一 表达回顾
1. others can’t write the second paragraph until they have fiddled endlessly with the first.
fiddle的意思是不停的拨弄，摆弄，它还可以做名词小提琴。
还有一个引申的意思：informal to give false information about something, in order to avoid paying money or to get extra money篡改，伪造
2. He must push this to a lower decibel of public fixation.
fixation：a very strong interest in or love for someone or something, that is not natural or healthy痴迷，不正常的依恋，固执的偏爱 [+on / with / about]
3. Now I’m saying you must write for yourself and not be gnawed by worry over whether the reader is tagging along.
gnaw: to make you feel worried or uncomfortable使烦恼；折磨. 它的另一个常见的意思咬，啮，啃
tag along：to go somewhere with someone, especially when they have not asked you to go with them〔尤指未经邀请〕跟随，尾随
4. Much of what you see and hear will come back, having percolated for days or months or even years through your subconscious mind, just when your conscious mind, laboring to write, needs it.
percolate：if an idea, feeling, or piece of information percolates through a group, it gradually spreads〔观念、感觉或信息〕逐渐传开
5. The feminist movement helpfully revealed how much sexism lurks in our language, not only in the offensive “he” but in the hundreds of words that carry an invidious meaning or some overtone of judgment.
overtone: tone的意思是语气腔调，再加上前缀over，意思是： signs of an emotion or attitude that is not expressed directly〔情感或态度〕含蓄的表示，暗示，弦外之音
6. But in the end they are makeshift words, sometimes hurting the cause more than helping it.
makeshift：权宜的，临时（代用）的。同义词有：temporary, expedient
7. it’s a pregnant moment.
pregnant这个词不是我们常见的怀孕的意思，而是：耐人寻味的；意味深长的；心照不宣的A pregnant silence or moment has a special meaning which is not obvious but which people are aware of.
8. I spotted an empty seat next to a weathered man in his sixties who was using a stopwatch and taking notes.
weathered是形容词，是由动词weather的意思派生过来的。
weather：if rock, wood, or someone's face is weathered by the wind, sun, rain etc, or if it weathers, it changes color or shape over a period of time（使）〔岩石、木头等〕受风雨侵蚀;（使）〔脸〕饱经风霜
9. They will trot out the hard-won words of their college education
trot out: 复提出，反复说（陈旧的观点或过时的信息）If you say that a person trots out old ideas or information, you are criticizing him or her for repeating them in a way that is not new or interesting.
10. Therefore if you want to be a critic,steep yourself in the literature of the medium you hope to make your specialty.
steep sth/sb in sth
■If something or someone is steeped in something, they are completely surrounded by or involved in it, or they know a lot about it使沉浸于；使深深浸入；使精通
11. If a writer lives in blissful ignorance that clichés are the kiss of death
the kiss of death: If you describe something as the kiss of death, you mean that it is certain to cause something else to fail必然会导致其他事物失败的事物
12. We can write to affirm and to celebrate, or we can write to debunk and to destroy
debunk: to show that something is less important, less good or less true than it has been made to appear驳斥；揭穿，揭露…的真相
13. Notice how much information is crammed into these three sentences
cram: to force a lot of things into a small space, or to do many things in a short period of time 塞满；塞进；挤入；急匆匆地做（许多事）; 此外，还有to try to learn a lot very quickly before an examination（考试前）死记硬背，突击学习的意思
二 推荐阅读
这本书分为四块儿内容：Principles，Methods，Forms和Attitudes
Principles
1 The Transaction
Can such principles be taught? Maybe not. But most of them can be learned？
第一节引出要介绍的principles
2 Simplicity
3 Clutter
But the secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components. Every word that serves no function, every long word that could be a short word, every adverb that carries the same meaning that’s already in the verb, every passive construction that leaves the reader unsure of who is doing what—these are the thousand and one adulterants that weaken the strength of a sentence. And they usually occur in proportion to education and rank.
作者在这里提出了Simplicity的定义。clutter是Simplicity的敌人
4 Style
Writing is an act of ego, and you might as well admit it. Use its energy to keep yourself going.
5 The Audience
Writers needn't grab some certain readers' attention to change their works. Writers should write for themselves.
6 Words
As a writer, you shouldn't curry favor with anyone. Chapter 6 talks about the words of writing. Clichés should be avoided. While, we should bear in mind how the word sound when choosing words.
7 Usage
好的usage就是用一些实际存在的好词去清楚的表达自己的观点。
PART II Methods
8 Unity
Just remember that all unities must be fitted into the edifice you finally put together.
其中包括人称，时态，语态等等的unity。试想，一篇文章如果时态人称混乱，还能称得上好的文章吗？
9 The Lead and the Ending
Therefore your lead must capture the reader immediately and force him to keep reading.
Next the lead must do some real work.
Continue to build. Every paragraph should amplify the one that preceded it.
整篇文章的开头，每段的开头都很重要。我认为它起着两方面的作用：①吸引读者；②统领文章的行文思路。
The positive reason for ending well is that a good last sentence—or last paragraph—is a joy in itself. It gives the reader a lift, and it lingers when the article is over.
结尾的作用是我们常常说的“深华全文”
10 Bits & Pieces
这章作者讲一些细致的principle，像动词形容词标点的使用。
Forms
这一部分按照不同的类型谈怎样进行非虚构类写作。
11 Nonfiction as Literature
The only important distinction is between good writing and bad writing. Good writing is good writing, whatever form it takes and whatever we call it.
12 Writing About People: The Interview
Writing is a public trust. The nonfiction writer’s rare privilege is to have the whole wonderful world of real people to write about. When you get people talking, handle what they say as you would handle a valuable gift.
Each time we interview or communicate with other, we can learn some valuable lessons from them.
13 Writing About Places: The Travel Article
But whatever place you write about, go there often enough to isolate the qualities that make it distinctive. Finally, however, what brings a place alive is human activity: people doing the things that give a locale its character.
一个著名的景点之所以出名，全因为人及人的行为活动赋予了它意义。
14 Writing About Yourself: The Memoir
But the most interesting character in a memoir, we hope, will turn out to be the person who wrote it.
古希腊先哲苏格拉底说过 know yourself
15 Science and Technology
16 Business Writing: Writing in Your Job
17 Sports
18 Writing About the Arts: Critics and Columnists
这四部分讲解的专业写作。作者想要告诉我们的是：无论什么类型，一定遵循普遍的原则。
19 Humor
Control is vital to humor.Don’t make the same kind of joke two or three times—readers will enjoy themselves more if you make it only once.
PART IV Attitudes
20 The Sound of Your Voice
I realize I’m trying to pin down a matter that’s subjective; one person’s beautiful object is somebody else’s kitsch.
Be yourself
21 Enjoyment, Fear and Confidence
写作能给我们带来enjoyment；产生的fear需要confidence克服。
22 The Tyranny of the Final Product
23 A Writer’s Decisions
作为writer，你要有决断力，写什么由你决定。但是不要为Final Product所操纵。
24 Writing Family History and Memoir
25 Write as Well as You Can
You will write only as well as you make yourself write.
