{"id":62465,"date":"2022-03-09T11:50:18","date_gmt":"2022-03-09T15:50:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=62465"},"modified":"2022-03-21T08:46:22","modified_gmt":"2022-03-21T12:46:22","slug":"how-to-improve-your-writing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-improve-your-writing\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Improve Your Writing\u2014Author Explains"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Do you want to improve your writing skills? What does taste have to do with writing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his book On Writing Well, <\/em>American writer, journalist, and teacher William Zinsser explains how to improve your writing. The key, he says, is to develop a taste for good writing. Zinsser believes that you should choose authors whose style you admire, then try to emulate their style until you develop your own voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s why developing good taste is the first step to improving your writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

What Is Good Taste?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As you write, you\u2019ll face many creative decisions that will shape your writing identity<\/a>. To make these decisions, you should develop good taste. Zinsser acknowledges that the idea of taste is vague, but it can loosely be defined as understanding the creative decisions that do and don\u2019t work for you.<\/strong> Every word you choose, every sentence you construct, every mood you convey\u2014these are all creative decisions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Experts agree with Zinsser\u2019s definition of taste<\/a> as the filter through which you evaluate your creative impulses. Taste is someone\u2019s personal preferences of cultural, design, or aesthetic patterns. The writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe<\/a> said, \u201cThere is nothing worse than imagination without taste.\u201d He believed in using taste to decide which creative ideas to express in your art and which to ignore.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s how to improve your writing skills, according to William Zinsser. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Develop Good Taste<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

To develop good taste, first identify your favorite writers\u2014writers whose taste and creative decisions you admire. Once you\u2019ve identified those writers, study their writing and emulate their style. Take the time to mirror their techniques and find what works for you. Don\u2019t be afraid of copying them\u2014Zinsser believes you\u2019ll eventually graduate into your own unique voice and naturally develop your own sense of good taste. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, don\u2019t unfairly compare yourself to other writers\u2014it\u2019s not a competition. Zinsser recommends accepting where you are in your writing journey and focusing on your own progress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Develop Good Taste by Emulating Great Writers<\/strong>

In Steal Like an Artist<\/em><\/a>, Austin Kleon echoes Zinsser\u2019s advice to take inspiration from great art and artists in any medium because doing so will help you create better art. Kleon compares the artistic process to genetics: Just like individuals are the products of the gene pools of each parent, art is the product of other art and ideas. While you can\u2019t choose your DNA, you can carefully choose the art and artists you take inspiration from for your work.

Instead of thinking of other great artists as your competition or as an unattainable ideal, think of them as mentors. Kleon recommends studying one artist, her work, and what you like about her work. Kleon believes that by copying your mentor\u2019s work and creative process<\/a>, you\u2019ll create something new. This is because you\u2019ll inevitably fail to create a perfect copy of your mentor\u2019s work, since it\u2019s personal to her and her tastes, and the ways in which you\u2019re different from your creative mentor will reveal your own unique strengths and develop your taste. For example, when she was a teenager, Joan Didion studied Ernest Hemingway\u2019s writing<\/a>, which influenced her own minimalist writing style. Despite their stylistic similarities, Joan Didion couldn\u2019t write The Old Man and the Sea<\/em><\/a>, just like Ernest Hemingway couldn\u2019t write Slouching Towards Bethlehem<\/em><\/a>\u2014each story was personal to its writer. <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When thinking about taste, keep these three key points in mind: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t Be Breezy<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

When developing good taste, avoid being breezy. Zinsser explains breeziness as trying too hard to sound casual or friendly. Consider this breezy example: \u201cWell guys, do I have a story for you! The other day, I took a jaunt over to the store, and I just couldn\u2019t help myself\u2014that bar of chocolate was calling my name.\u201d As a result of breeziness, this writing sounds unnatural and unpleasant to read. If you wouldn\u2019t talk like this, don\u2019t write breezily either. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: E.B. White takes Zinsser\u2019s idea one step further, stating breezy writing is the work of an egocentric person<\/a>. He cautions that not all<\/em> of your thoughts are of interest to everyone. Find balance between being spontaneous and being thoughtful in your writing.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don’t Be Condescending<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

When developing good taste, don\u2019t make any creative decisions that make you sound condescending or like you\u2019re talking down to your reader. Consider this example: \u201cIt\u2019s actually really easy to avoid being condescending\u2014obviously just don\u2019t over-explain concepts. Most people already know this, but don\u2019t make someone feel bad for not understanding something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To avoid being condescending<\/a>, write like how you\u2019d talk to a friend you respect. Be logical and thorough in your explanations, but trust readers to make obvious connections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: To avoid sounding condescending, experts advise avoiding the words \u201cactually\u201d and \u201cjust<\/a>.\u201d These words give the impression that you\u2019re talking down to your reader or oversimplifying a topic. Additionally, \u201csimply,\u201d \u201cyou should,\u201d and \u201cyou know you can\u201d are all condescending ways to start a sentence since they command a reader to do something or assume a reader\u2019s level of knowledge.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t Use Clich\u00e9s <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

When developing identity and good taste, your writing should sound unique, so avoid using clich\u00e9s. Zinsser explains that clich\u00e9s are phrases that are so overused that they lose all meaning and impact, and they ruin the chance to express something in a new and creative way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only do clich\u00e9s make you sound like an amateur writer, they don\u2019t describe what you mean. For example, \u201cShe made it in the nick of time,\u201d could be expressed in a better way. Maybe instead of using this clich\u00e9, you could describe how this person sped into the parking lot of her destination and rushed into the building. Think of different ways to show what you mean, instead of adding an overused clich\u00e9. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Unlike Zinsser, some experts believe clich\u00e9s are okay to use since they carry cultural context<\/a>. Many clich\u00e9s originated several decades ago\u2014and sometimes hundreds of years ago\u2014yet these clich\u00e9s have stayed in use despite the changing nature of our language. Therefore, some experts believe clich\u00e9s have survived for a reason\u2014because they\u2019re useful and speak to a shared culture<\/a>. However, as with euphemisms (discussed earlier), readers won\u2019t understand a clich\u00e9 if they don\u2019t have the cultural context for it. Therefore, you can make the creative decision<\/a> on whether or not to use clich\u00e9s.) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you want to improve your writing skills? What does taste have to do with writing? In his book On Writing Well, American writer, journalist, and teacher William Zinsser explains how to improve your writing. The key, he says, is to develop a taste for good writing. Zinsser believes that you should choose authors whose style you admire, then try to emulate their style until you develop your own voice. Here’s why developing good taste is the first step to improving your writing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":62560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,15,43],"tags":[588],"class_list":["post-62465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-communication","category-education","category-self-improvement","tag-on-writing-well","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Improve Your Writing\u2014Author Explains - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Do you want to improve your writing skills? 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