On Writing Well 11.8

Summary

这两章讲了两个内容。

首先是fiction与nonfiction，即写作类型的问题。作者说，novelist can take us into places where no other writer can go, nonfiction enables writers to write about what they know or can observe or cam find out.

fiction的写作需要想象，作家在自己的脑内构建出故事，而nonfiction写真实存在的事情，因此某种意义上来说，nonfiction比fiction更好写。

事实上，the only important distinction is between good writing and bad writing.Good writing is good writing, whatever form it takes and whatever we call it.

chapter11是FORMS这一部分的lead，后面内容围绕nonfiction writing进行。

nonfiction中的人物，当然不是凭空捏造的泥人。他们真实存在。为了进行写作，我们需要收集人物资料。其中一大部分通过interview得来。interview即是chapter12的内容。

首先，我们需要明白如何进行interview，不致使谈话无法进行。在谈话之前，需要做好功课。想起来柴静说，自己在采访以前，连夜看税务相关的资料。问题如果没有实质内容，被采访者也不知道如何回答。预先写好大致提纲，到真正进行采访的时候再根据对方的反应进行变动。

其次是录音笔的使用。

录音笔对记下人们说了什么很有用，然而它并不同于用笔记，需要找到某一处的时候很不方便。此外，录音机对环境的要求很高。

阿列克谢耶维奇大概是使用录音笔的好手。她的文章是其他人的叙述。不止一个人的声音，具有更加强大的表现力。所谓“复调”。不过直到在《二手时间》里看到要求关闭录音机的句子，才意识到她使用了录音机。更惊奇的事，让她关掉录音机那章，与其他章并没有多大差别，作家手写心记及材料整合的能力可见一斑。

nonfiction writing,最重要的是如实记录。Don't change any words or let the cutting of a sentence distort the proper context of what remains.

Vocabulary

1.I knew that the host had been briefed about what kind of writers we were and what we wanted to discuss.

brief:

adj 1)Something that is brief lasts for only a short time

2)A brief speech or piece of writing does not contain too many words or details.

3)If you are brief, you say what you want to say in as few words as possible.

4)You can describe a period of time as brief if you want to emphasize that it is very short.

n 1)Men's or women's underpants can be referred to as briefs

2)If someone gives you a brief, they officially give you responsibility for dealing with a particular thing.

v If someone briefs you, especially about a piece of work or a serious matter, they give you information that you need before you do it or consider it. brief on/about

pharse in brief

2.The story sums up a situation that any practitioner of nonfiction will recognize.

sum up:

1)If you sum something up, you describe it as briefly as possible.

2)If something sums a person or situation up, it represents their most typical characteristics.

3)If you sum up after a speech or at the end of a piece of writing, you briefly state the main points again. When a judge sums up after a trial, he reminds the jury of the evidence and the main arguments of the case they have heard.

3.The list of main selections chosen by the club from 1926 through 1941 is heavily laced with novelists.

lace:

n

1)Lace is a very delicate cloth which is made with a lot of holes in it. It is made by twisting together very fine threads of cotton to form patterns.

2)Laces are thin pieces of material that are put through special holes in some types of clothing, especially shoes. The laces are tied together in order to tighten the clothing.

v

1)If you lace something such as a pair of shoes, you tighten the shoes by pulling the laces through the holes, and usually tying them together.

2)To lace food or drink with a substance such as alcohol or a drug means to put a small amount of the substance into the food or drink.

3)If you lace your speech or writing with words of a particular kind, you include a lot of those words in what you say or write.

4)If you lace your fingers together, you put the palms of your hands together and fold your fingers over, fitting the fingers of one hand between the fingers of the other.

此处作动词用，意为含有

4.Ninety percent of the magazine was now allotted to nonfiction articles.

allot:If something is allotted to someone, it is given to them as their share.  be allotted to