On Writing Well CH9

I.Words and express

1.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”。

2.There is no pat answer.

pat  exactly suited to the occasion  (a pat reply)

3.It must cajole him with freshness, or novelty, or paradox, or humor……

cajole  influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering.

synonymous: palaver, coax, sweet-talk, inveigle

4.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

5.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。

6.The reader's interest begins to falter; the tension you have built begins to sag.

falter  be unsure or weak  （Their enthusiasm is faltering.）

sag  droop, sink, or settle from or as if from pressure or loss of tautness.

II.Summary

In this chapter, Zinsser told us the importance of article's lead and the ending. In the beginning paragraph, the writer should induce readers to continue to read. So the lead should e fresh and interesting. Then every paragraph should express the material and detail coherently.

Before writing, we should collect more material, even we can not use all of them in one article. Zinsser also give us suggestion to look for material. We can find them in our daily life, which is to say everything we can see. Then we can select the proper one for our writing.

There is no firm rules for how to write a lead. The only rule is don't lost your reader. A good write should make sure the lead is naturally suits the whole article and writer's style.

About the ending, writer should left the reader a deep impression in the last paragraph. Just like Zinsser said, "a lift". When the reader finished his reading, the ending is still lingers in his mind and remind the whole article.

In short, entertaining the reader in the lead and surprising them in the ending.

III.Thoughts

本章的内容是关于文章的开头和结尾。和我们熟知的写作方法相近，Zinsser同样认为好的文章在开篇首先是要引起读者的阅读兴趣。但并不是说文章开头要写的多么吸引眼球，能引起人们阅读兴趣的并不是那些怪诞离奇的句子，而是首先在全文中有实际的应用意义。并且，整篇文章的各个段落要紧密关联，最好是每段的最后一句为下一段的开始埋好伏笔。虽然Zinsser所说的是针对nonfiction的写作，但实际上，开头引人注目，激发阅读兴趣在各类经典著作中都可以见到。比如曹丕《典论·论文》首句即是“文人相轻，自古皆然”; 《红楼梦》的开篇用了“真事隐去”、“假语村言”;更不用说脍炙人口的《双城记》的开篇:“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

至于文章的结尾，Zinsser指出，结尾要给读者“a lift”。开头引人入胜，结尾自然要出其不意，使人读罢掩卷，沉思良久。另外，Zinsser还提到了中学时作文老师教给我们的三部分写作法，古今皆然，中外同理，八股文有“破题、承题、起讲、入手、起股、中股、后股、束股”，中小学作文有“龙头、猪肚、豹尾”之法。这样写作的好处是有逻辑，但会显得文章各部分衔接十分机械化。因此，想要写出好的文章，想要展现个人的风格，那么就要把这些套路抛开，写出自己所想，使开头与结尾为自己的观点服务。能打动自己的文字，必然也会打动读者。