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
....
Words and Expressions:
1. I think we should banish all further mention of the words ‘literature’ and ‘literary’ and ‘literati'.
【释义】
a. Novels, plays, and poetry are referred to as literature, especially when they are considered to be good or important.
[例] It may not be great literature but it certainly had me riveted!
b. Literary (adj.) means concerned with or connected with the writing, study, or appreciation of literature.
[例] Her literary criticism focuses on the way great literature suggests ideas.
c. Literati (noun.) are well-educated people who are interested in literature. (disapproval)
[例]...the Australian storyteller who was loved by readers but disdained by the literati.
2. These were writers we admired for their ability to harness the issues and concerns of the day.
【释义】
If you harness something such as an emotion or natural source of energy, you bring it under your control and use it. （同义词: control, apply）
[例] We can harness the power of the wind to generate electricity.
3. But the great preponderance of what writers now write and sell, what book and magazine publishers publish and what readers demand is nonfiction.
【释义】
If there's a preponderance of something, there is A LOT of it.
[例]At sentencing, the judge found by a preponderance of the evidence that Putra had been involved in both transactions.
4. Dozens of other major American writers were working journalists before they were canonized in the church of literature.
【释义】
When you canonize a person, you put him on a pedestal — in other words, you think he's so wonderful that he can do no wrong.
[例] But her message of simplicity and sacrifice in everyday life won her a strong following, and in 1925 she was canonized.
Background：
literature 编年史：
文学分类：
Fiction vs. nonfiction:
Thoughts:
这部分开始讲写作的形式。
但是，zinser在开头一章就告诉你 "Good writing is good writing, whatever form it takes and whatever we call it."
乍一看是不是有点方？
小时候写作文，老师都会先讲记叙文怎么写，说明文怎么写，议论文怎么写。现在突然有人告诉你，就分两种：fiction & nonfiction，如此简单粗暴。
但随之而来的是什么？ 自由和包容。
就像村上春树所说
小说这东西，无论由谁来讲、怎么来讲，无疑都是一种兼容广纳的表现形态。甚至可以说，这种兼容广纳的特性就是小说朴素而伟大的能量源泉的重要组成部分。因此在我看来，“谁都可以写”与其说是毁谤小说，毋宁说是溢美之词。……小说这种体裁就好比职业摔跤的擂台，不论什么人，只要心存此意，都可以轻而易举地参与进来。
的确如此，没了体裁的限制，不考虑高低贵贱，写作这件事一下子就简单到：
为谁写：write for yourself
写什么：go with your interests
怎么写：simple and clear
评判标准也简单到，"The only important distinction is between good writing and bad writing"。
现在，可以毫无顾虑的用前面学到的principles和methods，学学writing about people了。
Zinser在前面讲过，写作最简单的方式是讲故事。故事中最主要的要素是什么：人。一座城市，一段历史，一座建筑，都会因为人而鲜活起来。
怎么了解一个人呢？对话。
如何对话呢？Interview。
Interview要注意什么呢？
Get people talking
Learn to ask questions
Take heart
Take notes
Brevity and fair play
最重要的When you get people talking, handle what they say as you would handle a valuable gift.
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