"Make a habit of reading what is being written today and what has been written before. Writing is learned by imitation."

William Zinsser Literature See all quotes by William Zinsser →

React to this quote

More by William Zinsser

See all

“You must find some way to elevate your act of writing into entertainment.”

“If you write for yourself, you'll reach all the people you want to write for.”

“Memoir is the art of inventing the truth.”

“Writing improves in direct ratio to the number of things we can keep out of it that shouldn't be there.”

“The writers job is like solving a puzzle, and finally arriving at a solution is a tremendous satisfaction.”

“All writing is ultimately a question of solving a problem.”

Resonant Thoughts

"But to return to the Newtonian Philosophy: Tho' its Truth is supported by Mathematicks, yet its Physical Discoveries may be communicated without. The great Mr. Locke was the first who became a Newtoni…"

— John Theophilus Desaguliers

Philosophy1683–1744

#philosophy

"And then I realized I was being checked out by GUYS! And I know they were checking me out, because they were looking at me like I look at tacos. And I thought to myself, "Oh my god, I can turn on a ma…"

— Gabriel Iglesias

Entertainment1976

#philosophy