On Writing Well by William Zinsser
最近在学习《On Writing Well》，作者William Zinsser。一边看，一边划下有启发的句子。摘抄一遍，加深记忆。
Nobody told the new e-mail writers that the essence of writing is rewriting. Just because they are writing with ease and enjoyment doesn’t mean they are writing well.
The word processor made good writers better and bad writers worse.
Bad writers became even more verbose becasue writing was suddenly so easy and their sentences looked so pretty on the screen. How could such beautiful sentences not be perfect?
Write sentences that are tight and logical and clear.
Writing is, finally, a craft, with its own set of tools, which are words.
Intangibles of the craft – the attitudes and values, like enjoyment and confidence and intention, keep us going and produce our best work.
– from Introduction
Writing wasn’t easy and wasn’t fun. It was hard and lonely, and the words seldom just flowed.
Rewriting is the essence of writing.
– from Transaction
But the secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components.
Simplify, simplify.
How to achieve such enviable freedom from clutter? The answer is to clear our heads of clutter. Clear thinking becomes clear writing.
If the reader is lost, it is usually because the writer hasn’t been careful enough.
Writing is hard work. A clear sentence is no accident. Very few sentences come out right the first time, or even the third time. Remember this in moments of despair. If you find that writing is hard, it’s because it is hard.
– from Simplicity
Beware, then, of the long word that’s no better than the short word.
More first drafts can be cut by 50 percent without losing any information or losing the author’s voice.
Look for the clutter in your writing and prune it ruthlessly.
Is every word doing new work? Can any thought be expressed with more economy?
Simplify, simplify!
– from Clutter
If you are not allowed to use “I”, at lease think “I” while you write, or write the first draft in the first person and then take the “I”s out. It will warm up your impersonal style.
Writing is an act of ego, and you might as well admit it.
– from Style
You are writing for yourself. Don’t try to visualize the great mass audience. There is no such audience — every reader is a different person.
You are writing primarily to please yourself, and if you go about it with enjoyment you will also entertain the readers who are worth writing for.
Simplify, prune and strive for order. Think of this as a mechanical act, and soon your sentences will become cleaner.
But whatever your age, be yourself when you write.
Never say anything in writing that you wouldn’t comfortably say in conversation.
– from The Audience
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