I don’t like to write, but I take great pleasure in having written — in having finally made an arrangement that has a certain inevitability, like the… - William Zinsser

I don’t like to write, but I take great pleasure in having written — in having finally made an arrangement that has a certain inevitability, like

Writing is hard work. A clear sentence is no accident. Very few sentences come out right the first time, or even the third time. Remember this in moments of despair. If you find that writing is hard, it's because it is hard. It's one of the hardest things that people do.

never stopped to ask, “Who is the typical Yale alumnus? Who am I editing for?” One of my principles is that there is no typical anybody; every reader is different. I edit for myself and I write for myself. I assume that if I consider something interesting or funny, a certain number of other people will too. If they don’t, they have two inalienable rights — they can fire the editor and they can stop reading the writer.

Learning, he seemed to be saying, takes a multitude of forms; expect to find them in places where you least expect them to be.