The Idea of Writing Reality a.k.a. Journal #5

"Ultimately every writer must follow the path that feels most comfortable. For most people learning to write, that path is nonfiction. It enables them to write about what they know or can observe or can find out. This is especially true of young people and students" (Zinnser 99).

For the most part I agree with Zinnser. (I know, shocking isn't it?)

I do think that writers must figure out what works for them; writing doesn't have to be some systematic process that produces a universal style. However, I'm not sure I can accept that whatever is "most comfortable" is the way writers should go. For me, I think writing is a process that needs to be able to push and stumble and climb through uncomfortable styles and forms. Sometimes working through the unfamiliar sharpens you as a writer.

I feel like Zinnser is oversimplifying the art of Nonfiction writing. As a student taking a Nonfiction class this semester, I have come to realize that not everything comes out great in the subject of nonfiction. Writing about the world, the human condition, etc. is extremely hard to do if the goal is to write it well. Anyone could put down an opinion or idea but it doesn't make it worthy of publication.

Nonfiction is great in that it does allow people to write about things they know rather than trying to impersonate an interest in some lofty concept. The problem here is that people often mistake their "knowing" of something as the end all observation. Nonfiction is not a fancy name for journal entry, people.

I have grown to love Nonfiction and I feel that it is actually as difficult to write as fiction. I also don't like how Zinnser equates the style of nonfiction with the simplicity of college students or "young people". Why is it especially well suited for us? Are older people incapable of writing about what they know? Or are students and young people so feeble minded that they must start out with what they know before attempting to try on the discourse of the educated?

Think on that Zinnser!