Part I: Chapter 4 Style Summary

A writer's style cannot be affected convincingly to the reader. The style must be genuine, with the real person using words that are picked from the subconscious and brought to the writing consciousness. Zinsser does not spend much time on the psychological backdrop of the writer's mind because his book is not intended to cover this vast field, but the fact remains that good writers do not try to decorate their prose with ornamentation. If ornaments come to mind, they should be based first on solid writing and must serve important purposes.

The author admires the ability to ornament upon solid writing of two authors: Tom Wolfe and Norman Mailer. Examples of such writing are not provided; the assumption being that if the reader is curious, the books by the two authors are readily available at public...