Zinsser Chapter 5 Reflection

David Sheets

Professor Wortman

2/16/20

To be quite frank, I am pleasantly surprised by William Zinsser’s message to writers in Chapter 5 of On Writing Well. While you might find a variety of opinions from different writers regarding whether or not to consider your audience when writing, Zinsser’s message remains consistent. “You are writing for yourself,” he asserts. He suggests to the reader not to “try to visualize the great mass audience,” because every reader is a unique individual with different expectations. With this advice, Zinsser is trying to help the writer narrow his microscope in on his own writing style and voice. He wants the writer to influence what he has control of and let the chips fall where they may.

I find this advice fundamentally valuable as an aspiring journalist because it can be easy to lose your voice in your writing in an attempt to appeal to a broader audience. I often find myself holding back on certain aspects of my writing that Zinsser would likely tell me to embellish on. He continues, “don’t worry about whether the reader will ‘get it’ if you indulge in a sudden impulse of humor. If it amuses you in the act of writing, put it in” (24). Zinsser’s message here is duly noted and a great point. It all goes back to writing for yourself and finding your voice. Injecting humor and/or any bit of personality into your writing when you feel the urge to do so can be a great way of separating yourself from other writers. It can also help you hone in on your writing style. He emphasizes that this tinge of personality in your writing can always be revised, taken out or altered later, but only you can put them in. Zinsser wants the writer to take chances and have fun, because, if you’re having fun writing the reader is more likely to be having fun reading. He is urging the writer to have fun while writing because that is what connects a great writer with his/her audience. Zinsser thinks that if you be yourself, enough people will flock to your writing that enjoy your style as well. “If you lose the dullards back in the dust,” Zinsser says, “you don’t want them anyway” (24). He is emphasizing being yourself while writing because you will have a greater chance of creating a meaningful audience that enjoys a writing style that only you can create.

Zinsser admits that his advice can seem paradoxical, for in early chapters he likened the reader to an “impatient bird, perched on the thin edge of distraction or sleep”. Yet, he separates these two points into two different issues: craft and attitude. With respect to writing craft and his perched bird metaphor, Zinsser is simply emphasizing the importance of the “workmanship” of your writing. He describes the reader as “impatient” in that they are not likely to stick with your piece if it has a number of grammatical or technical errors within it. Zinsser wants the writer to be themselves while keeping in mind the professional integrity of their article. Doing so will help the reader immerse themselves into your writing and trust that your piece is worth reading from beginning to end. By ensuring the structure of your writing is strong at its core, the reader will have less excuses to move on without finishing.

Zinsser’s message throughout chapter 5 is clear: be yourself and write for yourself. If you be yourself, Zinsser argues, a writing style and distinct voice will “[emerge] from under the accumulated clutter and debris, growing more distinctive everyday” (25). He emphasizes that finding your voice may take time, just as finding yourself as a person takes time. A voice in your writing will grow alongside your growth as a human but it will only come from being yourself while writing and taking chances. Furthermore, he wants the writer to write for himself because that is how the best writers separate themselves. A writing style and voice may take time to develop, but once it does, you will have created something uniquely your own. Write for yourself, and the rest will come naturally.