On Writing Well by William Zinsser

PART 1 Gist

The writer himself is an interesting and available subject that brings out individuality. Zinsser encouraged writers to write about themselves and enjoy doing so. Furthermore, they should embrace ego while discarding egotism. The rule Zinsser suggested is to ensure that all the details are moving stories steadily along. When writers write in the form of memoir, they should think narrow and focus on a unique time and place instead of their entire life span. One secret of the art is to give interesting details. Another is to add ingredients of people: the sounds or smells or songs etc. Then they should return to their own thoughts and write about what they learn from the hills and valleys of life.

PART 2 Expressions

1. I never had the nerve before.

the nerve to do sth: courage and confidence in a dangerous, difficult, or frightening situation

Not many people have the nerve to stand up and speak in front of a large audience.

It takes a lot of nerve to report a colleague for sexual harassment.

lose one's nerve: suddenly become very nervous so that you cannot do what you intended to do

Jensen would've won if he hadn't lost his nerve.

keep/ hold one's nerve: remain clam in a difficult situation

get on sb‘s nerve: annoy sb, especially by doing sth all the time

She's always moaning. It really gets on my nerve.

2. "Back to Bachimba," is typical of the powerful tug of the abandoned past, of the country left behind.

tug: 1. (n./v) 用力拉；猛拉

Joe was tugging at her sleeve.

She removed the bandage with a sharp tug.

2. (n.) a strong and sudden feeling 

Kate felt a tug of jealousy.

3. That's all I could remember of that poignant rebel song.

poignant: [ˈpɔɪnjənt] 辛酸的 making you feel sad or full of pity

poignant reminder/ image/ moment

a poignant reminder of our nation's great sacrifices

Harry thought the sight of her was inexpressibly poignant.

4. Nobody but a Chinese-American woman could have made me feel what it's like to be a Chinese girl plunked down in an American kindergarten and expected to be an American girl.

plunk: 1. plunk oneself down: to sit down suddenly or heavily and then relax

Why don't you plunk yourself down with a good book?

2. plunk sth (down): to put or place sth somewhere especially in a noisy, sudden, or careless way

plans to plunk a theme park on the island

3. plunk down (money) : to spend an amount of money on sth

She plunked down $250 for a silver necklace.

5. One day when I was 35 or thereabouts I heard about an Indian powwow.

thereabouts: (ad.) 附近；左右；大约  near a particular time, place, number etc, but not exactly

These houses were built in 1930 or thereabouts.

6. Even more hazily I remembered a naming ceremony.

hazy: (a.) 雾蒙蒙的； 模糊的，朦胧的 

She was a little hazy about the details.

hazily: (ad.) ; haziness: (n.)

haze： (n.) 烟雾；迷雾

The sun surrounded by a golden haze.

7. Mortimer, a lawyer himself and a prolific author and playwright, ...

prolific: [prəˈlɪfɪk] 1. (动植物繁殖)多产的； 2. （动物）众多的，大批的；  3. （作家、艺术家等）多产的

Handel's prolific output of opera.

They are prolific breeders, with many hens laying up to six eggs.

8. Acknowledging that debt in a review of a book about Woolf's abused girlhood Kennedy Fraser begins with a memoir of her own that seizes our attention with its honesty and vulnerability.

debt: 这里指 the degree to which you have learned from or been influenced by sb or sth else

Braque acknowledged his debt to Impressionist painting.

类似表达: pay homage to

PART 3 Thoughts

No teacher wants twenty-five copies of the same person, writing about the same topic. What we're all looking for -- what we want to see pop out of your papers -- is individuality. We're looking for whatever it is that makes you unique. Write about what you know and what you think.

大一时候的一门英语课上，我们每人被要求做一次presentation, 内容是介绍一个人。我记得那时候有介绍村上春树的，有介绍Taylor Swift的，我则介绍了J.K. Rowling。但这些有关名人的课堂展示我都没什么印象了，唯一印象深刻的是一个同学作的关于自己和自己双胞胎弟弟的介绍。他叙说了一些自己和弟弟的故事，列举了两人的异同点，并且开玩笑说，“你们确定现在站在这里的是XX(他自己)而不是YY（他弟弟）吗？” 很赞同Zinsser说的，读者在书中寻找的是individuality, 而这种独特性是建立在真实的事情和想法的基础之上的。一篇好的写人的文章如果不是写自己，也一定要与描写对象有真实的连结点。我们眼中看到的、我们心中认为的那个Taylor Swift或J.K. Rowling与她们自己眼中或家人朋友眼中的她们一定是大相径庭的。哪个更加有趣呢？当然是后者。Zinsser前文中有提到，好的文章是写给自己看的。很多时候，我们常常会担心私人的故事对于他人来说是索然无味的。就像那个课堂展示一样，很少有人去介绍自己的家人或朋友，更很少有人介绍自己，而大多选择了那些赫赫有名的人物，因为我们会觉得只有那样闪闪发光的人物的故事才是有意思的，但事实是，只有当我们真正参与了生活本身，我们才能发现自己或他人身上有趣的地方也只有这样才能写出有趣的文字。