While his interests originally led him to the medical field, he developed his potential as a writer soon after his graduation from the University of Pennsylvania's Medical School in 1906. His first literary work was published in 1909 under the simple title: "Poems". Following this initial effort, Williams began to explore other genres, such as the autobiography, dramatical theater, and the short story.
Williams was an important poet in the imagist movement but eventually went on to other things as his interests and values changed. He continued writing line-based poetry, as opposed to more traditional, sentance-based works, and eventually became heavily involved in the modernist movement.
Some notable achievements of Williams' career are his 1950 The National Book Award followed by the Pulitzier Prize in 1963.
Willaims died in Rutherford, New Jersey on March 4, 1963.