3.Clutter     4.Style

Expressions

Writing improves in direct ratio to the number of things we can keep out of it that shouldn't be there.

in direct ratio 按正比例

例如 :When we share our happiness with others, we have increased our happiness in direct ratio.

我们在分给他人幸福的同时，也能正比例地增加自己的幸福。

"I"can be a self-indulgence and a cop-out.

cop-out  逃避的方法；（不做某事的）借口

例如 :The New York times "called it a " cheap cop-out.

纽约时报称这个结局是“卑鄙的推卸责任”

This is the problem of writers who set out deliberately to garnish their prose.

garnish  常用来指装饰菜；配菜，这里是文章的修饰，华丽的词藻修饰

近义词 decorate, adorn, embellish, enhance, ornament, set off, trim

Thoughts

Clutter is the laborious phrase that has pushed out the short word that means the same thing.

Clutter is the ponderous euphemism that turns a slum into a depressed socioeconomic area,

Clutter is the officiai language used by corporations to hide their mistakes.

Clutter is the language of the Pentagon calling an invasion a "reinforced protective reaction strike" and justifying its vast budgets on the need for "counterforce deterrence.

作者在上一节讲Simplicity，这章就开始讲Clutter。举了很多Clutter的例子。

记得以前不管是语文英语应试考试写作文，作文要求一定字数，老师就教了很多套路应试，比如英语用更多“高大上”的长单词来凑字数。这种做法不能说毫无用处，但是写作的最终目的在于以简洁的方式表达明确，而不是用复杂冗长的句子堆砌很多重复无用的词语。

How can we achieve such enviable freedom from clutter?怎么去掉无用的修饰，简化句子呢？

1.Reexamine each sentence you put on paper.

培养自己的眼力。从文章里找出无用的修饰，无情地删掉。比如说：每一个重复无用的词，每一个可被简化的词，每一个已由动词表达其义的副词，本来用主动句更清晰却用的被动结构……

2.用括号括上任何一个无用的成分，大多数初稿可以砍掉一半而不损失任何信息或作者的语气。

Style is not something you could buy at the style store and drape onto your words in bright decorator colors. There is no style store.

The reader will notice if you are putting on airs. Readers want the person who is talking to them to sound genuine. Therefore a fundamental rule is: be yourself.

如何找到自己的写作风格呢？

不要刻意的装腔作势，读者想要的是作者真心诚意的表达，读者希望跟他们对话的人是真诚的。

因此一条基本的写作规则是：做你自己。写作过程中需要 relax ， have confidence。然而还是很难做到，作者建议： to use "I" and "me" and "we" and "us."以第一人称展开文章。

当然有些文体是不能用第一人称的。但是Even when "I" isn't permitted, it's still possible to convey asense of I-ness.  Good writers are visible just behind their words.

总的来说，还是需要多写，多练！如果写得少，很难看到甚至谈不到风格这回事。写作是需要雕刻的，就如玉，需要不断的雕琢修葺，才能见到玉的精致与光泽。毕竟，写作的过程应该是漫长的，不断的成熟和完善自我叙述风格的过程。