Never hesitate to imitate another writer. Imitation is part of the creative process for anyone learning an art or a craft. Bach and Picasso didn't spring full-blown as Bach or Picasso; they needed models. This is especially true of writing.
William ZinsserBe yourself and your readers will follow you anywhere. Try to commit an act of writing and they will jump overboard to get away.
William ZinsserThe writers job is like solving a puzzle, and finally arriving at a solution is a tremendous satisfaction.
William ZinsserWriters who think THEY are being criticized when only that writing is being criticized are beyond a teacher's reach. Writing can only be learned when a writer coldly separates himself from what he has written and looks at it with the objectivity of a plumber examining a newly piped bathroom to see if he got all the joints tight.
William Zinsser