What I Said To Simon Cowell

...and what you should too!

The other day when I was meditating, I realized there was a Simon Cowell inside my head.

A critic who was every bit as opinionated, judgmental and harsh as the real article from American Idol and the X Factor. 

And like the real article from American Idol and the X Factor, this critic felt at liberty to say what it pleased when it pleaseth.

Every time I hit a road bump during my recent Xactly Incent Implementation for instance, the Simon Cowell inside my head would pipe up with “That was terrible. I mean just awful”

When I made a social faux pas - put my foot in my mouth, that sort of thing, my personal Simon Cowell would go “Not to deflate you, but if you’re planning to pursue a career in the PR business, don’t”

When I bombed in a presentation or a joke, the SC would snigger “You have just invented a new form of torture”

Or when I missed a deadline, the SC would sneer “If you want people to take you seriously, I suggest you buy yourself a watch.”

When this critic was not opining about my mistakes and goof-ups, it was sitting in judgment of everyone else around me.

You know... producing withering thoughts at the drop of an uncovered sneeze, a Minoo version of classic SC originals like...

 “You should sue your singing teacher”

“I presume there was no mirror in your dressing room tonight” 

“If you had lived 2,000 years ago and sung like that, I think they would have stoned you”

If the pronouncements of my personal SC were not as memorable as these Cowell originals, they were just as mean.

For a while, I observed my internal Simon Cowell with detachment.

Amazed at how much free rein it had.

And it's wrecking-ball ability to crush hopes, jolt confidence and pulverize an image.

Then one day, I decided I had had enough.

I did what any self-respecting person who prefers compassion to ridicule would do. 

I told Simon to pack his bags and skedaddle.

And I replaced him with Paula.

I’ve had kinder thoughts about myself and other people ever since.

P.S.  For those hooked on Simon, you can catch him on the X Factor, which premiered on Fox on September 21, 2011.

P.S. 2: Does India, Australia, Canada, Poland, Russia, Malaysia have their own Simon Cowells?  Do you know? Or is there no one like him on the planet? Do tell.

How To Become A New Person

How do you become a new person?

You don’t have to.

You are already a new person – I guarantee you.

For proof, all you have to do is turn the pages of the virtual album of your life and take stock of some of the changes that have taken place in the past few years.

I did that and here’s what I discovered about my life…

I’m Green Papaya Salad New

Yep.

A few years ago, I had never eaten Green Papaya Salad.

Then I got to taste Green Papaya Salad at Coriander Thai in Westfield, San Francisco. Now I’m a sworn convert to it.

Recently, I even learned to make it. Here’s a link to the recipe I used. I left out the shrimp and I substituted soy sauce for fish sauce and honey for palm sugar.

What new food or foods have you discovered in the last few years?

I’m Xactly Incent New

Once upon a time I was a copywriter.  I worked at or did copywriting for agencies in Bangalore and Chennai, some of which are listed below. I even ran my own creative shop, Purple Patch, for a while.

Agencies I have worked in or done work for:

Contract Advertising

Everest Advertising

Goldwire

JWT

MAA Bozell

O&M

Rediffusion

Sistas

Take Wing

TNQ Commmunications

America was a new beginning for me.

I found myself in a new career, Commissions Administration, which I pursued through 2 tech companies and one pharmaceutical company.

Then a year ago, I took a leap of faith and made a somewhat daring professional decision.

As a result of this decision, my current position as an Xactly Incent Business Architect for SPI Solutions, is the most exciting yet. You can read about it here.

What exciting new journeys did you embark on in the last few years –professional, vocational or personal?

I’m Full Moon and Rattlesnake New

Until a year ago, meditation was just New Age mumbo jumbo to me.

Then I read a book called How God Changes Your Brain.

Before I knew it, I was meditating on a daily basis.

Was it a case of “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear?”

Meditation changed my thinking.

The old has become new again.

The mundane has become awesome.

