Share <Embed>

Buy New

$10.20

List Price: $15.99
Save: $5.79 (36%)

FREE Shipping on orders over $25—or get FREE Two-Day Shipping with Amazon Prime

In Stock.

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Ship to:

Select a shipping address:

Buy Used

$7.25

FREE Shipping on orders over $25.

Used: Good | Details

Sold by BigHeartedBooks

Fulfilled by Amazon

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Other Sellers on Amazon

Add to Cart

$8.03
+ $3.99 shipping

Sold by: Fifty Third Street Books

Add to Cart

$8.27
+ $3.99 shipping

Sold by: AcjBooks

Add to Cart

$8.99
+ $3.99 shipping

Sold by: Detroit Book Exchange

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See all 3 images

On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction Paperback – May 9, 2006

by William Zinsser (Author)

759 customer reviews

See all 10 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$10.24

—

Library Binding

"Please retry"

$27.74

$20.05

$16.90

Paperback

"Please retry"

$10.20

$8.03

$2.61

Unknown Binding

"Please retry"

—

$12.49

$6.39

On Writing Well has been praised for its sound advice, its clarity and the warmth of its style. It is a book for everybody who wants to learn how to write or who needs to do some writing to get through the day, as almost everybody does in the age of e-mail and the Internet.

Whether you want to write about people or places, science and technology, business, sports, the arts or about yourself in the increasingly popular memoir genre, On Writing Well offers you fundamental priciples as well as the insights of a distinguished writer and teacher. With more than a million copies sold, this volume has stood the test of time and remains a valuable resource for writers and would-be writers.

On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction

$10.20
FREE Shipping on orders over $25—or get FREE Two-Day Shipping with Amazon Prime In Stock. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Frequently bought together

Total price: $31.27

Buy the selected items together

This item:On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction by William Zinsser Paperback $10.20
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition by William Strunk Jr. Paperback $5.77
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
On Writing: 10th Anniversary Edition: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King Paperback $15.30
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

William Strunk Jr.

2,836

in Writing Skills Reference
Paperback
$5.77
William Strunk Jr.

35

Paperback
$13.76
Anne Lamott

1,255

in Speech
Paperback
$10.87
Stephen King

3,036

Paperback
$15.30
William Zinsser

47

Paperback
$10.04
William Zinsser

73

Paperback
$10.28

Special offers and product promotions

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

William Zinsser is a writer, editor and teacher. He began his career on the New York Herald Tribune and has since written regularly for leading magazines. During the 1970s he was master of Branford College at Yale. His 17 books, ranging from baseball to music to American travel, include the influential Writing to Learn and Writing About Your Life. He teaches at the New School in New York.

Series: On Writing Well
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Harper Perennial; 30 Anv Rep edition (April 5, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9780060891541
ISBN-13: 978-0060891541
ASIN: 0060891548
Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.8 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 759 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,908 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3 in Books > Reference > Encyclopedias & Subject Guides > Business
- #4 in Books > Reference > Writing, Research & Publishing Guides > Publishing & Books > Authorship
- #5 in Books > Business & Money > Skills > Business Writing

Would you like to tell us about a lower price?
If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?

NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE

Start reading On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Important information

Ingredients

Example Ingredients

Directions

Example Directions

Customer reviews

Write a customer review

See all 759 customer reviews

Rated by customers interested in

What's this?

Advertising

4.5 out of 5 stars

Marketing & Sales

4.7 out of 5 stars

Medical Books

4.6 out of 5 stars

Is this feature helpful?

Thank you for your feedback.

Top customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

In response to the criticism that Zinsser "generalizes egregiously about topics that are enormous"

ByA fellow with a keyboardon April 22, 2012

Format: Paperback

The most damaging (but fair) criticism I've heard of this book came from reviewer D. Fineman who said, "He generalizes egregiously about topics that are enormous. ... He feels free to judge -- for instance scientists -- outside his field."

I agree that Zinsser does these things, but I disagree that it is a problem. In fact, if I have one criticism of the book it is exactly the opposite: that the lessons are even more generalizable and broadly applicable than Zinsser gives them credit for. For instance, if you skip the travel writing chapter, or if you read it thinking that it only applies to travel writing, then you will miss two golden and persuasive arguments that ought to apply to *any* writer:

1) The things that come to the writer easiest -- cliché, excessive detail, syrupy and vague language -- are the things that keep the reader bored/detached/passive.

