Content:
Part I | Principles
1. The Transaction
2. Simplicity
3. Clutter (Writing clean English Sentence)
4. Style (Preserving your identity)
5. The audience (Who am I writing for)
6. Words (The only tools you’ve got)
7. Usage (What is good usage)
Part II | Methods
8. Unity (Anchor of good writing)
9. The lead and the ending
10. Bits and pieces
Part II | Forms
11. Nonfiction as Literature
12. Writing About People: The Interview
13. Writing About Places: The travel article
14. Writing About Yourself: The Memoir
15. Science and Technology
16. Business Writing:Writing in Your Job
17. Sports
18. Writing About the Arts Critics and Columnists
19. Humor
Part III |Attitudes
20. The Sound of Your Voice
21. Enjoyment, Fear and Confidence
22. The Tyranny of the Final Product
23. A Writer’s Decisions
24. Writing Family History and Memoir
25. Write as Well as You Can
Words and Expressions:
(友情提示:今天的单词部分有点长……)
1. ...feel the first twinges of their own advancing age...
twinge既可以指身体也可以指心理上的剧痛，这里指的是心理上的不快。
1.N-COUNT (通常指不快的)一阵强烈情感
A twinge is a sudden sharp feeling or emotion, usually an unpleasant one.
【搭配模式】：with supp
I would have twinges of guilt occasionally…
我时而会感到阵阵内疚。
For a moment, Arnold felt a twinge of sympathy for Mr Wilson.
有一瞬间，阿诺德对威尔逊先生心生同情。
2.N-COUNT (一阵)剧痛，刺痛
A twinge is a sudden sharp pain.
…the occasional twinge of indigestion.
消化不良引起的偶发性剧痛
2. do they suddenly want to know more about their family heritage and all its accretions of anecdote and lore.
1.N-COUNT 增加物;添加物
An accretion is an addition to something, usually one that has been added over a period of time.
【STYLE标签】：FORMAL 正式
The script has been gathering editorial accretions for years.
多年来该剧本一直在修改。
2.N-UNCOUNT 添加；累积
Accretion is the process of new layers or parts being added to something so that it increases in size.
【STYLE标签】：FORMAL 正式
A coral reef is built by the accretion of tiny, identical organisms.
珊瑚礁是由许多相同的微生物不断堆积而成。
3. My father, a businessman with no literary pretensions.
1.N-VAR 自命不凡；虚荣；矫饰
If you say that someone has pretensions, you disapprove of them because they claim or pretend that they are more important than they really are.
【语用信息】：disapproval
Her wide-eyed innocence soon exposes the pretensions of the art world...
她的天真烂漫很快就暴露了艺术界的矫揉造作。
2.N-UNCOUNT 声称；标榜；自称
If someone has pretensions to something, they claim to be or do that thing.
【搭配模式】：also N in pl
The city has unrealistic pretensions to world-class status...
这个城市不切实际地标榜自己为国际都市。
4. He would assess the situation, pick a club out of the bag.
club常见的意思是俱乐部，但这里表示“高尔夫球杆“。
1.N-COUNT 俱乐部;会;社团
A club is an organization of people interested in a particular activity or subject who usually meet on a regular basis.
...the Chorlton Conservative Club.
升尔顿保守党俱乐部
He was club secretary.
他是俱乐部秘书。
2.N-COUNT 俱乐部会所；俱乐部活动场所
A club is a place where the members of a club meet.
【搭配模式】：oft poss N
I stopped in at the club for a drink.
我顺路到俱乐部喝了一杯。
3.N-COUNT 职业运动俱乐部
A club is a team which competes in sporting competitions.
...Liverpool football club.
利物浦足球俱乐部
4.N-COUNT 同 nightclub
A club is the same as a nightclub.
It's a big dance hit in the clubs.
这支舞曲在夜总会很火。
5.N-COUNT (高尔夫球)球杆
A club is a long, thin, metal stick with a piece of wood or metal at one end that you use to hit the ball in golf.
...a six-iron club.
6号铁杆
6.N-COUNT 大棒;棍棒
A club is a thick heavy stick that can be used as a weapon.
Men armed with knives and clubs attacked his home.
一群手持刀棒的人袭击了他家。
7.VERB (用大棒等)狠狠地打,猛击
To club a person or animal means to hit them hard with a thick heavy stick or a similar weapon.
【语法信息】：V n
【语法信息】：V n to n
Clubbing baby seals to death for their pelts is wrong.
为了获得海豹皮而用棍棒打死幼海豹是不道德的。
8.N-UNCOUNT-COLL (纸牌中的)梅花
Clubs is one of the four suits in a pack of playing cards. Each card in the suit is marked with one or more black symbols: .
...the ace of clubs.
梅花A
A club is a playing card of this suit.(一张)梅花(牌)
The next player discarded a club.