Driving or walking down a road on a full moon night, I am awestruck by the big, round, yellow orb in the sky.

The fearsome has become awesome too.

Being confronted by a rattlesnake while walking on a trail recently, my fear quickly gave way to awe.

I’ve concluded meditation is really self-hypnosis.

If it’s so powerful, how much more powerful must hypnosis be?

I think about this all the time.

Sometimes I even entertain the idea of volunteering as a hypnosis research subject.

Who knows – one of these days, I just may pick up the phone and call Dr. David Burns (of Feeling Good fame), Philip Zimbardo and John Boyd at Stanford and get recruited.

Mohammed (as in the BIL) will probably say “Minoo has gone cuckoo!” when he hears this. The allusion to Full Moon might solidify the case. But “being cuckoo” beats “not being cuckoo” any day.

How have you changed in the past few years? Is your attitude different? To what?

And finally, I’m Minoo Jha Actionable Ideas New

A year ago, this blog did not exist. In fact, my online activities were limited to using Google Search and looking up directions on Map Quest.

My writing was limited to terse e-mails like this:  “Your commission statement for May 2010 is ready for review.”

Then one day in late December of 2010, I started blogging.  Soon after, I began posting statuses about my blog posts on Facebook and Twitter.

This blog has brought me more joy and more fulfillment than I could ever have imagined.

I enjoy creating posts and am immersed in what psychologist Mihaly Czikzentmihalyi calls the “flow” when I am writing.

I enjoy publishing guest posts too.

And reading your comments and reactions is a pleasure on its own.

Soon we will have a guest post, actually a series of guest posts from Ajay Sachdev, who in previous posts has immortalized Velupillai Pottu (you can read that here), paid homage to Bertie Wooster (you can read that here) and expressed a loyal fan’s view of the most popular sport in India (you can read that here).

What are the new online activities you have taken up in the last few years? Do you play Scrabble on Merriam Webster online?  Do you regularly post on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest?  Do you check your portfolio on Yahoo Finance?  Do you regularly look at blogs, including mine? Are you thinking about starting a blog, yourself?

Cheers to the ever changing, every growing new me and new you!

Whoop-dee-doo!

P.S. Besides Thai restaurants, Green Papaya Salad is also available at Malaysian restaurants such as Banana Leaf and Layang Layang, and also many Vietnamese restaurants.

P.S. 2:  I discovered Malaysian cuisine thanks to my dear friend Nina who introduced me to Banana Leaf and Layang Layang.  If you go, here’s a must on your order: Roti Prata.

P.S.3: As always, thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed this "crouching tigerish" post!

How To Become More Unique

You don’t have to – you are already unique, I promise you!

How do I know?

Because I am unique too.

Here are some of the unique lists I am not on and other unique lists I am on.

I urge you to seek your uniqueness likewise.

Not On This List

List of Top Advertising Guns in India as named by the Economic Times Brand Equity Reckoner – a list which includes Ravi Deshpande and Minakshi Achan, both of whom I have worked with closely at Contract Advertising and MAA Communications respectively.  

Am On This List

List of people lucky enough to have tasted sushi made by Top Sushi Master Don Gootee.

Not On This List

List of copywriters who have become famous outside of advertising because of books they have written  – a list which includes Anita Saran, an O&M direct marketing whiz and published writer, and Indu Balachandran, a copywriting gal from JWT, also a published writer.

Am On This List

List of people who have become famous outside of advertising for sartorial displays such as sporting a sweater in Chennai, and wearing jeans under a skirt to keep warm in America.  

Not On This List

List of copywriters who have gotten to play Advertising God at international events such as the Cannes Cyber Lions, Clio, One Show and Art Directors Club - a list on which my old copy pal Meera (Miracacks)Sharathchandra,  is consistently to be found.

Am On This List

List of people who discovered God last year after being an atheist for most of my adult life.

Not On This List

List of people who parlayed an advertising career into a successful film-making career – a list which includes former copywriter and pal Sharada Trilok who runs film-making company, Trish Productions with her hubby Trilok.