2) Your main task as a writer is to distill the essence of whatever you're writing about--to find its central idea, to describe its distinctive qualities using precise images. In other words, your main task is to work excruciatingly hard.

The goal of any writer (yes, any) ought to be to transform the reader from a passive observer into an ally. It's excruciatingly hard to do, but once you realize that that's the goal, and once you realize that the parts that come easiest are what's getting in the way of that goal, then you can start writing well.

Zinsser knows these things, and he articulates them beautifully. It is one of the most persuasive books I have read, on any subject. But I hate that the lessons are hidden within topic-specific chapters. Please read with that in mind.

99 comments 608 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

I became a better writer because of this book.

ByJeff WignallVINE VOICEon January 3, 2015

Format: Paperback

This book is one of the finest books ever written on the subject of nonfiction writing. I've written about 30 books that have sold more than five million copies and I can tell you that those books would never have been written, or written as well, had I not stumbled upon this book some 20 years ago.

From this book I learned the value of brevity. I learned the value of simplicity. And more than anything else, I learned to trust myself and the concept that, in the end, people don't love a book because they are in love with the subject, they love a book (and stick with it regardless of topic) because they like the author. I also learned, very importantly, that your teachers were all wrong when they told you not to write in the first person: Mr. Zinsser convinced me that writing in the first person is the best--often the only--way to write.

If you don't trust yourself and don't trust your ideas, why on Earth are you writing anything?

I also learned from this book that humor and surprise are necessary elements of most nonfiction writing.

Be yourself, talk directly to the reader, be funny, be human, be a tiny bit clever--and you may even surprise yourself with what a good writer you are. Trust yourself, and trust simplicity.

0Comment 122 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Stands the test of time. Essential for every writer.

Bysqwirkon March 23, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I have so many sticky flags in so many places in this book. I can't believe it took me so long to purchase it! I should have read this years ago! Great advice and to-the-point dictation of how to write well. It sounds as though Zinsser is speaking directly to you. Some of the sections (such as sports writing) didn't apply to me, but I read them anyway. There are some nuggets of helpful information in each section even if that section isn't the kind of writing you find yourself doing. Nonfiction is nonfiction, you can apply rules to other areas. This is essential for every writer, from the casual blogger to the journalist to the biographer.

0Comment 6 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Truly A Classic

ByMike Donovanon March 15, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This writing classic is the single best book I have ever read on writing well...(see what I did there?)...William Zinsser was a master of the craft and I cannot recommend this book enough. If you are interested in writing memoir, I would suggest this book along with another of Zinsser's - Writing About Your Life: A Journey into the Past. You just can't go wrong with William Zinsser.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

it really helps you to identify your writing flaws

Bymissdaweson October 13, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I really like this book. I struggle so much with writing blog posts - and I get myself really knotted up with too much detail. I make all the classic mistakes: big words, big sentences, too much detail. This book has helped me clean up my writing. I still find writing painful - but at least I know what I'm trying to aim for. And that is clean, clear, simple writing.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

Most recent customer reviews

Great guidebook for aspiring writers

The author guides you in every step on writing coherently. Has helped me articulate my thoughts into words, makes me more confident in my writings.Read more

Published 7 days ago by Bidelj

Easy to follow, an enjoyable read all by itself.

Simply the best book I know on the subject.

Published 9 days ago by Kristian H. Erickson

Do away with words that are unnecessary of which its purpose is solely for flaunting and ...

To those who want to learn the basic principles and methods of various forms of writings then this is the book for you.Read more

Published 26 days ago by Amazon Customer

Wonderful book!

Excellent book!

Published 1 month ago by V. Aileen Hall

Five Stars

good

Published 1 month ago by Zhao Ye

Lucky to Discover This Book

I've taken classes on writing but had not been introduced to William Zinsser or this excellent book. Entertaining and educational for anyone. Now I plan to read more of his works.Read more

Published 1 month ago by Bassman 17

Five Stars

Better than expected!

Published 1 month ago by bcat

Great book. Written with lots of examples from different ...

Great book. Written with lots of examples from different writers in different styles. This makes the book read like a collection of stories with the author reflecting on the...Read more

Published 1 month ago by Mk

Five Stars

Works for me.

Published 1 month ago by Joseph Hall

Keep on writing well.

Such a great book with concise advise on writing well. A great reference book.

Published 1 month ago by chromer

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway

This item: On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction

Set up a giveaway