下一个牌手打出一张梅花。
相关词组：club together
5. He gave a copy, personally inscribed, to each of his three daughters.
1.VERB 写;刻;雕
If you inscribe words on an object, you write or carve the words on the object.
【语法信息】：V nonn
【语法信息】：V-ed on/with n
【语法信息】：V-ed quote
Some galleries commemorate donors by inscribing their names on the walls...
一些美术馆把捐赠者的姓名镌刻在墙上以示纪念。
...stone slabs inscribed with Buddhist texts.
镌刻着佛经的石板
2.VERB 题写;题献;题赠
If you inscribe something in the front of a book or on a photograph, you write it there, often before giving it to someone.
【语法信息】：V n
【语法信息】：V-ed quote
On the back I had inscribed the words: 'Here's to Great Ideas! John'...
在背后我题写了这样的话：“愿奇思妙想不绝！约翰”。
The book isinscribed: To John Arlott from Laurie Lee.
书的题赠是：献给约翰·阿洛特——劳丽·李。
6. In his family history my father didn’t dodge the central trauma of his childhood.
dodge最常见的用法恐怕是那个狗狗表情吧。
1.VERB 闪开;躲开;避开
If you dodge, you move suddenly, often to avoid being hit, caught, or seen.
【语法信息】：V prep/adv
He dodged amongst the seething crowds of men...
他在川流不息的人群中东躲西闪。
2.VERB 闪身躲开;避开
If you dodge something, you avoid it by quickly moving aside or out of reach so that it cannot hit or reach you.
【语法信息】：V n
He desperately dodged a speeding car trying to run him down.
他拼命地闪身躲开一辆试图撞倒他的疾驰的汽车。
3.VERB (常指用欺诈的方式故意)躲避，逃避
If you dodge something, you deliberately avoid thinking about it or dealing with it, often by being deceitful.
【语法信息】：V n
【搭配模式】：usu supp N
Many struggling firms are ready to break the law by dodging tax.
很多挣扎求生的企业不惜违法逃税。
Dodge is also a noun.
This was not just a tax dodge.
这不仅仅是逃税。
7.Their mother was the daughter of a self-made German immigrant.
ADJ 靠自己奋斗成功的;(尤指)白手起家的
Self-made is used to describe people who have become successful and rich through their own efforts, especially if they started life without money, education, or high social status.
【搭配模式】：usu ADJ n
He is as elf-made man.
他白手起家。
...a self-made millionaire.
一个靠双手打拼的百万富翁
8.But she had the German penchant for telling people off.
看来爱训人的奶奶确实不太容易招人喜欢啊。
Tell off
PHRASAL VERB 斥责;训斥;训诫
If you tell someone off, you speak to them angrily or seriously because they have done something wrong.
【语法信息】：V n P
【语法信息】：V n P for n/-ing
【语法信息】：V P n (not pron)
He never listened to us when we told him off...
我们教训他时，他从来不听。
I'm always being told off for being so awkward...
我笨手笨脚的，总挨训。
9.The result was an avalanche of memoirs that were little more than therapy.
1.N-COUNT 雪崩
An avalanche is a large mass of snow that falls down the side of a mountain.
2.N-SING 纷至沓来；蜂拥而至
You can refer to a very large quantity of things that all arrive or happen at the same time as an avalanche
of them.
【搭配模式】：usu Nofn
The newcomer was greeted with an avalanche of publicity.
新来者受到了广泛的关注。
10.Writing was out and whining was in.
whining是whine的名词形式。
whine
1.VERB 尖叫;哀号;悲鸣
If something or someone whines, they make a long, high-pitched noise, especially one which sounds sad or unpleasant.
【语法信息】：V
【搭配模式】：usu sing
He could hear her dog barking and whining in the background...
他能听见她的狗在暗处吠叫、哀嚎。
Whine is also a noun.
...thewhineof air-raid sirens.
空袭警报器的鸣响
2.VERB （令人讨厌地）抱怨;唠叨
If you say that someone is whining, you mean that they are complaining in an annoying way about something unimportant.
【语法信息】：V about n/-ing
【语法信息】：V that
【语法信息】：V with quote
【语法信息】：V
【语法信息】：V-ing
【语用信息】：disapproval
They come to me to whine about their troubles.
他们到我这儿来不停地唠叨他们的烦恼。
It's just a scratch. Stop whining.
只是刮了一道，别埋怨了。
...a pleading, whining voice.
哀求的咕哝声
11.She regularly clipped columns and articles out of the paper.
clip在这里是动词，表示 (从报纸或杂志上)剪下。
1.N-COUNT (金属或塑料的)回形针，夹子
A clip is a small device, usually made of metal or plastic, that is specially shaped for holding things together.
She took theclipout of her hair.
她把发夹取了下来。
2.V-ERG (用夹子)夹住，夹在一起
When you clip things together or when things clip together, you fasten them together using a clip or clips.
