On Writing Well-Chap.5 & 6

1 Interesting Language Points

1.1 deify

The war has deified her and she is the darling of the home front, feted at conference tables, praised in every smoking car, her girlish ways and curious habits the topic of many an excited husbandryman to whom yesterday she was a stranger without honor or allure.(Chap.5)

to take as an object of worship

Deifying anyone great shall be considered as a political betrayal.

1.2 reckon with

At first, as a boy in a carefully zoned suburb I had neighbors and police to reckon with...(Chap.5)

1 something/somebody to be reckoned with 

somebody or something that is so powerful and must be regarded seriously as a possible opponent, competitor, danger etc

2 have somebody/something to reckon with

have to deal with somebody or something powerful

Having strict parents to reckon with, he had got used to staying up late.

1.3 Bible Belt

...when hero worship was an American religion and the self-righteous wrath of the Bible Belt oozed from coast to coast.(Chap.5)

an area chiefly in the southern U.S. whose inhabitants are believed to hold uncritical allegiance to the literal accuracy of the Bible

2 Good Words

The war has deified her and she is the darling of the home front, feted at conference tables, praised in every smoking car, her girlish ways and curious habits the topic of many an excited husbandryman to whom yesterday she was a stranger without honor or allure.(Chap.5)

I remained loyal, as a man would to a bride whom his family received with open ridicule.(Chap.5)

You'll never make your mark as a writer unless your develop a respect for words and a curiosity about thier shades of meaning that is about obsessive.The English language is rich in strong and supple words.

3 Summary in Chinese

几乎可以算作是前一章的延续，第五章讨论了“你为谁而写”的问题。这次，Zinsser的回答同样明确。你为自己而写。向上一章一样，作者说明了为何“要保证作者能够看懂看得下去”的情况下还要坚持自己的内心的想法。这其实是不违背的。保持简洁等一些文章的基本的原则，是为了作者能够完成欣赏。而至于作者是赞赏你的文章还是批评你的文章，这就取决于你与他是否心灵相契了。作者举了三个作家的例子，其中就包括其最为欣赏的E.B.White。坦然承认，这三段文章我只大概读懂了后一段，还是作者风格使然。因此对于其内心如何，只能参照Zinsser的描述了。

第六章讲解了一个作家需要了解的基本问题：词汇。作者首先说明了不要用journalese，或者说cliche。之后告诉了我们使用词典和近义词词典的重要性。最后，作者还告诉了我们一个中文读者常常忽视的事实：音韵节奏对写作的重要性。作者首先在说近义词词典是用了一长串的首辅音押韵的近义词排比，之后又说了不同词汇声音效果对文章的影响。