Writing and writing well…

I’ve started to reread On Writing Well by William Zinsser. It’s the classic guide to writing non-fiction and I’ve owned my copy for twenty years — since I started university.

I read it about once a year, usually when I’m feeling crappy about my writing. Not this writing — it may be occasionally crappy but it’s not paying my mortgage. I mean the writing I do during daylight hours in a little room in a big building.

I don’t write everyday at work and I get rusty. Some days I can barely write a lede. Other days are much better.

So when I’m feeling rusty, I bring out the book. It reminds me that I do write well enough to do my job. It also reminds me that I love to write — and that’s something I seem to forget.