Meaning Of Simplicity By William Zinsser

With careful evaluation of my strengths and weaknesses in writing, it is a core objective for me in this class is to achieve more simplicity in my writing, both in the final product and in the approach. Furthermore, as a product of this class, I would like to develop the ability shift my focus of a topic to various viewpoints to enhance my perspective and ultimately

Writing is something we have been used to since childhood. Beginning to write with just a few words and activities to improve our pendmanship. From easy sentences we all gradually improve our writing, as expected from higher levels of education. However, throughout all this time, many of us have been writing blind. Only writing what is seen an necessary, oblivious to the true skill and precision it takes to actually write quality work. Through the use of Anne Lammott’s article “Shitty First Drafts” and personal experiences, I will advice you, my fellow freshman, on certain a aspect of writing that you may not have known prior to joining the college world, as well as offer some life advice.

Writing is a practice that most of us were taught when we were young. We were taught the basics of grammar, how to form a sentence, conjunction words, how to write paragraphs and more. Although we have learned this skill while growing up and have used the skill every year after entering kindergarten, this does not mean our writing process will ensure the best work. The authors that I chose each encourage their audience to excel in the art of writing in their own way to help with the writing process.

Most elements of writing (development, organization, and style) fit task, purpose, and audience. Some identifiable mismatches.

Kairos—William Zinsser’s “Simplicity” posses the rhetorical device, kairos. Kairos, according Carolyn R. Miller, is the “principle of timing or opportunity” in a literary work, and is usually employed after a particular (recent) event in order to leverage a specific idea. The possibility of Zinsser leveraging kairos is broad, and he does exercise effective use of it in my case. And in my case, the result of effective kairos use is my agreement with Zinsser’s main idea: “We are a society strangling in unnecessary words.”

(7) We have a short amount of time to grasp our reader’s attention and clutter will only make them put the book down with deep concern for the future of writing. The real secret to good writing is “to strip every sentence to its cleanest components. (7)” When this is accomplished, clear writing flows on the paper, and the audience will find something worth

Writing is different for everybody. After reading the first part of On Writing Well by William Zinsser my perspective toward writing changed; starting off by the fact that he admitted that “writing is indeed hard” (12). This author, with humorous stories and anecdotes, explained several principles that help one understand how to write efficiently. First of all, be yourself! Zinsser emphasizes the fact that you should be true to yourself and your writing in order to engage a reader in your piece. Other essential principles are: Be precise and avoid clutter. He claims that “the secret to good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components” (7). As I read, I noticed how important engaging a reader becomes to an author but Zinsser reminded me how my writing was made to “please myself first” and then an audience (25). The last but not least rules to follow are: to “avoid clichés” (Zinsser, 35) and “separate usage from confusing jargon” (Zinsser, 45). It is important to maintain your reader active by expressing clear thoughts and avoiding typical sayings that only make a literary piece

Peter Elbow’s article talks about the necessity to write with care. In order to write well,

The flyers exemplified the rationale for plain language. The details were practical tips for writing in plain language.

Writers must avoid obvious content because it will help them project their own voice and keep the material fresh. In order to be distinct and voice their opinions, writers must “sum and dispose of the trite and

One strategy that teachers can use to help students go beyond simple words is “cracking open words.” Teachers can bring a geode rock into class to make the metaphor of cracking open writing more tangible. Teachers can ask students to do a list of words that are overused in their writing. After doing the list, students can work independently on their own writing. Then, students can choose a sentence to “crack open” and ask how can they elaborate and add more detail. By doing this strategy, the

Givven such information, we can contemplate the risks that everyone takes by following similar steps to write an essay. Among the steps that Peterson presents, a particular one that I consider could be useful is the rule of “Keeping it simple” by Kurt Vonnegut. This specific rule represents an advice that many students fail to follow. We usually like to explain things to a point in which we are just doing it to fill that plank space of the final page of our essay, I personally advice to few of my friends to avoid this because, it is not necessary, and our readers could take it as an insult from us to explain something that could have been summarized in a few words to a whole paragraph. Considering the information provided above, I too have countless flaws in my

By applying the principal ‘Keep it simple student’ or ‘KISS’ it provides an insight on how best to become a successful academic writer. Some of the principals are using simple

Writing presents it’s own challenges to those who write books and articles daily; and to those who write less frequently. Getting around using punctuation, placing commas, and figuring out how to start an essay always seemed to be the biggest challenges for me. Through practice is the only way I’ve come to be masterful over my own writing style, even though there is always room for improvement. Because each time someone sits down to write a letter, article, or book; they are practicing their writing style and ultimately becoming better writers. Many people find writing to be a hassle or too cumbersome in a day in age of technology and the internet supplying information to the public so immediate, but everyone must overcome challenges that they

Over the course of this past semester, my ability to write has improved tremendously. Prior to undertaking this course, my expertise in writing was not as fine-tuned as it should have been. I had never previously been enrolled in a class specifically tailored to writing-- which was quite clear. Upon reading my past works, it becomes apparent that my writing style consisted of fluff, small words, and inconsistently structured sentences. These problems have, for the most part, been remedied with the coursework I have tackled in College Writing. Rather than long, drawn out papers that take an eternity to reach the primary point, my recent work is much nicer in terms of composition and grammar. I credit these improvements to the three primary