In his book "On Writing Well," he said, "Clear writing doesn’t happen by accident. It takes effort, focus and discipline. Clear writing reflects a clear mind; a clear mind requires a thorough understanding about the ideas you’re communicating . . .Managers at every level are prisoners of the notion that a simple style reflects a simple mind. Actually a simple style is the result of hard work and hard thinking; a muddled style reflects a muddled thinker or a person too arrogant, or too dumb, or too lazy to organize his thoughts.”
Touche!
Zinsser read right through me. I'll admit it: My mind is messy. And my apartment, my cooking and especially my writing are reflections of such messiness.
So if we're supposed to clear our thinking before we can write clearly, the question is How? I searched Zinsser's book for an answer but didn't find a satisfying one. I found this interesting web page instead.
It explains simple exercises from Julia Cameron's book "The Artist's Way" on how to lighten your mind to create better content. I have found these to be very helpful and they don't take much time.
Julia Cameron, where have you been all this while? What a relief!
Ardelle Merton
Julia Cameron's book is a great resource for creativity, writing, etc.
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