Ⅰ.Words and express

1.Don't worry about whether the reader will "get it" if you indulge a sudden impulse for humor.

indulge to give in to a wish or desire, give oneself up to.

2.If you lose the dullards back in the dust, you don't want them anyway.

dullard  a stupid, insentive person.

3.Now I am saying you must write for yourself and not be gnawed by worry over whether the readers is tagging along.

gnaw  bite or chew on the teeth.

tagging along  to follow somebody closely.

gnawed by worry在这里十分有趣，很生动地体现了写作时瞻前顾后，生怕读者不能理解的状态

4.Simplify, prune and strive for order.

prune  weed out unwanted or unnecessary things.

strive to devote much energy or effort, try hard.

5.The English language is rich in stong and supple words.

supple  flexible 可替换

6.Condoleezza Rice, who hosts foreign notables to beef up the morale of top State Department staffers.

beef up  to make something bigger.

morale  the spirit of a group that makes the members want the group to succeed.

Ⅱ.Summary

In chapter 5 "The Audience", there is a fundamental question "who am I writing for?" Zinsser gave us a fundamental answer: "writing for yourself."

When you are writing, there is no need to pay too much attention to readers' feeling and favor. Yourself is the only one you need to express and pleased.

However, it doesn't mean the audience should be ignored. Writing is a craft. We must write clarity and simplicity which readers can get the point easily. Meanwhile, a proper attitude is essential. We should use normal and precise words, while in the contexts, we should express who am I.

Chapter 6 "Words" told us journalese caused bad influence on people's style. That kind of writing is full of inappropriate use of words.

Zinsser pointed out, two habits can save us from this plight. One is reading and other is using dictionaries. Reading can teach us learning from ourselves and others writing. Using dictionaries can make us writing more precise. What's more, rhythm and alliteration are also vital to writing.

Ⅲ.Thoughts

第五章中谈到阅读的受众，Zinsser指出，我们首先要考虑的受众是自己。写作在于表达真实的自己，而不是去迎合读者的心理预期。实际上，在写作之初，过多考虑读者的喜好本就是个悖论，读者或编辑在读到作品之前原本就是没有任何预期的。因此，作者要表现的是自己，要取悦的也是自己。

取悦自己并非意味着随心所欲的写。在语言上，仍然需要修枝剪叶，使文章便于理解，这是写作最基本的要求，也是对读者的尊重。而在写作的内容上，则需要遵从自己的内心。第五章的内容可简要概括为，作家首先要忠于自己，才能忠于读者，即“我手写我口，古岂能拘牵”。

第六章首先指出新闻文体对写作中个人风格形成的不利影响。一方面在于人们在耳濡目染中不自觉的受到了影响，另一方面则是最根本的原因，人们对对于词汇的掌握和语言的驾驭能力需要提升。Zinsser给出的解决之法有两个，一是多读，二是查字典。

遣词造句的功力并非一蹴而就，而是需要日积月累。Zinsser推荐的几本字典，有基本的词义，还有近义词、押韵词。抑扬顿挫显然是对写作的更高层次的要求，在朗读中感受词句的韵律，进而达到语言的流畅。