William Zinsser’s On Writing Well—much like The Elements of Style and Stephen King’s On Writing—is one of those books that gets recommended to all writers sooner or later. And for good reason.

Zinsser has been in the writing business a loooong time (nearly 70 years, in fact). He’s taught classes and workshops, worked as a journalist, and authored nearly 20 books on a variety of topics. When he gives writing advice it’s best to listen up, and On Writing Well is chock-full of that advice.

Where The Elements of Style comes across as dry and stuffy, On Writing Well is warm and inviting. Sure, Zinsser provides some concrete rules to abide by, but he also admits that it’s okay for an experienced writer to break those rules sometimes.

On Writing Well is available from Amazon in paperback form ($9) and as a Kindle edition ($8.50).