Telling a writer to relax is like telling a man to relax while being prodded for a possible hernia.
William ZinsserEvery successful piece of nonfiction should leave the reader with one provocative thought that he or she didn't have before. Not two thoughts, or five - just one. So decide what single point you want to leave in the reader's mind.
William ZinsserThe best way to learn to write is to study the work of the men and women who are doing the kind of writing you want to do.
William ZinsserIf you would like to write better than everybody else, you have to want to write better than everybody else. You must take an obsessive pride in the smallest details of your craft. And you must be willing to defend what you've written against the various middlemen - editors, agents and publishers - whose sights may be different from yours, whose standards not so high.
William Zinsser