Writers 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 ZinsserProbably every subject is interesting if an avenue into it can be found that has humanity and that an ordinary person can follow.
William ZinsserWriting 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
William ZinsserThe secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components. Every word that serves no function, every long word that could be a short word, every adverb that carries the same meaning thatโs already in the verb, every passive construction that leaves the reader unsure of who is doing whatโthese are the thousand and one adulterants that weaken the strength of a sentence. And they usually occur in proportion to the education and rank.
William Zinsser