William Zinsser On Writing Well

Well the weather certainly was heating up today, the thermometer read 42 in the shade. This is very hot for the time of year and it saps your energy at times.
I sat in the shade and read for a while, I was reading ON WRITING WELL by WILLIAM ZINSSER.

I will confess, I found it a little heavy going for me a few years ago when I bought it, but today I found snippets that inspired me.

Who Am I writing For?
Zinsser states I am writing for myself, I must not visualize the great mass audience.
Well that is my dream shattered in one sentence! :)

He says there is no such audience-every reader is a different person and not to try and guess what sort of thing editors want to publish or what I think the country is in a mood to read.

"Editors and readers don't know what they want to read until they read it and that they are always looking for something new. "

Now I thought about that statement and it is true, I never know what I want to read, I never think...I want to read a romance or a war book today, I look at a book cover, then the back, then the inside and make a decision from there.

I also like his statement that I am primarily writing to please myself and if I enjoy it, I will also entertain those who are worth writing for. His exact words at the end of that statement was; "If you lose the dullards back in the dust, you don't want them anyway".

That sentence seemed to take a bit of pressure from off my shoulders, I felt a little relieved if I am honest, it was as if I had been given permission to continue enjoying writing my journey of writing my novel on here, and if you don't like it, it is ok, you can leave and I will still be able to keep the pleasure I get of writing for others who will.

Well that was just a small snippet from the book and no doubt, as I get further into it, I will share my views and findings with you...that is if you are still around to read it LOL.