【语法信息】：V n to/on n
【语法信息】：V n prep/adv
【语法信息】：V to n
【语法信息】：V-ed
He clipped his safety belt to a fitting on the deck...
他把安全带夹在甲板的一个固定装置上。
3.N-COUNT (电影、广播或电视节目的)剪辑，片段
A clip from a film or a radio or television programme is a short piece of it that is broadcast separately.
【搭配模式】：oft n N
...a clip from the movie 'Shane'.
电影《原野奇侠》的一段剪辑
4.VERB (尤指为使某物成形而)修剪，剪
If you clip something, you cut small pieces from it, especially in order to shape it.
【语法信息】：V n
I saw an old man out clipping his hedge...
我看见一位老人在外面修剪树篱。
Clip is also a noun.
Give hedges a last clip.
对树篱进行最后的修剪。
5.VERB (从报纸或杂志上)剪下
If you clip something out of a newspaper or magazine, you cut it out.
【语法信息】：V n from/out of n
Kids in his neighborhood clipped his picture from the newspaper and carried it around.
附近的孩子们从报纸上剪下他的照片，到哪儿都带着。
6.VERB (意外地)斜撞，侧击
If something clips something else, it hits it accidentally at an angle before moving off in a different direction.
【语法信息】：V n
The lorry clipped the rear of a tanker and then crashed into a second truck.
大货车斜撞上一辆油罐车的尾部，接着又撞上了另一辆货车。
7.N-COUNT (通常指作为惩罚的)耳光，抽打
If you give someone a clip round the ear, you hit their head fairly lightly with the palm of your hand, usually as a punishment.
The boy was later given a clip round the ear by his father.
后来男孩被父亲打了一耳光。
8.VERB 削减，缩短（时间）
If you clip a small amount off the time taken to do something, you reduce it by that amount.
【语法信息】：V amount off/from n
Boardman finished in 1hr 43mins,clipping 49 seconds from his own course record.
博德曼完成全程用时1小时43分，把自己的赛道纪录缩短了49秒。
9.N-COUNT 弹夹;弹匣;弹仓
An ammunition clip is a metal container on an automatic weapon which holds ammunition.
【搭配模式】：oft n N
10.See also:clipping;clipped;bulldog clip;paper clip;
11.PHRASE 快速地；飞速地
If something moves or happens at a fast clip, it moves or happens quickly.
【搭配模式】：PHR after v
【STYLE标签】：INFORMAL 非正式
They moved out from the airport at a brisk clip...
他们迅速撤离机场。
12. Victorian writers had a taste for the ornate and didn’t consider brevity a virtue.
ADJ-GRADED 装饰华丽的；修饰繁复的
An ornate building, piece of furniture, or object is decorated with complicated patterns or shapes.
...an ornate iron staircase.
装饰华丽的铁艺楼梯
...the big dining-room with its massive fireplace and ornate ceiling.
带有巨大壁炉和华美天花板的宽敞餐厅
ornately
Eventually they reached a pair of ornately carved doors.
他们最终来到一扇雕刻精美的对开门前。
维多利亚时期的写作风格，就是句子和单词越复杂越好，导致好多词不认识，好多句子看不懂。
感受一下：
Thoughts：
24章，zinser用自己没有受过写作训练的父亲做例子，讲了怎么写家庭传记。看完之后，觉得memoir for family的意义真的远远超过写作这件事本身，让作者能够以自己的视角，将回忆变成文字送给家人，世界上还有比这更好的礼物么？
25章，虽然标题是 "write as well as you can"， 但后半章看下来更像 “fight as hard as you can”。
我对编辑最初的印象，来自于小时候看到的一则轶事。讲一个国外的知名作家，喜欢在手稿的底部用铅笔画一只小狗。为此经常和编辑发生争论，争论的焦点是要不要把小狗去掉。虽然作家每次都败下阵来，用橡皮擦掉了小狗，但依然乐此不疲。直到有一天有人问他:"既然每次都被要求擦掉，何必要画呢？"作家回答说"这样，编辑就会去关注小狗，而不会动我的文字了。"
以至于很长时间，我都以为作家和编辑的关系是这样的。
直到看了《麦克斯·珀金斯：天才们的编辑》，才意识到编辑也可以像zinser说的那样，" An editor’s hand must be invisible. Whatever he adds in his own words shouldn’t sound like his own words; they should sound like the writer’s words. "。
而编辑和作家的关系，虽然大多数情况下相爱相杀，但"Ideally the relationship between a writer and an editor should be one of negotiation and trust. "，可以有争执，但出发点都是为了作品本身更好。
能够碰到好编辑，当然是幸运的事，但假如碰不到，就要像zinser那样，捍卫自己的作品，fight as hard as you can!
最后一章读完了，撒花！
Writing well means believing in your writing and believing in yourself, taking risks, daring to be different, pushing yourself to excel.You will write only as well as you make yourself write.