Am On This List

List of people who parlayed an investment lemon into Toastmasters lemonade, details of which you can read here.

Not On This List

List of people spinning out of the box creative stuff every year at their very own creative hot shop – folks such as Radhika, former copywriting pal and founder of Square Circle in Chennai.

Am On This List

List of people who have done some spinning inside a box of a different kind. You can read about it here.

See – didn’t I tell you I was unique?  I’m sure you are too.  What unique lists are you on and not on - would love to hear. Are you on the list of people who can relate to the Japanese concept of Wabi Sabi? Or perhaps on the list of people which includes Bill Clinton and George H W Bush?  Just some ideas to get you started.

P.S. 1: If this post appears like a clever attempt to drop names, this is not the first time and it probably won’t be the last.  I seem to have a penchant for it. Perhaps you may recall my post What do Lakshmi Mittal and I have in common?

P.S. 2:  Don Gootee, referred to as Top Sushi Master above, is Managing Partner of Solution Partners Inc and I am privileged to be on his team of Xactly Incent Implementation Architects. SPI has 80 Xactly Incent implementations under its belt and if you are looking to switch your commissions to the cloud with Xactly Incent, you should pick up the phone and talk to Don.  You can also contact me and I can tell you more.  I could also help team-lead or help UAT-test your Xactly Implementation Project from the inside – being the bridge between your Commissions Team and the Xactly Implementation Team.  With 5-10 years experience as a Commissions Analyst in various companies and Certified Xactly Incent implementation experience, it might be the solution you are looking for, especially if you have permanently time-crunched Commission Analysts.

P.S. 3: Tanita, you probably want to disown me after the revelation about the trousers under the long skirt.  Yes, it was every bit as bad as the imagination conjures - the ends of the trousers peeping from under the skirt and all.

P.S. 4: And finally, Ravi, if you are reading this, remember it was I who introduced you to Tom Yum soup.

P.S. 5:  As always, thanks for reading and do come back for more.

Same As Same As

Last post, I asked you what these people had in common –

Bill Clinton & George H. W. Bush

Robert Redford & Robert DeNiro

John F. Kennedy Jr. & Caroline Kennedy

Lewis Carroll and H.G. Wells

Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr

Here are some more...

What do these people have in common?

Queen Victoria & Prince Charles

It is not that both are British royalty.

David Letterman & Jay Leno

It is not that both are late night TV show hosts.

John McEnroe & Martina Navratilova

It is not that both are former World No. 1's in tennis.

Edwin Buzz Aldrin & Wally Schirra

It’s not that both are astronauts.

Pablo Picasso and Michael Angelo

It’s not that both are famous names in the art world, whose works are on display in the Louvre, MET, MOMA and the Tate.

Here’s the answer...all the people listed are left-handed.

In exploring left-handedness, I discovered these interesting facts:

•    Only 10% of people are left-handed.

•   Left-handedness is also called sinistrality, sinistromanuality,or mancinism. 

 

• Why people are born left-handed remains an awesome mystery, but there are some charming theories, one being that left-handed people were originally part of an identical twin pair in the womb, with the right-handed twin fetus failing to develop early in development. The theory called the Vanishing Twin theory arose out of the fact that among twins, frequently one is left-handed, the other right-handed.

•  Across all cultures, through history, left-handedness has been frowned upon, and left-handed people have been coerced to use their right-hand.  Even today, in many parts of the world, lefty or not, you will be forced to use your right hand for many activities, eating being one of them.

• Right-handers being in the majority, the world is of course designed for right-handed people – from machines to cooking and writing implements, from banisters to doorknobs. As a result, left-handers are more prone to injuring their hands.

• And finally, I came across these 2 interesting articles about left-handedness, one about left-handed surgeons which you can read here, and one about a research study on the handedness of octopuses, which you can read about here.

