Content:
Part I | Principles
1. The Transaction
2. Simplicity
3. Clutter (Writing clean English Sentence)
4. Style (Preserving your identity)
5. The audience (Who am I writing for)
6. Words (The only tools you’ve got)
7. Usage (What is good usage)
Part II | Methods
8. Unity (Anchor of good writing)
9. The lead and the ending
10. Bits and pieces
Part II | Forms
11. Nonfiction as Literature
12. Writing About People: The Interview
13. Writing About Places: The travel article
14. Writing About Yourself: The Memoir
15. Science and Technology
16. Business Writing:Writing in Your Job
17. Sports
18. Writing About the Arts Critics and Columnists
19. Humor
Part III |Attitudes
20. The Sound of Your Voice
21. Enjoyment, Fear and Confidence
22. The Tyranny of the Final Product
....
Words and Expressions:
1. The Tyranny of the Final Product
tyranny有三个意思，这里是第三个意思。
tyranny
1.N-VAR 暴政;苛政;专制政府
A tyranny is a cruel, harsh, and unfair government in which a person or small group of people have power over everyone else.
He described these regimes as tyrannies and dictatorships…
他把这些政权称作专制与独裁政府。
Self-expression and individuality are the greatest weapons against tyranny.
自我表现与追求个性是反抗暴政的最佳武器。
2.N-UNCOUNT 专横;苛刻;严酷
If you describe someone's behaviour and treatment of others that they have authority over as tyranny, you mean that they are severe with them or unfair to them.
I'm the sole victim of Mother's tyranny.
我是唯一受母亲严加管制的人。
3.N-COUNT (不中意或令人不快的)必需品
You can describe something that you have to use or have as a tyranny if you think it is undesirable or unpleasant.
【搭配模式】：oft N of n
The telephone is one of the great tyrannies of modern life.
电话是现代生活中让人最反感的必需品之一。
2. This fixation on the finished article causes writers a lot of trouble.
N-COUNT 迷恋;固恋;痴迷
If you accuse a person of having a fixation on something or someone, you mean they think about a particular subject or person to an extreme and excessive degree.
【搭配模式】：usu sing
The country's fixation on the war may delay a serious examination of domestic needs.
该国对这场战争的执迷可能会令其不能及时认真地审视国内需求。
3. ...deflecting them from all the earlier decisions.
deflect
1.VERB 转移，引开(批评、注意力等)
If you deflect something such as criticism or attention, you act in a way that prevents it from being directed towards you or affecting you.
【语法信息】：V n
【语法信息】：V nfromn
Cage changed his name to deflect accusations of nepotism...
凯奇改了名字以避免别人指责他搞裙带关系。
It's a maneuver to deflect the attention of the people from what is really happening.
这是为将公众的注意力从真正发生的事情上转移开而耍的花招。
2.VERB 使脱离;使放弃;使中止
To deflect someone from a course of action means to make them decide not to continue with it by putting pressure on them or by offering them something desirable.
【语法信息】：V nfromn/-ing
【语法信息】：V n
The war did not deflect him from the path he had long ago taken...
战争并没有使他放弃自己很久以前就选择的道路。
Never let a little problem deflect you.
决不要因一点小问题就半途而废。
3.VERB 使偏斜;使偏转
If you deflect something that is moving, you make it go in a slightly different direction, for example by hitting or blocking it.
【语法信息】：V n prep
【语法信息】：V n
He stuck out his boot anddeflected the shot over the bar seconds before the final whistle...
就在终场哨响前几秒，他伸脚一挡，使射门的球变向飞过了球门横梁。
My forearm deflected most of the first punch.
我用前臂挡开了第一拳的大部分力道。
4. That’s the premise of my course at the New School.
premise这里的意思是前提，但复数时也可以表示场所。
premise
1.N-PLURAL （企业或机构使用的）房屋及土地；经营场所；办公场所
The premises of a business or an institution are all the buildings and land that it occupies in one place.
【搭配模式】：oft on the N
There is a kitchen on the premises...
该处有一个厨房。
The business moved topremises in Brompton Road.
这家公司搬到了布朗普顿路。
2.N-COUNT 前提
A premise is something that you suppose is true and that you use as a basis for developing an idea.
