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53 reviews for:
Writing to Learn: How to Write - and Think - Clearly About Any Subject at All
William Zinsser
3.78 AVERAGE
53 reviews for:
Writing to Learn: How to Write - and Think - Clearly About Any Subject at All
William Zinsser
3.78 AVERAGE
It got bogged down a bit in places — the chemistry section in particular was a bit dull, as it lacked the passionate and humane approach the math teacher, for example, had taken — but was otherwise lively and instructive, full of helpful reminders and inspiring examples.
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Couldn’t finish it too boring. I got too about 55% then skimmed for a while found nothing of interest and gave up. His main book on writing well was pretty good but this one not so much.
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced
I loved Zinsser's book On Writing Well; I am lukewarm about Writing to Learn. Yes, it does have the great idea of writing as a means to understand your own thinking, forcing you to put into words what you are trying to understand.
The main part of this book however, is a lot of show and not a lot of tell. Examples are rarely explored in detail, explained why they work. It felt like a museum with many pieces to explore but too small labels to better understand the their workings.
The main part of this book however, is a lot of show and not a lot of tell. Examples are rarely explored in detail, explained why they work. It felt like a museum with many pieces to explore but too small labels to better understand the their workings.
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
A pretty good look at quality writing across different academic contents. And if anything, it proves that every generation thinks that the generation that came after them can't write as well or think as well.
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
A written piece on writing is meta at face value, but the “meta-ness” of this book was everything it should be. The key message from this book is that clear writing is a testament of clear thinking, and the relationship between writing and thinking is a two-way road. What we see is that William Zinsser is able to explain why writing is helpful for unassuming subjects like science and mathematics, and in doing so, is getting over his own fear of the subjects by doing exactly what he’s preaching. Highly recommend this book not only for its strong support of writing and learning principles in general, but it showcases exceptional writing in many disciplines, meaning you are likely to see the appeal of a subject you wouldn’t think possible. At minimum, you can understand the admiration someone else has for the subject, even if you don’t share it.
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
It has been a delight to read this book ten pages at a time over the span of a few months, for a few reasons. First, his format is admirable. Zinsser divides his chapters into sections of roughly the same size, and the overall editing is elegant and straightforward. Second, in the book's second half Zinsser uses the same process he recommends. He tours many disciplines and finds examples of writing either to teach, to learn, or both -- and throughout, he indicates that he himself is learning alongside the reader. And now I have a couple dozen new books to read within all those disciplines.