On Writing Well - CH20

一. 感想

"The Sound of Your Voice" 这一章,Zinsser讲到了以下要点:

Don't alter your voice to fit your subject.

The effortless style is achieved by strenuous effort and constant refining.

Finding a voice that your readers will enjoy is largely a matter of taste.

Freshness is crucial.

Never hesitate to imitate another writer.

Find the best writers in the fields that interest you and read their work aloud.

因此,若想带给读者轻快而有趣,新鲜而引人入胜的阅读感受,写作者是要通过长期而持续的修炼和领悟才能做到的。其中,模仿喜欢的作家的作品来进行习作,不失为是一条捷径。大可不必担心会因此而失去个性,因为只有经过大量的模仿和思考,我们才能逐步形成自己的风格。当自己的风格形成了,无论你写什么,都"Be Yourself"就好,无需为题材而改变自己。

读到这些理论之前,我曾在自己的阅读和写作中有过一些模糊的体会。例如,若是某个阶段我读的书很有意思,那一时期自己写的东西就会有意无意地与作者的语言风格所接近。其实很多时候都是下意识地模仿,由于连续输入的强烈印象,再加上喜爱的缘故,便自然而然地受其影响,写作中就有了它的影子。

前段时间因为工作需要,我要从普通观众(爱好者)的角度,写一写看机器人对抗赛转播的观后感。在整个写作过程中,我一直在竭力避免从技术的角度去分析转播的情况,而是不断思考作为一个机器人爱好者(实际上我不仅不是,就连游戏经验也没有)会更关心哪些问题,又如何才能轻快、有趣地表述出来。

当时倍觉力不从心,我发现即使我写清了所有的要点,文章也不够吸引人,因为太正式了,一点儿也不好玩。那时候我便意识到,想要做到“好玩”,需要更深的功底(包括写作本身和背景知识)。当我们没有技术负担了,才能轻松地玩起来,写得更有意思,从而吸引读者。


二. 字词

1. breezy

(1) 原文:What they write is the breezy style.

(2) 字典解释:a breezy person is happy, confident, and relaxed

(3) 造句:When I talk to foreigners, I try to sound breezy, although I'm pretty nervous.

2. ingratiate

(1) 原文:He's not trying to ingratiate himself with the reader.

(2) 解释:巴结,讨好

(3) 造句:He always ingratiates himself with anyone who might be useful to him.

3. bummed out

(1) 原文:Frankly, the whole deal kind of bummed me out.

(2) 解释:失望

(3) 造句:This result bummed me out.

4. shut-eye

(1) 原文:Believe you me, a guy can lose a heckuva lot of shut-eye.

(2) 字典解释:sleep

(3) 造句:I wanna get some shut-eye after lunch.

5. shorthand

(1) 原文:They are everywhere in the air around us, familiar friends just waiting to be helpful, ready to express complex ideas for us in the shorthand form of metaphor.

(2) 字典解释:a shorter but less clear way of saying something

(3) 造句:"Relocated" is shorthand for "given a worse job a long way away.

6. intangible

(1) 原文:Saying that isn't much help—taste is a quality so intangible that it can't even be defined.

(2) 解释:不可捉摸的,难以理解的

(3) 造句:The cathedral has an intangible air of holiness about it.

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