When I tell aspiring writers that they should think of themselves as part entertainer, they don’t like to hear it — the word smacks of carnivals and … - William Zinsser

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When I tell aspiring writers that they should think of themselves as part entertainer, they don’t like to hear it — the word smacks of carnivals and jugglers and clowns. But to succeed you must make your piece jump out of a newspaper or a magazine by being more diverting than everyone else’s piece. You must find some way to elevate your act of writing into an entertainment. Usually this means giving the reader an enjoyable surprise. Any number of devices will do the job: humor, anecdote, paradox, an unexpected quotation, a powerful fact, an outlandish detail, a circuitous approach, an elegant arrangement of words. These seeming amusements in fact become your “style.