Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in On Writing Well, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Human Element
Simplicity vs. Clutter
Process and Organization
The Gift of Writing
Summary
Analysis
Zinsser can’t point to any single moment when he decided to become a writer, but he can see how certain influences led him there. For instance, Zinsser’s mother appreciated good writing in any genre, and his businessman father always taught him “that quality is its own reward.” In addition to quality, Zinsser also cares about being entertaining, because he knows that humor, surprise, and personality are the best ways to win over readers.
In this last chapter, Zinsser asks about writers’ duties to themselves and others. First, he argues that they ought to always do their best work and give the reader something to enjoy. But as usual, instead of writing an abstract philosophical essay on the subject, he starts by explaining how his own values are rooted in his upbringing. He knows that his readers can relate: when growing up, they likely learned similar values from their parents.
Themes
The basic rules of writing never change, so most writers should stick to clear and simple English. They should practice obsessively and hold themselves to high standards. They shouldn’t publish anything less than their best work, and they shouldn’t let editors violate their style. Zinsser is famous for his cranky arguments with editors, but his obsessiveness has also earned him a reputation for reliability and accuracy.
Zinsser repeats his basic theory of good writing: it’s a habit, it can be learned, and its essence is clarity and simplicity. He also continues laying out his vision of writers’ responsibility to themselves and their craft. Namely, they must defend their integrity and hold themselves to higher professional standards than their editors do. Writing fundamentally depends on trust: audiences and editors trust writers to tell the sincere truth, while writers trust editors and audiences to honor their intentions. If this trust breaks down, then readers stop taking writers’ ideas seriously, and they lose their power to influence the broader culture. Therefore, writers should defend their honesty and integrity at all costs.
Themes
Good editors are generous, helpful, and enthusiastic. They use their objective perspective to make useful changes that help writers achieve their goals. But bad editors ignore writers’ style, content, and intentions. Successful writers build trust with their editors so that they can negotiate. Writers have a right to make their points, but editors have an obligation to make the final product clear and coherent. Many editors see professional courtesies as unimportant, but Zinsser thinks they’re like an honor code holding together the profession. Worst of all, some editors distort a writer’s content or misrepresent their views. To prevent this from happening, writers have to defend themselves and their integrity. They have to fundamentally believe in themselves and their abilities. Most importantly, they have to push themselves to excel.
The difference between good and bad editors is whether they interfere with the writer’s intentions. Good editors help writers rewrite and achieve their objectives, while bad editors hijack the rewriting process and usurp creative control over a writer’s work. But even when they’re working with the best editors, writers have to advocate for themselves: they can’t assume that others will push them to learn or reward them for their good work. In closing, Zinsser returns to the idea that writing is based on honor. This explains why nonfiction writers have the privilege to inform the public and shape national culture: they have pledged to tell the truth, and their honor depends on it. Zinsser believes that integrity—or honesty to oneself—is the true foundation of this honor. If they let others distort their views, writers lose their honor, integrity, and credibility because they violate their pledge to honestly inform the public of the truth.
Themes
