If there is one book that mercilessly shattered all my beliefs about writing non fiction, it is this book, 'On Writing Well' by William Zinsser.
1. I had always thought that, writing is like a free flowing river that flows uninterrupted, until everything is put to paper. Writing gives me excitement and I had felt uneasy, only when I procrastinated to write something that had been running in my mind for days.
--›The author claims that 'writing' can some times be a painful process and there will be days, when a writer will struggle to convert his/her thoughts to words. There might also be days when he/she feels a painful block in the thought process. I should probably write more and take-up writing seriously to relate to this.
2. I had always felt that, the first sentence I write is always the best. The more I refine, the more I tend to feel the affinity towards my original sentence.
--› The author says, rewriting is the most important part of writing good content. Eliminating the unwanted stuff, that would disturb/distract the reader is an exercise every good writer should put to practice.
3. I was always concious of the content and the target audience when it comes to writing
--›William Zinsser says that the content or the target audience do not matter much. It is the author and his/her personality that is more important for a reader to continue reading. He says that he ended up reading many books just for the author, though the content was not of his best interest. I couldn't agree more.
4. He talks a lot about humourous writing. His oxymoron, 'humorous writing is actually some serious stuff' made me reflect on all my humourous scripts/speeches in the past. He simply says that, humor is nothing but hiding the surprise element and letting it out at the right time. A simple, yet an insightful view!
5. The best part of this book is that the author gives a lot of examples from other famous authors, which would introduce us to many other names and broaden our knowledge on books and writers.
Though I am tempted to spill more content from the book, I wouldn't do that :). If you have a flair for writing, this book will change your game.
When I kept the book down after digesting and reflecting on the views shared, I felt that I was reborn as a writer and had a lot more to unlearn :)