I. Word and express
1.Coming home from an arduous day at the hospital, he would go straight to his yellow pad and write his tension away.
arduous adj. 费力的、辛劳的
an arduous day 辛劳的一天
write his tension away 用法十分巧妙，与前面的coming home, go straight相对应，将Dr. Brock将写作视为消遣的状态表现的十分形象。
2.But in fact we gave them a broader glimpse of the writing process than if only one of us had talked.
a broader glimpse 更广阔的视野
此处glimpse比horizon更加妥贴，前者为匆匆一瞥，符合讨论会中学生们的感受；后者更倾向于整体、有远见的视野。
3.We are a society strangling in unnecessary words, circular construction, pompous frills and meaningless jargon.
strangle v.勒死、限制、使窒息
strangle这个词十分形象，其后的四个并列短语非常精炼生动地解释了前一句的clutter。
试译：“杂乱无章是美国人在写作中的痼疾。整个社会充斥着多余无用的词句、繁复冗杂的结构、华而不实的修饰与毫无意义的套话。”
4.Consider all the prepositions that are draped onto verbs that don't need any help.
prepositionA word that shows the relationship of a noun or pronoun to another word.
drape a covering for a widows.
drape在这里用的十分巧妙，表明写作中需要简化的是一些无意义的连接词。
5.If what you build is sturdy and serviceable, take satisfaction in its plain strength.
sturdystrong and firm.
serviceable 意为useful，与句中的build对应，将写作比喻为建筑，建造的楼房和写出的文字一样，是扎实且实用的。
6.This is the problem of writers who set out deliberately to garnish their prose.
garnish decorate; add a garnish to; decorate sth. with small items.
7.Now I am saying you must write for yourself and not be gnawed by worry over whether the readers is tagging along.
gnaw bite or chew on the teeth.
tagging along to follow somebody closely.
gnawed by worry在这里十分有趣，很生动地体现了写作时瞻前顾后，生怕读者不能理解的状态
8.The English language is rich in stong and supple words.
supple flexible 可替换
9.Condoleezza Rice, who hosts foreign notables to beef up the morale of top State Department staffers.
beef up to make something bigger.
morale the spirit of a group that makes the members want the group to succeed.
10.All this talk about good words and bad words brings us to a gray but impotant area called "usage".
a gray but important "gray"指灰色地带，有界限不明、暧昧不清的含义。在这里的用法十分简单，但很有趣地强调了usage的复杂性和重要性。
11.The pen must at length comply with the tongue.
这句话引用自Samuel Johnson, 指书面语要与口语一致，强调写作中的用词不可太过晦涩，应当注重用语的生活化。
12.If brevity is a prize, these were winners.
brevity 短暂，简短 同义词：briefness； conciseness； shortness
13.Unity is the anchor of good writing.
anchor 支柱、支撑，顶梁柱 这一句中强调好的写作中整体一致的重要性
14.An unwieldy writing task is a drain on your enthusiasm.
unwieldy 笨重的、难处理的 在这里指困难的写作会耗尽作者的热情
15.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.
第九章开篇的其中一句，表明作者需要在文章开始的第一二句中吸引读者。“吸引读者继续阅读”，在这里使用了两个同义的表达“proceed to”和“continue to”。
16.But don't dwell on the reason. Coax the reader a little more; keep him inquisitive.
dwell think moodily or anxiously about something
synonymous: brood
17.Most of us are still prisoners of the lesson pounded into us by the composition teachers of our youth.
pounded in 在这里与cramming的意思相近，指作文老师教给我们的那种三段式方法。
II. Summary
1. The Transaction: Writing is a craft not an art. Rewriting is the essence of wrting. The transaction means writer should deal with the problem of the real self and the self in their writing. So authors should use words to express their heart and real personality which is the key of writing. Warmth and humanity are two important character of nonfiction.
2.Simplicity: When we writing, try to think clear and write clear. The way to make it clear is simplify our words and sentenses in rewriting. Writer should always have self awareness, which means they should ask themselves "what am I trying to say" while writing.
3.Clutter: Clutter is just like the weeds in our writing which is the important question we should struggle with. Laborious phrase, long words, useless jargon are the possibly clutter we should avoid. Use brackets to alter and scratch out the clutter is a helpful way.
4.Style: The basic rule of forming one's character is "be yourself". Writing is not cater readers, on the contrary, which is express our real self to attract and induce them. So just relax and be confidence while writing.
5.The Audience: When you are writing, there is no need to pay too much attention to readers' feeling and favor. Yourself is the only one you need to express and pleased. However, it doesn't mean the audience should be ignored. We must write clarity and simplicity which readers can get the point easily.
6.Words: Reading and use dictionaries can avoid us traped in inappropriate use of words. Reading can teach us learning from ourselves and others writing. Using dictionaries can make us writing more precise. What's more, rhythm and alliteration are also vital to writing.
7.Usage: Usage is not stable, on the contrary, is changable. Good English writing is to find the usage we really need, which means can verbalise the interpersonal.
8.Unity: Unity is about pronoun, tense and mood. When we start to write, we should think about the capacity, style, attitude and how to make point. Don't try to tell readers every materials and ideas you know. Think small, then decide what point you want to leave in the reader's mind.
9.The Lead and the Ending: In the lead, writer should make it fresh and intresting, do not lost your readers at th start. In the ending, writer should left the reader a deep impression in the last paragraph. Before writing, we should collect more material in our daily life, even we can not use all of them in one article.
III. Thoughts
Zinsser所指的writing虽然是针对nonfiction的写作，不过能够让人获益的，远远并非是nonfiction的范围。在读前九章的过程中，我经常想到韩愈《与李翊书》中的几句：“当其取于心而注于手也，惟陈言之务去，戛戛乎其难哉！”Zinsser强调，写作并非是要迎合读者，而是要表达自己，这与韩愈的“取于心而注于手”、“词必己出”十分相近。而在Simplicity, Clutter和Words三章中，Zinsser提出的简化观点，也与韩愈的“陈言务去”意外巧合了。
中西方的文论虽各不相同，但在如何写好文章的问题上却是英雄所见略同。用此拙劣、好用夸饰的新闻文体被人诟病，而北宋初的西昆体也存在同样的弊端，因此，才有了梅尧臣、苏舜钦提出的文章需有用于世、有感而发，以及苏轼的“辞达而已矣”。而Zinsser的On Writing Well可以说正是针对美国社会journalese盛行，写作中存在大量冗余词句的状况，给人们指明了一条使用清晰、简明的用词来表达自己的道路。
除了用词之外，Zinsser提出的“think small”对我而言尤为重要。曾经在写论文时，总是十分纠结，思前想后难以下笔。现在看来，难以下笔的原因，一方面是思路不够清晰，另一方面则是因为收集了足够多的文献，下笔时就会贪心不足，想要一篇论文里洋洋洒洒、包罗万象，但实际上却与解决问题的初衷背道而驰。因此，不要试图在一篇文章中告诉读者所有的信息，收集材料要全面，但在写文章时要有所取舍，在文章的谋篇布局中，简化的思维同样重要。