William Zinsser on Writing Good English
In August of 2009, William Zinsser gave a talk to incoming international students of the Columbia journalism program, reproduced here in the American Scholar. At the end of the speech, Zinsser summarizes his advice:
Repeat after me:
Short is better than long.
Simple is good. (Louder)
Long Latin nouns are the enemy.
Anglo-Saxon active verbs are your best friend.
One thought per sentence.
The speech is worth reviewing for both international students and native English speakers, particularly those who will soon begin to write their personal statements.
