On Writing Well CH11&12

I. Words and express

1.This hearty introduction dropped like a stone in our midst, and none of the three lovely ladies said anything, which I thought was the proper response.

dropped like a stone in our midst  比喻十分有趣，在这里有种“一石激起千层浪”的感觉。

2. It was the beginning of a golden era of nonfiction, especially in Life, which ran finely crafted articles  every week.

a golden era  黄金时代

3.What I'm saying is that I have no patience with the snobbery that says nonfiction is only journalism by another name and that journalism by any name is a dirty word.

snobbery  the trait of condescending to those of lower social status

synonymous: arrogance, high-handedness

4.Don't be buffaloed into the idea that it's an inferior species.

buffalo v.  intimidate or overawe   

5.Probably you'll never feel entirely comfortable prodding another person for answers he or she may be too shy or too inarticulate to reveal.

prodding  a verbalization that encourages you to attempt something.

synonymous: goad, goading, urging, spur, spuring

6. If your interview is on tape you become a listener, forever fussing with the machine, running it backward to find the brilliant remark you can never quite find, running it forward, stopping, starting, driving yourself crazy.

stopping, starting, driving yourself crazy   三个动词连用很有节奏感，体现了作者不停的倒带，为了找到采访中的一些精彩部分的状态

II. Summary

In chapter 11, Zinsser showed that  Americans became more fact-minded than usual. Nowadays is a golden era of nonfiction. For the reason that magazine and newspapers publish dramatically. people tend to lost their patient with the slower rhythms and glancing allusions of the novelist. However, it doesn't mean that nonfiction take place all literatures. Writing form is not the defination of good or bad articles. Writer should follow their motivation, which means they should present their vigor, clarity and humanity.

In chapter 12, Zinsser told us how to begin and write an interview. Firstly, decide who you want to interview. Writer should push themselves into the real word, write somebody whom can touches the corner of the reader's life. The most important thing is that writer should try to achieve a balance between what the subject is saying in interviewee's words and what  writers is writing in their own words. Writers should respect the interviewees, write real people and show real life. Whereas, writer also need to be more active  to form their style.

III. Thoughts

Zinsser在第十一章中讲到了纪实文学的潮流。当前社会，纪实文学无疑大行其道，但这并不意味是一种文体取代了另一种文体。文体并不优劣之分，Zinsser指出，作者应当遵从自己的写作动机，文体并不是决定文章优劣的关键，重要的是哪一种文体更适合作者用以表达自我。

采访文体的写作十分有趣，如果说其他的写作是作者写与自己相关的事情，在写作中完成的自己的内心世界向文学世界的转换。那么一篇采访涉及三个重要元素，被采访者、作者与读者、首先，选择被采访者十分重要，这关系到能否引起读者的兴趣。其次，则是作者与被采访者之间的交锋，作者要在一篇采访中真实地展现被采访者，那么无疑需要控制一些不必要的自我观点，以免误导读者。但同时，作者还应当更为主动地引导被采访者，控制采访的节奏、将被采访者的语言转换为文章、依照自己的风格进行修改润色。因此，无论是文体还是具体的采访写作，Zinsser都十分重视作者在写作中的主导地位。