P.S. I wrote this post for the southpaws (slang for lefties) of the family – Jade, Rosie and Shreekant.  If I inadvertently left any one out, please set me right. Also, August 13 was International Left-Handers Day.  So belated Happy Left-Handers Day to all of you.

P.S. 2: The most well-known left-hander of the current times is President Obama.  Since there are so many pictures of him signing historic bills into law, including the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, the repeal of  "Dont Ask, Dont Tell", and the $938 billion Health Care bill,  I decided to use President Clinton as an example of a U.S. President rather than him. FYI, President Obama used 22 pens to sign the Health Care bill on March 23, 2010.  You can read about it here.

P.S. 3:  If you want to read the most famous book on left-handedness, a book by Dr.Stanley Coren, you can link to it here. Also, if you are a left-hander and need to find an implement, instrument or tool specifically designed for left-handers like the Fiskars 94507097 pictured above, here’s a link to the Anything Left-Handed site which can help you. Note: Dr. Stanley Coren is equally famous for a series of books on the intelligence of dogs and for his books on sleep deprivation. You can read more about Dr. Coren on his website. Here's the link.

P.S. 4:  From having a left-handed sibling, I know that there are many times when left-handedness can get in the way. General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, for example, tells this story which occurred when he was stationed in the Gulf during the Persian Gulf conflict of 1991. Scwarzkopf was invited to a banquet held by some Saudi Arabian tribesmen. It was a traditional communal banquet; huge plates of food were brought out and everyone had to reach out and help themselves using their hands. Since Muslims do not eat with the left hand, Schwarzkopf had the onerous task of controlling the automatic impulse to reach out for the food with his left hand. He would catch himself just in time. Eventually he had to immobilize his left hand by sitting on it. Meanwhile, his right hand motor skills being undeveloped, he kept missing his mouth when he tried to get food into it with his right hand. He says he had food all over his face, chin and clothes.  Are you a lefty with stories to tell such as this?  Do share them. We’d love to hear about them and get a laugh out of them.

P.S. 5:  This post was inspired by my daughter Tanita reading a paragraph about left-handedness to me from her AP Psychology text-book.  Tanita is taking AP Psychology this year with Mr. Curry who has been teaching AP Psychology at Santa Teresa High School in San Jose since the ‘80s.  Thank you Mr. Curry and thanks also to all of Tanita’s other teachers at Santa Teresa High School, which in alphabetical order, are Ms. Gonzalez, Mr. Mead, Mr. Phipps, Ms. Pitts and Mr. Shank. Thanks, in fact to all the teachers who have taught Tanita, from her grade school days in Taylor Elementary to her middle school days at Bernal Intermediate to her current high school days at Santa Teresa High. Ever grateful to all of you.

What do Bill Clinton & George H W Bush Have in Common?

                            

It is not that they were both US Presidents, one a Democrat, the other a Republican, one the 42^nd president, one the 41st president, one from Arkansas, one from Texas.

Robert Redford & Robert DeNiro

It is not that they are both Hollywood stars, nor that they both won Oscars in the early 80’s, one for best direction for Ordinary People, the other for best acting for Raging Bull.

John F. Kennedy Jr. & Caroline Kennedy

It’s not that they were both children of John F. Kennedy,  nor that they were both lawyers by education and were both involved in publishing, John Jr. as the publisher of the magazine George until his untimely death, and Caroline as a well-known editor and author.

Lewis Carroll & H.G. Wells

It’s not that they were both writers in the fantasy and science fiction genre, nor that both were English authors, nor that they both have books that were made into movies - Alice in Wonderland in the case of Carroll and War of the Worlds in the case of Wells.

Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr

It is not that they were both part of the British pop sensation band The Beatles, nor that they were both from Liverpool, nor that they are the only two surviving members of the band, George Harrison dying of cancer in 2001 and John Lennon being killed by a stalker in 1980.

