Journal Entry – Zinsser’s Writing Ideas
Zinsser reflects on how writers may improve their craft and deliver quality while maintaining a healthy engagement. One of the highlights from the ‘principles’ segment of Zinsser’s writing is that the success of every writing targeting any specific audience is a product of a personal transaction. To that end, a writer’s product is judged by who they are, how they express themselves, and not the topic they write about (Zinsser, 2000). The ability to keep a reader focused on a piece from one paragraph to the next depends on their charm and ability to engage the reader. Besides, a rational reader considers the emotional baggage passed across by a writer and how it affects them. Another aspect of personal transaction that determines how a writer’s work is judged is the aliveness that keeps a reader glued to a writing from start to end. In essence, the personal transaction principle requires a writer to connect with the reader personally as a metric to judge a writer’s work.
Although the engagement skill cannot be taught, one can learn how to engage others by consulting online resources and engaging in practice often. One of the ways a writer may ensure that their pieces are engaging is by reviewing and re-writing as many times as possible (Zinsser, 2000). A writer should put themselves in the reader’s shoes and assume they are the target audience. Subsequently, they will edit their writing effectively and capture what they would have wanted to hear if they were the target audience. To that end, different writers rewrite differently. One may review their work after completing the entire piece, while some may not proceed to the next paragraph before ensuring the current one conveys their intended message. Whichever rewriting method is used, a writer should ensure that their work is charming and deeply connects with readers’ emotions.
Moreover, Zinsser addresses the need to embrace simplicity while writing. He begins by explaining how people are accustomed to jargon and needless vocabulary to sound important and knowledgeable. Most writers, in their natural setting, believe that readers will find a problem with a piece of work if complex terms and jargon are not incorporated. However, Zinsser demystifies this common belief by encouraging writers to write as simply as possible (Zinsser, 2000). For instance, writers should avoid long sentences and archaic phrases that do not change the meaning of a piece of writing. In the same breath, effective writers should go as far as eliminating adverbs if their intended purpose is captured in the verbs used in a piece of writing. Avoiding unnecessary catchy phrases and complex words in non-fictional writing eliminates ambiguity and misunderstanding.
Thirdly, Zinsser stresses the significance of eliminating clutter from a writer’s work. He likens clutter to farm weeds that need to be weeded out for the crops to grow well. In the same breath, eliminating clutter from writing rids of pompous phrases that make sentences unnecessarily long yet add no value to a piece of writing (Zinsser, 2000). For instance, wanting to sound professional and important, a dentist may ask their patient, “Are you experiencing any pain?” while performing some dental operations. However, if their child is in the same chair, dentists would probably plainly ask them, “Does it hurt?” The two questions are similar, but the second is more precise and direct and likely to yield better comprehension. Overall, Zinsser asks writers not to inflate what needs no inflating.
References
Zinsser, W. (2000). On Writing Well 30th Anniversary Edition: The classic guide to writing nonfiction. HarperCollins Publishers. http://richardcolby.net/writ2000/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/On-Writing-Well-30th-Anniversa-Zinsser-William.pdf
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Question 
In no fewer than 300 words, write a journal entry posting in which you respond to three key ideas from Zinsser that impressed you as being particularly relevant to your workplace or academic writing.
Zinsser’s Writing Ideas
http://richardcolby.net/writ2000/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/On-Writing-Well-30th-Anniversa-Zinsser-William.pdf
Above is the link to the book. The instructor wanted us to read the Introduction, Part 1, and Chapter 16 for this assignment. Please use three in-text citations from the reading and include it in the journal entry.