Day 01 On Writing Well

1、词与句子

His was the seemingly effortless style -- achieved, I knew, with a great effort-- that I wanted to emulate, and whenever I began a new project I would first read some White to get his cadences into my ear.

His was 乍一看以为是笔误，后来才知道是名词性物代词。

As America has steadily changed in 30 years, so has the book.

口语中常用这结构，So am I / So do I. 想不到写作也能这样用，文中有很多省略句用得很漂亮。

I had no inkling of the electronic marvels that would soon revolutionize the act of writing. First came the word processor, in the 1980s, which made the computer an everyday tool for people who had never thought of themselves as writers. Then came the Internet and e-mail, in the 1990s, which continued the revolution.

First came.... Then came.... 句子中间的主语也可以省略，脑补主语应该是什么？the electronic marvels?

The airline pilot who announces that he is presently anticipating experiencing considerable precipitation wouldn't think of saying it may rain.

这个例子很有意思，看了好几遍过明白。

Writing is hard work. A clear sentence is no accident. very few sentences come out right the first time or even the third time. Remember this in moments of despair. If you find that writing is hard, it's because it is hard.

2、感悟

自从重新学英语以来，花了很多时间在写作上面，看了不少的写作书、范文，以及教学视频，可是仍然感觉不到进步。常常想，以前的武侠小说中人家得到一本武功秘籍，就可以在深山老林中练就一身绝世武艺，扬名江湖。 而如今，课程解析、教学视频一大堆，也没见进步，是不是现代人的学习能力下降了？

说实在的，我并不是特别期待能从这本书得到什么。语言的习得并不仅限于材料或原理或方法，我有时觉得练习是至关重要的，有时候一个完整的意思需要几个中文句子才能够表达清楚，但是英文中就可以简洁地用介宾短语和从句说明白。而且思维的跳跃也是一大问题，以及用词的准确。每个问题都像大山一样需要我们去翻越。

幸好，这老头说的好。

Can such principles be taught? Maybe not. But most of them can be learned.

给了我些许信心。