For the answer to the intriguing question of what these famous people have in common, you could either read my next post, or you may be able to figure things out from this post itself, since this post contains a clue that's literally staring you in the face. You might have something in common with all the people listed in this post. Good luck!

The ‘Porki” and “Bonkers” Tradition

The Wedding Souvenir - A Kite from India

At a recent family wedding, in giving her toast, the sister-in-law of the bride joked about how the bride often used endearing names to address the groom rather than his actual name. 

‘Bonkers’ and ‘Porki’ were mentioned. 

The sis-in-law said the bride’s brother, much like his sister, was given to addressing her with various unpredictable and unfathomable names of endearment, rather than by her name.

When I heard this, my heart did a little jig (as I am sure my siblings’ hearts did too) – since it confirmed that a long-standing family tradition was alive and well. 

Indeed, calling loved ones by quirky invented names is a cherished family tradition of ours.

You can almost call it a family trait.

Each one of us has our birth names – the ones we were christened with.

But we also have at least one or more other names by which we have been called at one point or the other (I believe I have the dubious distinction of being called by the most number of names.)

Anyhow, I thought it might be fun to do a show and tell on these names. (If the same thing goes on in your family as ours, I am sure you will be able to relate.)

But first... a warning. Don’t try to make sense of these names.

Because the invention process is haphazard.

Not only does it appear that the button is always turned to ‘On” on the invention machine, but the letters of the English language are used like play-dough.

So even if you are a determined sort - like the decipherers of the Egyptian hieroglyphics, or like our cousin Audrey, who is leaving no stone unturned to put together the family tree – be prepared to come up empty-handed trying to get to the bottom of any of these names.

If you must ask, ask Chris or Angy, who are blessed with the sharpest memories and can be trusted to give you reasonable explanations. Rosie and Mohammed, I am not so sure. After a lifetime of getting my fingers burned, I can tell you Ro and Mo are incapable of giving you a serious answer to anything, even a harmless question like “Where’s the bath-room?” or “What’s in this curry?”

Caveats declared, here we go...the mystifying ‘other’ names we are otherwise known by...

Bubbles – another name for the one who spends her waking day making people open their mouths and say “Aah”

Pepti-Ascom  - another name for the one who has been writing warm poetry in one of the coldest of places. You can link to one of her poems here.

Boozy – another name for the one who has been both a student and a principal of a management school.

Rozaizins – another name for the one who spent many years picking up a telephone and saying “Good Morning.  Thank you for calling ASP”, which probably accounts for the repressed humor coming out in full force now.

Mintakoots – another name for the one who can never hope to get a job at Google because of daring ditties like “A tooter who tooted the flute”. You can read about the fiasco here.

Davuksha – another name for the one who knows the A to Z of the shipping and container business, and also Hava Nagila. You can read about his penchant for Hava Nagila here.

P.S.  If your family is given to inventing names, we’d love to hear them.  Even if they are downright embarrassing or silly!  I am sure your lot couldn’t be as bad as Tanita’s. By virtue of having me as a mother, she has had to learn to keep up with all sorts of endearments that may or may not bear any resemblance to her name and are often invented at the drop of a hat and changed at the drop of a hat as well. Right now, the panoply includes ‘Tandu-Bindi’ , ‘Shipeekish’,  ‘My Bujgee’, ‘Tanu’  and ‘Taneeeeeda’. BTW, Tanita begged me not to publish these names.  She said her social life would end if I did.  I told her this was part of a diabolical scheme to have her all to myself. Hee! Hee!

P.S. 2:  I am happy to report the invention machine is humming away in Bangalore. Our Bangalore plant recently produced “Muniyandi”.  Way to go, Bangalore!

           

         P.S. 3: It is open to debate whether this family trait came down the matriarchal or patriarchal side of the family.  Maybe we need to ask Chomu, Vantu, Sunbun &  Poppett what they think. 

           

       P.S. 4:  If you want to read other tell-all posts about our family, here’s a link to Family Songs, No Need for 23 and me, and Bow Wow. Woof Woof. Meowww!  - a breathlessly excited conversation between our family pets about Anita Saran.  Anita Saran will do that – to humans and pets alike.

