On Writing Well精读第24天 | 想写好，就不要老是想着“好不好”

Soon after you confront the matter of preserving your identity, another question will occur to you: "Who am I writing for?" 

It's a fundamental question, and it has a fundamental answer: 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. Don't try to guess what sort of thing editors want to publish or what you think the country is in a mood to read. Editors and readers don't know what they want to read until they read it. Besides, they're always looking for something new. 

Don't worry about whether the reader will "get it" if you indulge a sudden impulse for humor. If it amuses you in the act of writing, put it in. (It can always be taken out, but only you can put it in.) 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. If you lose the dullards back in the dust, you don't want them anyway. 

1. confront the matter of preserving your identity遇到保留你的身份的问题（翻译的不太好，哪位学友也试着译一下； 像这种每个单词都认识，英语意思也能理解，但就是翻译不好的表达，值得特别注意。）
2. another question will occur to you 另一个问题就接踵而至（注意主语为物，宾语为人这种写法）
3. Who am I writing for? 我在为谁而写？

   
   
4. a fundamental question 一个根本性的问题
5. a fundamental answer 一个根本性的答案（像这种表述，在翻译时这样直译感觉并不符合汉语表达习惯，一时没想到更好的翻译，希望学友也试着译一下）
6. writing for yourself 为自己而写
7. visualize the great mass audience. 想象有一大群观众
8. editors 编辑 （编辑这份工作对语言能力的要求是很高的）
9. in a mood to read 想读（如果查这个短语，意思基本都是：有情绪，不高兴；但这个意思放在这里不合适，应该理解为“想读、愿意读”等）
10. indulge a sudden impulse for humor 放纵一种突然想要幽默的冲动
11. amuses 使人发笑（在英语及物动词中，类似encourage、allow等词的使用，很多人都掌握的不错，鼓励某人做某事：encourage sb to do sth; 但要表达使某人发笑, 就算记过amuse这个单词，也不见得能想到用它，很多人可能想到的是make sb laugh！之所以会这样，我觉得背后的主要原因还是逐字翻译的习惯造成的。） 
12. in the act of writing 在写作中（in writing也是在写作中，in the act of writing也大概是此意，但两个表达还是有区别的。像这种“语意大概相同，但互换却不可以”的表达要多多注意，这是写作要求use words precisely的关键所在。）
13. go about it with enjoyment 尽情享受
14. entertain the readers who are worth writing for 娱乐那些值得为之写作的读者 
15. lose the dullards back in the dust 失去那些蠢笨的家伙（这里是指那些没有体会到你文章风格的读者）

This may seem to be a paradox. Earlier I warned that the reader is an impatient bird, perched on the thin edge of distraction or sleep. Now I'm saying you must write for yourself and not be gnawed by worry over whether the reader is tagging along.

I'm talking about two different issues. One is craft, the other is attitude. The first is a question of mastering a precise skill. The second is a question of how you use that skill to express your personality. 

In terms of craft, there's no excuse for losing readers through sloppy workmanship. If they doze off in the middle of your article because you have been careless about atechnical detail, the fault is yours. But on the larger issue of whether the reader likes you, or likes what you are saying or how you are saying it, or agrees with it, or feels an affinity for your sense of humor or your vision of life, don't give him a moment's worry. You are who you are, he is who he is, and either you'll get along or you won't. 

1. a paradox 一个悖论
2. perched on the thin edge of distraction or sleep 栖息在分散注意力或睡眠的薄薄的边缘上 (即:说不定读着读着就注意力分散了，或者直接睡着了)
3. be gnawed by worry over whether the reader is tagging along 一直想着读着是否会读下去(留意这里的be gawed by worry over...的表达，很精彩)
4. express your personality 表达你的个性
5. losing readers through sloppy workmanship （lose...through这种神表达怎么想到的？ 这里的through其实是表原因！！！可以替换为due to，because of）
6. doze off in the middle of your article 在读你文章的时候打瞌睡（整个表达没有出现表“读”的用词，但in the middle of your article包含这个意思。在表达汉语的某个动作时，对应的英语用词不见得就是动词！也可能是介词，副词，形容词！）
7. a technical detail 技术细节
8. on the larger issue of...在更大的……问题上
9. feels an affinity for your sense of humor 对你的幽默感有一种亲和力
10. vision of life人生观  
11. don`t give him a moment`s worry 别让他有片刻的担心
12. get along 相处融洽

Perhaps this still seems like a paradox. How can you think carefully about not losing the reader and still be carefree about his opinion? I assure you that they are separate processes. 

First, work hard

 to master the tools

. Simplify, prune and strive for order. Think of this as 

a mechanical act

, and soon your sentences will become cleaner. The act will never become as mechanical as, say, 

shaving or shampooing

—you will always have to think about the various ways in which the tools can be used. But at least your sentences will be 

grounded in solid principles

, and 

your chances of

 losing the reader will be smaller. Think of the other as 

a creative act

: the expressing of who you are. Relax and say what you want to say. And since style is who you are, you only need to 

be true to yourself 

to find it 

gradually emerging from under the accumulated clutter and debris

,

growing more distinctive

 every day. Perhaps the style won't

 solidify

 for years as your style, your voice. Just as it takes time to find yourself as a person, it takes time to find yourself as a stylist, and even then your style will change as you grow older. 

1. be carefree about...对……毫不关心（注意和be careless about的区别）
2. assure向…保证; 使…确信
3. separate processes 独立进程
4. to master the tools 掌握工具
5. a mechanical act 机械动作
6. shaving or shampooing 剃须或洗发水 
7. grounded in solid principles 以坚实的原则为基础
8. your chances of...你的……的机会/概率
9. a creative act 创造性的行为
10. be true to yourself 忠于自己
11. gradually emerging from under the acculumated clutter and debris 渐渐地从杂乱和碎片下面冒出来(from和under在这里都是介词。介词和介词连用这种组合让人感觉很违反地心引力，但却是英语特地道的表达，每次看到，都要注意)
12. growing more distinctive 越来越与众不同 （注意是distinctive，而不是different）
13. solidify 使凝固，固化 

But whatever your age, be yourself when you write. Many old men still write with the zest they had in their twenties or thirties; obviously their ideas are still young. Other old writers ramble and repeat themselves; their style is the tip-off that they have turned into garrulous bores. Many college students write as if they were desiccatedalumni 30 years out. Never say anything in writing that you wouldn't comfortably say in conversation. If you're not a person who says "indeed" or "moreover," or who calls someone an individual ("he's a fine individual"), please don't write it.

1. whatever your age  不论年龄
2. with the zest they had in their twenties or thirties 有着他们二十多岁或三十多岁时的热情
3. their ideas are still young 他们的想法还很年轻（这个表达算是很常见了，这里用了拟人化的表达。大家在读英语时，不能只是关注生词、语法，还要注意表达方式本身的特殊之处，比如是否使用了修辞格，是否有暗含义）
4. ramble and repeat themselves 游手好闲, 喋喋不休
5. their style is the tip-off that they have turned into garrulous bores 他们的风格就在向人们证实, 他们已经变成了喋喋不休的讨厌鬼 （留意这里的tip-off一词）
   
6. as if they were desiccated alumni 30 years out 他们好像就是已经被“风干”了三十年的校友/毕业生一样 (这里desiccated的使用简直神妙啊！该词的字面意思是“使脱水”，在这里的语法成分是过去分词充当前置定语修饰alumni。这里真正要表达的则是：有些人，都毕业三十年了，写东西还是和三十年前一个熊样。)

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