Competition for attention
In his book Writing to Learn, William Zinsser asserts that clear thinking leads to clear writing. "It is impossible for a muddy thinker to write good English," he warns, emphasizing the importance of organized thought.
Zinsser also highlights the many forces competing for a reader's attention. When I read the revised edition of the book published in 2006, distractions like Blackberries and iPods were among the culprits. Today, as I write this in January 2025, those seem almost quaint.
Readers now face the relentless pull of smartphones and the even greater threat of social media, which fragments their attention at every turn. In hindsight, the simplicity of an iPod feels like a luxury compared to the overwhelming distractions of our current age