Not long ago I re-read William Zinsser’s On Writing Well, a book that was required reading for the writing course I took through Long Ridge Writer’s Group. This time I read with a red pen in hand to underline key passages and fix in my brain the high points of the wealth of knowledge it contains. Among all the common sense advice, Zinsser mentions another book he wrote – Writing About Your Life. I went out and bought a copy. I thought it might help me with my novel, which is kind of a fantasy memoir about my years in the Air Force. And yes, it will.
I highly recommend Writing About Your Life to anyone who has even the vaguest notion of one day writing a memoir, whether factual or fictional. For one thing, it is an excellent example of the genre. Zinsser has some hugely entertaining stories from his own life that he tells to illustrate how to. Did you know that his great grandfather, William Zinsser, founded a shellac business in Manhattan and that he still sometimes gets calls asking advice about paints, solvents, and shellac? Or that he wrote the first, long magazine piece introducing a new comic to the public in the early sixties? The comic was Woody Allen.
A word that shows up in this book more than once, that some of us need to turn into a mantra for our writing life is “permission.” Give yourself permission to write your own story, as honestly and authentically as only you can.
Since the format of a blog lends itself particularly well to self-revelation, I would also recommend the book to anyone writing or planning a blog. Unless you are going to have one of those blogs where you tell people how to use a digital camera, train for a triathalon, or walk like an Egyptian, chances are you will be writing about the stuff you’ve done and seen in your life. This book has some great tips on how to bring out the humor, the drama, the suspense in your story, and the personalities of the other people you’ve known along the way.
If you are looking for references to add to your library on how to improve your writing, the first book I mentioned is also invaluable. Originally published in 1976, it is now in it’s seventh edition, and is considered a “classic guide to writing nonfiction.”
I know that spontaneity is supposed to be the heart of the blogoshpere, but as more and more people jump in, it will be the well thought out, consistently well written blogs that people will keep coming back to. At least that will be true for people like me. I notice multiple grammar mistakes, multiple spelling errors, and don’t have the patience to wade through those for whatever gems of wisdom they may be masking. I can find better writing about the same subject on another blog. And I will.
There is a third book by William Zinsser that I also recommend. It’s titled Writing to Learn, and it has lessons for anyone who writes anything on any subject for any reason. Need I say more?
Two books I highly recommend for writers are The Elements of Style by Strunk and White and On Writing by Stephen King.
Never heard of On Writing Well. I’ll have to give it a look.