William Zinsser taught writing at Yale, then wrote the book that has fixed more bad writing than every English class combined.
Here are 10 cuts from "On Writing Well" that instantly make your writing twice as strong.
1) Delete every word doing no work
Police in Ohio, in the US, got a call about suspicious trespassers in a backyard. The suspects turned out to be eight goats.
Two deputies went out, one of whom, the sheriff’s office noted, reportedly speaks goat. Even so, the talks went badly. The goats had decided they lived there now, and no amount of snacks would move them. Seven were eventually walked home to their owner.
The eighth made a break for it, leaping off the roof of an SUV and into the woods, and is still at large. The sheriff’s office basically put out a wanted notice: a short, stubborn, very mischievous white goat with brown markings down one side of his face. Not dangerous, they say, but “armed with an attitude.”
I can’t wait to be back on the field this weekend with my @flbombersgold girls this weekend! First pitch at noon tomorrow in the @flpgfmedia Super 64! 🩵🖤💣