PART 1 Summary

1. There is no one-size-fits-all writing method. The right method is the one that helps you express your thoughts.

2. Humanity and warmth are two of the most important qualities at the heart of good non-fiction writing. 

3. The knack of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components. Every unnecessary word is an adulterant that weakens the strength of a sentence.

4. Writers must force themselves to think clearly, otherwise the readers may get lost. A clear sentence is not an accident but rather the result of hard work.

William Zinsser

PART 2 Expressions

1. I said that professional writers are solitary drudges who seldom see other writers.

drudge: (n.) 做苦力的人 someone who does hard boring work； (v.) 做苦力

drudgery :(n.) 苦力

Ｉ don't mind doing some drudge along the way just to take the mind off for a while.

2. We are a society strangling in unnecessary words, circular constructions, pompous frills and meaningless jargon.

strangle: [ˈstræŋgl] 勒死；掐死， 引申为 to limit or prevent the growth or development of something

Mills argues that high taxation strangles the economy.

文中有一个类似的表达: They are weeds that will smother what you write. 

pompous: 自负的 someone who is pompous thinks that they are important and shows this by being very formal and using long words, used to show disapproval

the book's pompous style

He seems rather pompous. 

3. Professional writers are constantly bearded by people who say they'd like to "try a little writing sometime".

beard: to confront and oppose with boldness, resolution and often effrontery 公然对抗 

beard somebody in their den:  idiom, to go and see someone who has influence or authority, and tell them what you want, why you disagree with them

4. These are the thousand and one adulterants that weaken the strength of a sentence.

adulterant: [ə'dʌltərənt] 参杂物 a substance that is secretly added to food or drinking, making it less pure

The seeds of very leafy malodorous tropical weedy shrub have been used as an adulterant for coffee.

PART 3 Thoughts

There are all kinds of writers and all kinds of methods, and any method that helps you to say what you want to say is the right method for you. Some people write by day, others by night. Some people need silence, others turn on the radio. Some write by hand, some by computer, draft in one long burst and then revise; others can't write the second paragraph until they have fiddled endlessly with the first.

之前看过一本林徽因的传记中说，林徽因每次写作时都要沐浴换衣，然后再点上一支清香，慢条斯理地写。写作的方式和形式与其说与作者的才华能力有关不如说与作者个人的性格相关。有的作家喜欢一气呵成，也有的喜欢反复琢磨推敲，“吟安一个字，捻断数茎须”。有的作品数月甚至数日就横空出世，比如小仲马创作《茶花女》只用了一个月，也有的耗时数年，比如曹雪芹用十年写就《红楼梦》。但是抛开这些外在的形式，作品本身的价值只与它的内容有关，而与它所用的时间、它的完成方式无关。24岁的小仲马用一个月创作《茶花女》并不意味着他比曹雪芹更有才气，也不意味着《茶花女》比《红楼梦》浅薄。传记作家们和读者们往往喜欢关注作家本身，讲述他们外在的创作形式，然后事实上，这种关注点毫无意义，只会给后来的创作者们以不良的影响。知乎上常常有作者分享自己的创作方法和经历，比如每天逼自己写5000字之类的，但是这种方法不具有普适性，甚至用在另一个人身上可能适得其反。William Zinsser在第一章讲述了他和一个业余作家一起受邀主讲的那场讨论会，假想如果我是当时的一个听众，我很可能会产生这样的一个错觉：业余作家要比职业作家更加才思敏捷、生活更加轻松和丰富，与其做一个职业作家，不如另寻一个本职工作而用业余时间来写作。然而那场讨论会其实是毫无借鉴意义的，每个作家都有自己的风格和创作方式，没有好坏之分。与其关注这些外在的形式，不如学习和研究他们的作品本身。