Part 1
1.
- The previous chapter was about big decisions: matters of shape, structure, compression, focus and intention.
shape
[N-SING 单数名词] (计划或组织的)框架，结构，特点，形式；
The shape of something that is planned or organized is its structure and character.
get/ knock/ lick sth into shape to make sth
more acceptable, organized or successful
get sth/sb into an orderly state; arrange sth/sb properly
把某事物整顿好；使某事物条理化（或更趋完善）
give shape to sth
(formal) to express or explain a particular idea, plan, etc.
表达，阐释（观点、计划等）
take shape
to develop and become more complete or organized
to start to develop a more clear or certain form
成形；有了模样；变得更有条理
in the shape of sth
in the form of something; appearing as something
以…的形式；看似…
the shape of things to come
the form or style that is likely to develop or be popular in the future
可能出现（或流行）的形式（或风格）
造句
In the story, animals have taken the shape of a man.
2.
- All your clear and pleasing sentences will fall apart if you don’t keep remembering that writing is linear and sequential, that logic is the glue that holds it together, that tension must be maintained from one sentence to the next and from one paragraph to the next and from one section to the next, and that narrative—good old-fashioned storytelling—is what should pull your readers along without their noticing the tug.
tension
[N-UNCOUNT 不可数名词] 拉紧程度；拉力；张力；
The tension in something such as a rope or wire is the extent to which it is stretched tight.
常用词疑难用法
本意是“紧张关系”、“张力”，但近年来越来越多用来表示“矛盾”、“对立”。中文近年来也常用“张力”表示这个意思，但似乎有点词不达意。
【例如】
The two approaches, though often in tension, were not mutually exclusive. (The Atlantic Monthly, July/Aug., 2006, p. 34)
两种做法，尽管常常互相对立，但并不是互不相容的。
The tension between liberty and security is as old as the Republic—and as new as the latest high-tech listening device. In wartime, that tension very often plays itself out as a battle between the White House and the press. (Time, July 10, 2006, p. 6)
自由与安全之间的矛盾，要说历史悠久，可以同共和国一样悠久，要说是新近的事，又可以同最新式的高科技窃听装置一样新。在战时，这个矛盾常常展开表现为白宫和新闻界之战。
我认为原文中这里的tension取文字的张力之意，应该是合适的——
链接 | 什么是文字的张力? - 知乎
造句
Eileen chang's novels are full of tension.
3.
- What struck me most powerfully when I got to Timbuktu was that the streets were of sand.
Tim∙buktu (also Tim∙buctoo)
/ˌtɪmbʌkˈtu:/
noun
a place that is very far away
遥远的地方
ORI From the name of a town in northern Mali.
源自马里北部城镇廷巴克图。
这个词在后文作者有结合语境和文章主旨的生动解释：
- I was surprised by how many people, hearing of my trip, didn’t think Timbuktu was a real place, or, if it was, couldn’t think where in the world it might be. They knew it well as a word—the most vivid of all synonyms for the almost-unreachable, a God-given toy for songwriters stuck for an “oo” rhyme and a metaphor for how far a lovestruck boy would go to win the unwinnable girl. But as an actual place—surely Timbuktu was one of those “long-lost” African kingdoms like King Solomon’s Mines that turned out not to exist when the Victorian explorers went looking for them.
Part 2
昨天没有打卡。前天倒是打卡了，但是标题写错数字啦，脑子不好使啦。
- The lead must grab the reader with a provocative idea and continue with each paragraph to hold him or her in a tight grip, gradually adding information. The point of the information is to get readers so interested that they will stick around for the whole trip.
- It also adds a certain kind of information—not hard facts, but enjoyable lore.
- Notice how much information is crammed into these three sentences:
- Don’t give readers of a magazine piece more information than they require;
这里的information，让我意识到写作不仅是美感的传递、情绪的表达，而很重要的一点，它还是信息的交流、思想的碰撞。读者被吸引，不仅是多么抓眼球的标题、多么华丽璀璨的语言，根本上还是能从作者的写作中获得需要的信息，获取一种知识上的增长，而这种脑力活动，恰恰是持续阅读的快感。
比如麻将，外人看来只是消遣和赌博心理的沉迷，而麻将桌上一动不动通宵达旦的当事人，却恰恰也因为脑子的高速运转而保持精神的清醒甚至振奋。
所以，安逸不是长久之计。
不见不散哟。
以上。
网友评论