4 style mistakes to avoid for clear and engaging writing
Timeless advice from the book "Writing Well" by William Zinsser
Hey word-wranglers,
If there is one thing I’ve learned: writing is hard.
We're talking about "explaining blockchain to your grandma" levels of difficulty. But fear not! I'm here to share wisdom from the sacred tome: On Writing Well by William Zinsser.
So, let's dive in, the 4 style mistakes lurking in your manuscript.
Mistake #1: Avoid adverbs.
The issue with adverbs is when they are used with speech tags to tell, instead of show.
For example, let's say you are writing a scene where two people are arguing with each other.
"Why did you do that?" He said angrily. The word angrily seems lazy to the reader.
If you want to convey a specific emotion:
Act out the emotion with plot beats.
Choose words associated with the emotion.
Write the dialogue to convey how the character is feeling.
Many verbs also carry in their imagery or in their sound a suggestion of what they mean: glitter, dazzle, twirl, beguile, scatter, swagger, poke, pamper, vex.
- William Zinsser
Mistake #2: Avoid boring adjectives.
It's boring to use an obvious adjective when it's already encapsulated in the noun.
Examples from the book:
precipitous cliffs
lacy spiderwebs
yellow daffodils
brownish dirt
Beginner writers will overuse decorative adjectives to give their writing a more sensory quality. Resist the urge. Add adjectives when it surprises e.g. a garish daffodil. Or if it does necessary work for the story.
If you use adjectives sparingly, they'll be more powerful when you deploy them.
Again, the rule is simple: make your adjectives do work that needs to be done.
- William Zinsser
Mistake #3: Avoid the passive tense.
Active verbs convey confidence to your readers.
Readers want their narrators to be confident, whether you are writing fiction or non-fiction. When a writer hedges their statements. The reader loses confidence in the writer's credibility.
The writer must have conviction in what they're saying, if they hope for the reader to feel the same.
Readers want the person who is talking to them to sound genuine. Therefore a fundamental rule is: be yourself. No rule, however, is harder to follow. It requires writers to do two things that by their metabolism are impossible. They must relax, and they must have confidence.
- William Zinsser
Mistake #4: Avoid glue words.
Phrases like "in order to," "the fact that," or "for all intents and purposes" are the literary equivalent of unskippable tutorials. They slow down your reader without adding value.
When I started writing, my sentences were more bloated than my Steam library during a sale. But then I learned to debug my prose. The result? Cleaner, more impactful writing that doesn't waste the reader's time.
Rule of thumb: if you have three short words in a row, then cut them.
Prune out the small words that qualify how you feel and how you think and what you saw: “a bit,” “a little,” “sort of,” “kind of,” “rather,” “quite,” “very,” “too,” “pretty much,” “in a sense” and dozens more. They dilute your style and your persuasiveness.
- William Zinsser
Remember, writing simple declarative sentences with short active verbs is the cheat code to good writing. You gotta master level 1 if you wanna beat the final boss.
Still feeling stuck? Don't sweat it. We've all been there. Keep practicing, and soon you'll be crafting prose so engaging, your readers won't be able to put your book down.
Got questions? Feel free to reach out. Just don't ask me to explain the plot of Elden Ring. Some things are beyond even my powers of explanation.
Clear thinking becomes clear writing; one can’t exist without the other.
- William Zinsser