On Writing Well by William Zinsser

Gursharan Summan

AP Lit & Comp,

Santa Teresa High, San Jose, CA

Dr. Lemco

8/23/11

Each year of my high school education I’ve been assigned summer reading, and this year was no different. Late last year I received a sheet listing the options for books that I had to read during summer vacation, and when I saw that the great Lemco was requiring all of his students to read William Zinsser’s On Writing Well,[i] I was far from enthused. I was expecting a lackluster non-fiction epic written in standard textbook-prose, comprised of concepts that I’d learned in elementary school. (Even the title is boring, I thought. And what kind of last name is Zinsser, anyway?) But I put aside my judgments and read it, and was stunned. Zinsser’s book contained captivating and accessible prose that provided golden advice on how to greatly improve as a writer. It forced me to reflect on myself as a writer, reader, and student, and brought me to the conclusion that in order to write as well as I can, I’d have to incorporate his guidance throughout all of my writing.

One of the many epiphanies I had while reading the book was triggered when Zinsser stated, “You are writing for yourself. Don’t try to visualize the great mass audience” (24).  Whenever I write for one of my classes, I become a con artist of sorts, trying to convince my audience that I know what I’m talking about—even if I don’t—adding one big word here, another big word there. Rather than making my narrative-voice a reflection of myself, I deviously alter it to impress the audience. But I am going to rid myself of this deceptive habit by staying true to myself. Zinsser brings to light another one of my many flaws when he declares:

 “Trust your material. . . . Don’t annoy your readers by over-explaining . . .” (88-9). I generally over-explain my points when I write. I don’t usually let my writing stand alone or the readers think for themselves. And I suppose this stems from an insecurity about the reader’s reactions, again going back to my habit of writing with the reader in mind. To excel in these areas, I’ve to learn to be myself when I’m writing, and to trust my material as it is.

One of the most effective passages of writing that I read in On Writing Well was a sentence taken from Henry David Thoreau’s Walden: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived” (7-8). Thoreau’s sentence has a subtle energy about it and demonstrates a passionate love for the written word, and a clear command of language. Each word serves a purpose and takes the sentence where it needs to go. I envy Thoreau’s eloquence and simplicity, and I can only hope to implement these qualities within my own writing.

Humor is a feature that freshens up any piece of writing. Zinsser quotes a passage written by the great Woody Allen, which exemplifies top-rate humor:

“I have been asked if I was aware of the moral implications of what I was doing. As I told the tribunal at Nuremberg, I did not know that Hitler was a Nazi. The truth was that for years I thought he worked for the phone company. When I finally did find out what a monster he was, it was too late to do anything, as I had made a down payment on some furniture”

I laughed out loud when I read this—and I don’t usually laugh at what I’m reading unless it falls under one of two categories: either it’s hilarious, or it’s terrible. But this, without a doubt, is a hysterical little paragraph. Truth be told, I’m a sucker for many of Woody Allen’s films, so I don’t find it odd that I enjoyed this passage. As Zinsser mentions in his book, non sequiturs are characteristic of Woody Allen’s humor, and this passage was no exception. His humor arises from the nonsensical reasoning of the narrator, and it’s that sense of comedic mystery, not knowing what he’s going to say next, that makes this even better. But what I absolutely love about this quote is the fact that Allen stays true to who he is. Even though as I read the passage, I imagined the narrator as a blonde-haired blue-eyed buffoon with little to no sense, I also envisioned the bespectacled Woody Allen in a flannel shirt sitting at his typewriter as he typed and spoke the words in that mousy voice of his. He wrote it for himself, and therefore his true personality was reflected into words—and that’s a quality that I can only strive for.

---

[i] William Zinsser, On Writing Well. (HarperCollins: New York, 2006).

All citations will include the page(s) in parentheses.

