The xx
  • Writing
  • Me
  • Beginning

• I hate writing. I almost never write. I write against deadlines. And when I'm teaching, I'm focused on that.

  

  Edmund White
  • Writing
  • Hate
  • Never

• 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

• A lot of times when I'm writing lyrics, I just think about insecurities that I might have and turn them into a scene. Some things may be true, and some things may not.

  

  Nate Ruess Fun.
  • Writing
  • May
  • True

• 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

• After struggling for so long in the industry and writing so many failed songs and hearing 'no' for so long - I'm so grateful every time I hear a song that I was a part of on the radio.

  

  Bonnie McKee
  • Time
  • Long
  • Writing

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

  

  Ellie Kemper
  • Writing

• Writing in a strict form can surprise you.

  

  Anne Stevenson
  • 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

• The only rule I have found to have any validity in writing is not to bore yourself.

  

  John Mortimer
  • Writing

• We had a teacher, named Mr. Brown, and he was writing something on the board once - he was writing something on the board, and he farted. And you would have thought kids had seen the face of God. Kids weren't even laughing; they were just sitting there screaming, just screaming. Kids had to get carted out; kids were screaming. Kids had to get carted out, and they were going to the nurses' office. Kids are crying in the hallway. 'Oh, this is our 9/11.' And it was. It was their 9/11 'cause they never thought anything like that could ever happen.

  

  Donald Glover
  • God
  • Writing
  • Kids

• It's a wise man who understands that every day is a new beginning, because boy, how many mistakes do you make in a day? I don't know about you, but I make plenty. You can't turn the clock back, so you have to look ahead.

  

  Mel Gibson
  • Beginning
  • Boy
  • Wise

• I've split out, played receiver, I've been a fullback, I've been in-line.

  

  Austin Seferian-Jenkins

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

  

  William Zinsser
  • Writing
  • Shapes
  • Narrative