Zinsser That!

Some criticisms you can expect to hear as a writer or copywriter are:

“My 5-year old could have written this”

“It’s boring”

“I don’t get it”

“It’s too long”

“What does this mean?”

“Can we see some other ideas?”

It could mean you need to “Zinsser” your writing.

“Zinsser” your writing – what’s that?

You can find out this Saturday.

And next Tuesday.

When you can read 2 essays on the landmark guide to good non-fiction writing... 

William Zinsser’s “On Writing Well”

The essays were contributed to the blog by Shantel Chavez and Gursharan Summan, 2 AP English Language and Composition students of Santa Teresa High School in San Jose, California.

Without giving too much away about the book, or the essays, let me ask - do you use any of the following in your e-mails, letters, presentations, essays or articles...

·                                       

·        It is interesting to note that

·        At this time

·        And may I add

You do? Don’t worry, I do too!

It suggests we need Dr. Zinsser's help.

Zinsser, The Dr. Spock of Writing

Zinsser is the doctor whom students and aspiring writers are sent to if their professors think they have a writing problem.

Zinsser identifies and suggests the prescription for common writing errors such as …

·        Mixing tense use

·        Being verbose or using empty words and phrases

·        Being overly self-conscious or pretentious

·        Forgetting there’s a ton of stuff competing for your reader’s attention

From Yale and Columbia to Your Kindle or Nook

On Writing Well marks one of 17 books in all written by Zinsser.

If you read these books, you can pick up the advice he gave his writing students at Yale and Columbia.

And you can also pick up the advice he gave readers in his Saturday Evening Post, Life, New York Times and Sports Illustrated columns.

Zinsser still dispenses wisdom on his blog at The American Scholar which you should check out sometime.

But not before you check this blog coming Saturday and next Tuesday for Shantel's and Gursharan’s essays on “On Writing Well”. Thanks!

P.S. Here’s what the New York Times had to say about On Writing Well:

 “On Writing Well belongs on any shelf of serious reference works for writers.”

P.S 2: To read Shantel Chavez’s essay on "On Writing Well", check out the blog Saturday.

P.S.3: To read Gursharan Summan's essay on "On Writing Well", check out the blog next Tuesday.

As always, thanks for reading my posts as well as the guest posts featured on this blog.

Top Recipe Secrets

Can you get at Coke’s legendary formula?

Nope!

Coke's proprietary blend of oils and extracts (dating back to 1886) is among the 10 most highly valued trade secrets and the only written copy is deep in a vault at Atlanta's SunTrust bank - so you’d have to be a bank robber to get at it.

How about Bush’s Baked Beans formula?

Nope, again!

If you’ve seen the ads for Bush’s Original Baked Beans, you know your only hope is to become a Dog Whisperer. Then you can get it out of Jay Bush’s Golden Retriever, Duke.

Here Dukey, Dukey.  Here Dukey, Dukey...good luck with that.

How about Thomas' English Muffins?

Nope Again!

Only 7 Thomas' executives know the exact combination of dough, humidity and baking technique necessary to reproduce these famous muffins.

How about KFC or Slim Jims?

Nope and nope, again!

All we know is one involves 11 herbs and spices and is prepared by hand and the other involves 32 spices and a lactic acid culture. Although, an enterprising soul, Ron Douglas,used some devious methods to try to crack the KFC code - including lying about his wife's food allergies. You can read about it here.

How about Khichdi?

Fortunately, some fantastic recipes like Khichdi are public knowledge and you don’t have to break into bank vaults, become a dog whisperer or tell any lies to get at them.

Even though they are centuries older than Coke, Bush’s Baked Beans or Thomas English Muffins.

Khichdi is a venerable Indian recipe that has provided sustenance to the people of India for centuries. It is a comfort food for Indians - you can think of it like Mac and Cheese for Indians – only made with rice and lentils, not pasta and cheese. Do I hear vegans and people with wheat allergies going “YES!!!!”

Note: this version of Khichdi is taken from a book of vegetarian recipes my sister Angela put together for our family a few Christmases ago (picture depicted above). Thank you, Angy.  Also, Kedgeree is just an Anglicization of Khichdi.

Here we go...

                        Spring Kedgeree with Cashew Nuts

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice (available in Indian stores): One and a half cup

Masoor Dhal (red lentil – available in Indian stores): ½ cup

Onion: 2 (finely sliced)

Ghee (clarified butter – available in Indian stores): 3 Tablespoons

Curry Leaves (available in Indian stores) - optional

Cashew Nuts: ¼ cup - optional

Mint and coriander leaves: ½ cup - chopped

Preparation:

Soak rice and masoor dhal in a little water for half hour separately.

Drain rice and dhal.

Heat ghee, butter or cooking oil in a frying pan and brown one onion with the curry leaves in the oil.

Add the rice and lentils and stir fry for 5 minutes.

Boil 4 cups of water in a large casserole dish and add the rice, lentils, onions and curry leaves from the frying pan. (Note: water must be at least three inches above the rice).

Add salt to taste.

Simmer the kedgeree for half an hour until the grains are cooked and the water is absorbed.

Brown some onions and cashew nuts and add this to the cooked rice and lentils.

Add chopped mint and coriander leaves

Enjoy!

P.S. 1:  When I make Khichdi, I use turmeric, pepper corns, cumin and other spices. You will find many different recipes for Khichdi if you do a Google search on it.

P.S. 2: Per Wikipedia, Khichdi is described in the writings of Afanasiy Nikitin, a Russian adventurer who travelled to South Asia in the 15th century.

P.S. 3: We have some family recipes which have attained cult status and are classified secrets known only to the preparer – such as Mohammed’s Biryani and Eggplant Curry, which many readers of this blog need no introduction to.

P.S. 4: I realize I still love advertising as much as ever, whenever I get delighted by ads I discover by accident.  I came across the Slim Jim Center for Male Spice Loss ads recently and I found the concept and the ads hilarious and so perfect for its target of male teens and young men.  Here’s the link for all you advertising junkies.