Vocabulary:
1. I was asked if I would come and talk about writing as a vocation职业.
He was going to talk about writing as an avocation业余爱好.
2. revelation: a surprising fact about someone or something that was previously secret and is now made known
动词:reveal
原文:It was a revelation to all of us.
造句:This book is a revelation on writing well to me.
3. fiddle with sth: to move part of a machine in order to make it work, without knowing exactly what you should do
原文:others can’t write the second paragraph until they have fiddled endlessly with the first.
造句:After fiddling with the essay, I finally finished it.
4. assail: if you are assailed by unpleasant thoughts or feelings, they worry or upset you
原文:a person assailed被困扰 by many forces competing for attention.
hassle: to annoy sb, especially by asking them many times to do
原文:He meant that the students had been hassling them about different things.
5. We are a society strangling扼杀,窒息,压制 in unnecessary words, circular constructions, pompous华而不实的 frills虚饰 and meaningless jargon行话.
Reflection:
“Out of it come two of the most important qualities that this book will go in search of: humanity and warmth. ...Can such principles be taught? Maybe not. But most of them can be learned."
人性和热情。对呀,文字是写给人看的,自然要有人性,而文字是人写的自然每个人的文字都流淌着不同的血液,有不同的风情。像Dr. Brock和作者的那场访谈一样,两人对写作完全对立的见解却能给对方revelation,给观众带来不同的写作观念。写作也一样吧。
"The secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components...Writing is hard work. A clear sentence is no accident. "
郑板桥曾题书斋联:“删繁就简三秋树,领异标新二月花。”William Zinsser的这章也是同样道理。好奇本书后面是否会涉及领异标新。