【搭配模式】：oft N that
【语域标签】：FORMAL 正式
The premise is that schools will work harder to improve if they must compete...
前提是，如果各学校必须参与竞争的话，就会更加努力。
The programme started from the premise that men and women are on equal terms in this society.
这个项目是以这个社会男女平等为前提的。
5.Its walls were blackened and its wood was charred and it smelled of smoke.
charred
1.ADJ-GRADED (植物、建筑、车辆)烧焦的，焦黑的
Charred plants, buildings, or vehicles have been badly burnt and have become black because of fire.
【搭配模式】：usu ADJ n
...the charred remains of a tank.
烧焦的坦克残骸
6. what the fire meant to her as a parishioner and to the church.
N-COUNT 教区居民；教区信徒
A priest's parishioners are the people who live in his or her parish, especially the ones who go to his or her church.
【搭配模式】：usu pl
Zinser在书中用了很多宗教相关的词语，只能尝试着理解了。
7. There was a small gasp in the classroom; Americans get squeamish at any mention of religion.
1.ADJ-GRADED 易受惊的;易生气的;神经质的
If you are squeamish, you are easily upset by unpleasant sights or situations.
【搭配模式】：usu v-link ADJ
I'm terribly squeamish. I can't bear gory films...
我非常容易受到惊吓。我受不了暴力血腥的电影。
I am not squeamish about blood.
我不是很怕血。
squeamishness
When you've got over your squeamishness, there will be no stopping you.
一旦你改掉神经脆弱的毛病，便可一往无前。
8. The methodology of my course—thinking of a particular place—is only a pedagogical device.
ADJ 教学法的；教育学的
Pedagogical means concerning the methods and theory of teaching.
【搭配模式】：ADJ n
【语域标签】：FORMAL 正式
...the pedagogical methods used in the classroom.
课堂上使用的教学法
Thoughts：
这本书前面三部分讲的是“术”，操作层面；这一部分讲的有点像“道”，精神层面。
而这一章，zinser实际上通篇只问了一个问题：为什么而写作？或者说writer的价值观是什么， the writer's soul。
是write to sell，还是write for yourself inside？
读者的品味是无法琢磨的，今天的畅销书也许明天就会束之高阁，如果仅仅是为了赚钱的功利性写作，很难保证不会被遗忘。
这让我想到日本作家外山滋比古在《思考整理术》中提到的”经典化”。
太过新鲜的事物本身就很难呈现出它本来的面貌。
新木头看起来虽然很好，但是不能做原材料，因为一旦干燥，它们就会弯曲变形。所以说，干燥之前的木头表现出来的只是一种“虚假的形态”，只有等它们经历了时间的“考验”，呈现出了自己本来的面貌后，才能被用来制作我们想要的东西。
那些刚刚从作者笔下新鲜出炉的作品就相当于新木头，这样一块“木头”想成为建造文学史这座“房子”的木料，显然是不可能的。它只有经历了时间的检验，自然干燥后，才能被判断出是不是盖“房子”的材料。
所谓“时间的检验”，就是指历经时间的“风化作用”，时间的“风化作用”换句话说就是遗忘。能够不被读者的一次又一次遗忘所抛弃的，必定是经典之作。从某种意义上说，作者自己是无法创造经典的。
每一部作品问世后，都躲不过世人遗忘之筛的过滤。经过过滤后，大部分作品都难逃消失的命运，只有极少数经受住了考验的作品，如重生般成为经典。
遗忘之筛对于那些刚刚诞生五年、十年的新作品是不起作用的，至少要等三十年、甚至五十年之后它才会发挥作用。哪怕一诞生就束之高阁也没关系，过五十年再来看，到那时，木头自然会浮出水面，而石头自然会沉入水底，一切都会得到公正的评判。
以上的过程我们可以称之为“自然经典化”，即使把作品放在那儿置之不理，它们也会自己变成经典。
是不是和zinser的观点不约而同？
其实，作者做好自己的本分，磨炼好自己的手艺，才会成为真正的卖点……
Writing is related to character. If your values are sound, your writing will be sound. It all begins with intention. Figure out what you want to do and how you want to do it, and work your way with humanity and integrity to the completed article. Then you’ll have something to sell.
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