阅读日期：2022年9月 5日
推荐指数：7/10
我的读后感：
这是一本关于英文写作的指导书籍，内容简单易读，我差不多花了一天就读完了。书中有很多详细的写作技巧，包括如何提高词汇量，甚至连标点符号都有专门的介绍。
我的笔记：
If you can’t afford a subscription to Encyclopædia Britannica or the like online, there are free online encyclopedias such as encyclopedia.com. You can use Wikipedia as a resource for background information or to point you to other sources, but it should not be cited as a source. It is created and edited by volunteers.
There are websites such as vocabulary.com and lingualift .com if you prefer to work with your vocabulary online.
I often begin by staring at the blank page as if it is some vile substance that has been spilled on my desk. Then, no matter how alert I was when I arrived at the keyboard, I become almost terminally drowsy. My eyes droop. My shoulders sag. Finally, I begin to think, “Well, maybe I should take a little nap first; then I’ll be well rested for writing.” Usually my puritan conscience cancels that plan. So I take on the expression of a man who has just been strapped into a dentist’s chair and begin to write. As soon as I have words on paper, agony departs. I love writing. It’s getting started that I abhor. I tell you this so that you won’t feel alone. You probably go through similar hell before you write. Almost everybody does.
Everybody has heard tips for improving vocabulary. Learn a new word in the morning and use it three times before sunset and it’s yours, etc. There are many books that will help you stretch your vocabulary. The best-known one is Thirty Days to a More Powerful Vocabulary.
The only way to make your vocabulary more accessible is to use it。
And when you drive home from work at night, pick out an object along the road and see how many synonyms you can think of before you pass it. There’s a house over there. But it’s also a dwelling, an abode, a building, a bungalow, perhaps, or maybe a cottage. It’s a home for somebody, it’s headquarters for a family, and it’s a shelter and a structure, too.
I would write my stories, hand them in, and drive home before the others. I was able to do this, not because I am a faster typist, but because I started writing
In my mind I planned the lead, decided what information I could ignore, and organized my material. By the time I reached the office, I knew what I wanted to write, and when I sat down at the typewriter, it was like pushing the “play” button on a tape recorder. Everything I had recorded in my brain came. So if you have a writing job, write in your head. Clear up the inconsistencies while you’re brushing your teeth.
For most writers the hardest part of any writing project is getting started.
Look at your schedule. When will you be left undisturbed for an hour or two? Can you lock the door? Turn off the phone? You will get more writing done in an undisturbed hour than you would in a dozen ten-minute spurts. If you can’t find a quiet place to write, use earplugs.
I know of one woman who took notes while watching the National Cheerleading Competition on TV. She learned all the terms, and with the information she gathered, she was able to make a story about a cheerleader convincing.
Yes, copy. From time to time take a few paragraphs from something that you enjoyed reading and sit down at the computer or with a notebook and copy them word for word.
Also, do not continue to write after you become fatigued. A tired writer at the keyboard is in danger of writing drivel. If your eyes begin to droop and your head wobbles, stand up and do some more exercise. That should rejuvenate you. If it doesn’t, take a nap.
Gather much more material than you will use.
Glance at the list as you work. This will help you decide what to write next.
Even if you are writing something short, such as a press release, it’s a good idea to make a list of essential elements. Making a checklist: “Time. Date. Place. Price.”
There’s nothing wrong with writing three pages of junk before you get to information that matters.
Writing in the pyramid style means getting to the point at the top, putting the “who, what, when, where, and why” in the first paragraph, and developing the supporting information under it.
Your writing will be faster, livelier, and clearer if you write short paragraphs.
But steal small, not big, and don’t steal from just one source. Someone once said that if you steal from one writer, it’s called plagiarism, but if you steal from several, it’s called research. So steal from everybody, but steal only a sentence or a phrase.
How do you come up with good quotations? The most famous source is Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, but there are a variety of paperback and hardcover books of quotations. Some are arranged by topic, some by author, some by both. Browse in the bookstore. Also, when you hear a quotation you like, write it down.
A good title will make people curious. Instead of “The Marketing of Italian Cuisine,” try “How to Sell a Meatball to Your Mother.”
Good title is a guide. Revealing something about your content separates the appropriate readers for your story from those who would have no interest in it. “A Football Rivalry” is too broad. Use “The Army-Navy Game: A Gridiron Fight for the Honor of the Corps.”
A good title hints at the limits of information in the story; that is, it suggests the slant. Don’t write, “How Sports Enriched My Religious Life.” Write, “A Christian Looks at Baseball.”
