The key to good writing is clarity and simplicity, as he states so eloquently in his widely respected essay; Simplicity.  William Zinsser believes that people speak and write with more complexity than necessary.

A long word is no better than a short word

Mr. Zinsser states “our national tendency is to inflate and therefore sound important.”  People say things that even they barely understand themselves.  They assume bigger words and longer sentences sound better, when a simpler sentence would be preferred by most.

Writing improves in direct ratio to the number of things you can keep out of it, not put into it

A short, simple sentence composed of simple, active words will get your point across just as well as a complex one. 

Poor Faulkner.  Does he really think big emotions come from big words?  He thinks I don't know the ten-dollar words.  I know them all right.  But there are older and simpler and better words, and those are the ones I use.   ...   Ernest Hemingway

That's his opinion.  Try and tell that to Faulkner or Mailer. 

Keep your sentences uncluttered.  Strip every sentence to its cleanest components.  A short, simple sentence will get your point across better than a complex sentence, weighed down with big, high sounding words.

Write to express, not to impress

 Your Audience

The key to good writing is to be able to write so that readers will be able to understand it.  A good writer cares about how his readers feel.  Keep in mind not only what you are writing about but who you are writing to.

 Clarity

If one can not think clearly, how could they possibly write in a clear, concise way?  If you do not write clearly, chances are your reader will not understand it either. 

Clear thinking makes clear writing; one can’t exist without the other ... William Zinsser

Keeping your thoughts clear and concise should lead you to good, understandable writing.

 Clutter

Mr. Zinsser has called clutter the disease of American writing.  Clutter is the pompous language and laborious phrases that have pushed out the short word that means the same thing.

Clutter turns a salesman into a marketing representative, a garbage man into a waste disposal specialist.  Clutter is an airline pilot who announces "We presently anticipate experiencing considerable turbulence" instead of "It's windy'" 

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