引言通过一张E.B. White的照片开头,强调写作的simplicity。写作不需要什么花哨的工具,最核心的还是不断打磨雕琢,写出了有人愿意读的东西来。
E.B. WhiteWhat gets their attention is the simplicity of the process. White has everything he needs: a writing implement, a piece of paper and a receptacle for all the sentences that didn't come out the way he wanted them to.
船屋里面空荡荡的,但是简单的几样东西,就足够E.B. White这位头发花白的老人进行创作了。
引言中还介绍了本书的主要内容:
how to write about people and places, science and technology, history and medicine, business and education, sports and arts and everything else under the sun that's waiting to be written about.
值得学习的语言点:
He was the seemingly effortless style—achieved, I knew with great effort—that I wanted to emulate, and whenever I began a new project, I would first read some White to get his cadences into my ear.
有句话怎么说来着,“你必须非常努力,才可以看起来毫不费力”,不就是这句说的吗?
“The seemingly effortless style is achieved with great effort.”
emulate 努力赶上,向...看齐
She hopes to emulate her sister's sporting achievements. 她希望在运动成绩方面能赶上姐姐。
cadence (说话时语调的)抑扬顿挫,起落
Alicia, I can recognize your cadence from a mile away. 我一里地之外都听出是你的腔调了!
On one level the new torrent is good news. ... But, as always, there is a catch. Nobody told the new computer writers the essence of writing is rewriting. Just because they're writing fluently doesn't mean they're writing well.
catch 隐藏的困难,暗藏的不利因素
All that money for two hour's work—what's the catch? 干俩小时活儿就给那么多钱,有什么鬼?
当我们说啥啥啥是双刃剑的时候,想想是不是可以用到catch这个词吧!
Just because...doesn't mean... 这个句式很好用
Just because I love you doesn't mean I won't be angry at whatever you do.
Good writers welcomed the gift of being able to fuss endlessly with their sentences without the drudgery of retyping.
fuss= to do things or pay too much attention to things that are not important or necessary
这里只好的写作者会对细节“吹毛求疵”。
Stop fussing around and find something useful to do!
drudgery 单调乏味的苦差事,繁重无聊的工作,drudge,苦工。
I don't know what still newer marvels will make writing twice as easy in the next 30 years. But I do know they won't make writing twice as good.
still(加强比较级)还要,更
If you can manage to get two tickets that's better still. 要是你能弄来两张票,那就更好了。
这个句型也非常好,试着仿写了一段:
I don't know keeping a healthy diet and working out regularly will give you six-pack abs. But I do know they will make you feel more energetic.
语音点:
memoir / ˈmemwɑː/ 之前在《岛上书店》里面已经很多次遇到这个词了,但是从来没有去查查是怎么读的,不查不知道,一查吓一跳呀!
复习一些之前见到过的表达:
...I learned by continuing to wrestle with the craft myself... (Shoe Dog分享会)
My concerns as a teacher have also shifted. (每日一词)
The bad news is that most of them are paralyzed by the size of the task. (每日一词)
How can they even begin to impose a coherent shape on the past—the vast sprawl of half-remembered people and events and emotions.(经济学人 腾讯)
Nobody told the new computer writers the essence of writing is rewriting. (每日一词)
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