P.S. Previously, Gursharan Summan contributed a piece called Feet Planted.  You can read it here. 

P.S. 2: 'The Schmeed Memoirs' from which the Woody Allen line was taken was originally published in The New Yorker in 1971.  Only a single used copy is available on Amazon priced at $148.42. If you are into Woody Allen memorabilia, take note. That's cheaper than the Academy Award autographed photo signed by Woody Allen, Ellen Burstyn, Joel Gray, Mercedes Ruehl, Maximillion Schell, Judi Dench and Olympia Dukakis - selling for $720.80 on E-bay. Check it out.

On Writing Well by Shantel Chavez

 

Shantel Chavez                                                                          

AP Language, Santa Teresa High, San Jose

Mr. Shank

8.26.11

On Writing Well

          Every school year, an English teacher usually requires their students to write an introductory essay about their summer, an experience that changed their life, or a valuable lesson they learned.  Never was I asked to write an essay on writing well, so you can only imagine the stress I felt from the jump in level this year. After much procrastination, I found I was forcing myself to do the dreaded summer reading that I had put off for so long.  During the first few pages, my interest in the book lacked greatly. However, as chapters came and went, I began to pick up Zinsser’s sense of humor. I started to think “Hey, maybe this book won’t be so boring after all”. By the end of the book, I even felt that my thoughts were becoming more elaborate and sophisticated. I realized that this book could have, in fact, changed my writing skills forever.

          The thing I enjoyed about William Zinsser was that his advice and guidance… was actually useful…

                           “The most important sentence in any article is the first one. If it doesn't induce the reader to proceed to the second sentence, your article is dead. And if the second sentence doesn't induce him to continue to the third sentence, it's equally dead.” (55)

          This passage should be printed on large poster boards and plastered all over the world. The quote made me realize that if you’re bored writing the essay, imagine how bored your audience will be.  I never actually acknowledged that the key to successful writing is to keep your readers wanting more and more! The answer was so obvious and Zinsser had finally put it down in words.

          On Writing Well was equipped with helpful tips left and right, but one of Zinsser’s guidelines stood out more to me than all the others. “Sell yourself, and your subject will exert its own appeal. Believe in your own identity and your own opinions.” (26) My main hamartia was always judging my writing by what my teacher or fellow peers would think. Zinsser stresses that the only way to have a well written essay is to have a confident essay. If you try and enhance the degree of your writing by including diction that you have never heard of before, you are clearly writing for your critics. William Zinsser emphasizes that a writer’s work should emanate from his or her personality, not their handiness with a thesaurus.

          The second rule that Zinsser states in his book that I find most valuable is the importance of staying with one tense. “Unity of tense is another choice. Most people write mainly in the past tense ("I went up to Boston the other day"), but some people write agreeably in the present ("I'm sitting in the dining car of the Yankee Limited and we're pulling into Boston"). What is not agreeable is to switch back and forth.” (50). I personally am somewhat guilty of this. I have trouble staying unified with the same tense because I have so many outside source comparisons I like to incorporate into my writing that I mess up on the tenses. Reading Zinsser’s different examples of unifying the past tense and future tense helped me understand how much stronger a paper is when all tenses are unified.

          One of my favorite things about Zinsser’s writing style is that he relates common day problems to issues writers normally encounter. Most of these witty comparisons lead t0 a chuckle. “Fighting clutter is like fighting weeds—the writer is always slightly behind.” (13) This simile is one of many hilarious yet true statements you can find throughout this book.  Weeds pop up faster than one can even notice, and unnecessary words pop up in essays faster than the writer can press “delete”! 

           Above all, Zinsser’s writing shows authors, especially young ones, that a well-written paper does not have to have a serious monotone to it, but can be filled with a humorous and friendly tone.

          
          P.S.  If you would like to know more about William Zinsser, you can link to his website here.

     P.S. 2: Thanks Shantel for letting me publish this essay.  Looking forward to future essays from you.