William Zinsser

William Zinsser was an award-winning author, journalist and educator. He wrote an impressive 19 books throughout his lifetime, as well as hundreds of pieces for publications such as The New Yorker, The Atlantic and The New York Times. He was highly regarded for his plain-spoken style, and was noted for his insights on life and writing.

William Zinsser was born in 1922 to Jewish-German immigrants in New York City. After graduating from Princeton University, he worked as a reporter and editor in New York. He served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps during World War II, then moved to Germany after the war to write for Stars and Stripes. Zinsser then spent 17 years as a staff writer for the New Yorker magazine.

While at the New Yorker, Zinsser wrote a series of articles that were later published in book form as On Writing Well: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction (1976). The book was a runaway bestseller, eventually selling over one million copies in eight different editions. It was the first of Zinsser’s many books. In it, Zinsser offers advice on how to write with clarity, charm and purpose. He advises readers to follow his own mantra: “Write With clarity, don’t be afraid to cut away the superfluous, be aware of the reader and ‘try to get to the point.’”

The book was so successful that it launched Zinsser’s writing career, allowing him to write a number of other popular works. One of his most highly acclaimed works was Writing to Learn (1989). In it, he made the case that writing is an effective way to learn, as it can help you organize, clarify and take control of your thoughts. He also wrote about various forms of writing in books like Writing About Your Life (2004), Writing Places (2006) and Writing to Learn Mathematics (2000).

Zinsser wrote about various facets of life in his non-fiction books, such as living an arts-centric life in Patrimony (1991). His memoir, Inventing the truth (1995) and his autobiography, Writing Places (2006) examined his lifelong exploration as a writer.

In addition to his own writing, Zinsser taught others the craft of writing. He was a professor of writing at Princeton and in Boston University. He also taught at The New School and Columbia University. Zinsser’s primary focus was on helping aspiring writers get their messages and stories across with efficiency, economy and clarity.

Throughout his career, Zinsser was widely regarded as one of the best writers and teachers of writing. He received countless awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the National Magazine Award for Literary Criticism. He was inducted into the American Society of Magazine Editors Hall of Fame in 1991. In 2014, the Columbia Journalism School established the William Zinsser Award for Writing Excellence.

William Zinsser died in May 2015, at the age of 92. His life’s work has become a reference for generations of aspiring writers and adults looking to master the craft of writing—simply and with clarity. Though he is no longer with us, he will be remembered fondly by readers around the world for the insight and wisdom he provided.