Nov.7|Nov.7 On Writing Well（Ch10） Nov.7OnWritingWell（Ch10）

在写笔记前讲一下今天翻了一下的《on writing》中文版，这本书是通过群上一位同学得知的，今天特意去图书馆借回来看。私以为不仅村上春树可以和Zinsser做好朋友，Stephen king也可以。希望未来我也能通过听原版书audio就能了解这本书，好佩服那位小伙伴。这本书中Stephen king直言写作就是心灵感应，这和Zinsser所说的subconscious mind相同。而成为一个作家的方法就是多读多写，副词要谨慎使用，将读者放在心上，而他每天都要写作不管生日圣诞节之类的。因为他一不写作就难受。还言好的描写始于所见清晰，终于落笔明晰，意象清新，词汇简单，这些都和Zinsser写得有异曲同工之妙。
PART ONE VOCABULARY
1.sparingly.

But again, it should be used sparingly.

sparingly：using or doing only a little of something
sparing：careful to use or give only a little of sth

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e.g.we must be spraing with our resources
2.vexing

One of the most vexing new questions for writers is what to do about sexist language, especially the “he-she” pronoun.

vexing:to make someone feel annoyed or worried
之前我们学了一个irked和这个词很像

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3.clog

To turn every “he” into a “he or she,” and every “his” into a “his or her,” would clog the language.

clog：to block something or become blocked
之前我们文章也出现过block堵塞这个词，clog是它的同义词。还有一个意思是木屐鞋

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4.nudge

Over the years, however, many women wrote to nudge me about this.

nudge有好几种意思
1.to push someone gently, usually with your elbow, in order to get their attention用肘轻推以引起注意，在这里应该是读者让作者引起注意

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2.to move something or someone a shortdistance by gently pushing轻推移动

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5.erase

Countless sins can be erased by such small changes.

erase：to get rid of something so that it has gone completely and no longer exists。这个单词好几种意思，有从电脑上消除记忆，有抹掉笔迹，这里是彻底消除

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e.g.our dream is to erase poverty and injustice from the world.
6.tinkering

The point is that clear writing is the result of a lot of tinkering.

tinkering:to make small changes to something in order to repair it or make it work better修理

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7.ragged

But it’s full of ragged edges: failures of the writer to keep the reader notified of changes in time, place and mood, or to vary and animate the style.

ragged：(alsoraggedy)having a rough uneven edgeor surface不规则

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8.humdrum

I like to replace a humdrum word with one that has more precision or color.

humdrum：boring and ordinary, and having no variety or interes单调而乏味

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9.fatigue

Bradley’s book is also an excellent travel journal, catching the fatigue and loneliness of the professional athlete’s nomadic life—the countless night flights and bus rides,

不可数名词，等于exhausted，表示very great tiredness

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part two thoughts

Writing is like a good watch—it should run smoothly and have no extra parts.

【Nov.7|Nov.7 On Writing Well（Ch10）】一开始Zinsser说到为了避免性别歧视，尤其是近来女权运动。甚至读者写信告诉他建议使用比较通用的词。比如大家这种，在写建议类的书的时候可以用“you”。的确英文里面主席之类的词都是以man组合的。这让我想起以前中文是没有女字旁的“她，到了二十世纪女权运动才有这个读音。中国以前没有区分男女代词的传统。白话文兴起后男字旁的他代指男女性。直到新文化运动彻底扫除了封建，第一次提出了女性的她，虽遭到保守派阻挠，但是立刻被广泛使用，这何其不是女性的地位提高？一篇好的文章必定是千锤百炼，Zinsser谈到自己修改文章数遍，而他很享受rewirte的过程甚至觉得自己好像赢了游戏般。用电脑打字这个我能够理解作者说节约时间，减少耗费的精力。但就自己而言，我更喜欢手写，我喜欢纸质的熏香，每一笔手写渗透了作者的情感。要相信你写的材料，话点到为止。最重要是写作跟随自己的兴趣，爱写什么写什么的。比如汪曾祺的《端午的鸭蛋》，汪曾祺尤其爱吃，他本身是高邮人，描写了家乡高邮的风俗和特产鸭蛋，令人垂涎三尺。