12. 构思合适的大纲并遵行之。
有效的写作必须紧紧跟随着作者的思路，但并不一定是按照作者思维的顺序，所以必须构思合适的大纲。文体大多都自由随意，但无论如何，它们都有一个骨架以填充血与肉。大纲愈清晰，成功的可能性就越大。
13. 让段落成为文章的单元。
一般来说，一个主题是可以分成几个要点的，每个要点用一个段落处理。除非作为过渡段落，否则一个单独的句子不应该独立成段。
每个段落的起首句要么应当点明本段主旨，要么应当作为承上启下的过渡句。作为一篇文章的一部分，某个段落同它之前段落的逻辑关系以及在全文中的地位需要明确给读者。有时，通过首句的一个单词或词组就够了（again、therefore、for the same reason）；而有时，通过一两句话缓慢地切入主题更好。
在叙事性或描述性文体中，段落常常以简洁扼要的语句起首。
The breeze served us admirably.
The campaign opened with a series of reverses.
The next ten or twelve pages were filled with a curious set of entries.
但无论是什么方法都不宜过多使用。更常见的情况是，起始句通过主题简明地指出段落情节发展的方向。
At length I thought I might return toward the stockade.
He picked up the heavy lamp from the table and began to explore.
Another flight of steps, and they emerged on the roof.
在生动的叙事性文体中，段落一般都很简短，并且完全不需要主题句。
太长的段落应当分成较小的若干段落，即使逻辑上没有必要，在视觉上也是有帮助的。而一连串太短的段落会分散读者的注意力。
14. 使用主动态。
主动态一般比被动态更直接，更有活力：
I shall always remember my first visit to Boston.
My first visit to Boston will always be remembered by me.
但有时候被动态也是必要的。
The dramatists of the Restoration are little esteemed today.
Modern readers have little esteemed for the dramatists of the Restoration.
一些死板的句子可以通过将“there is”或“could be heard”等官腔替换成主动态的方式变得具有活力：
There were a great number of dead leaves lying on the ground.
Dead leaves covered the ground.
--
At dawn the crowing of a rooster could be heard.
The cock's crow came with dawn.
--
The reason he left college was that his health became impaired.
Failing health compelled him to leave college.
--
It was not long before he was very sorry that he had said what he said.
He soon repented her words.
当一个句子变得更有活力时，它通常变得更短更简洁了。
15. 以肯定的方式陈述事物。
用 not 来拒绝或者否定，而绝不要将它用作逃避的借口。读者总是希望被告知什么是什么，而非什么不是什么。
He was not very often on time.
He usually came late.
--
She did not think that studying Latin was much use.
She thought the study of Latin useless.
--
The Taming of the Shrew is rather weak in spots. Shakespeare does not portray Katharine as a very admirable character, nor does Bianca remain long in memory as an important character in Shakespeare's works.
The women in The Taming of the Shrew are unattractive. Katharine is disagreeable, Bianca insignificant.
将互为反义的肯定词和否定词并列在一起会使句子的结构更为有力。
Not charity, but simple justice.
Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.
除了 not 以外的否定词语气往往强烈。
Her loveliness I never know / Until she smiled on me.
用不必要的助动词或者条件从句修饰的句子听起来犹豫不决。
If you would let us know the time of your arrival, we would be happy to arrange your transportation from the airport.
If you will let us know the time of your arrival, we shall be happy to arrange your transportation from the airport.
--
Applicants can make a good impression by being neat and punctual.
Applicants will make a good impression if they are neat and punctual.
--
Plath may be ranked among those modern poets who died young.
Plath was one of those modern poets who died young.
如果每句话都允许这样不必要的怀疑语气存在，你的文字将缺乏权威性。所以，请把 would、should、could、may、might 和 can 等助动词留到真正当你不确信的场合使用。
16. 使用明确、详细、具体的语言。
语言要详细而不是空泛，要明确而不是模糊，要具体而不是抽象。这样的语言勾勒出形象，引发真情实感，是吸引读者的最有效的方式。
A period of unfavorable weather set in.
It rained every day for a week.
--
He showed satisfaction as he took possession of his well-earned reward.
He grinned as he pocketed the coin.
… Daisy and I in time found asylum in a small menagerie down by the railroad tracks. It belonged to a gentle alcoholic ne'er-do-well, who did nothing all day long but drink bathtub gin in rickeys and play solitaire and smile to himself and talk to his animals. He had a little, stunted red vixen and a deodorized skunk, a parrot from Tahiti that spoke Parisian French, a woebegone coyote, and two capuchin monkeys, so serious and humanized, so small and sad and sweet, and so religious-looking with their tonsured heads that it was impossible not to think their gibberish was really an ordered language with a grammar that someday some philologist would understand.
Gran knew about our visits to Mr. Murphy and she did not object, for it gave her keen pleasure to excoriate him when we came home. His vice was not a matter of guesswork; it was an established fact that he was half-seas over from dawn till midnight. "With the black Irish," said Gran, "the taste for the drink is taken in with the mother’s milk and is never mastered. Oh, I know all about those promises to join the temperance movement and not to touch another drop. The way to Hell is paved with good intentions."
-- Jean Stafford, In the Zoo
明确、详细、具体的语言不是说要巨细无遗地记录每一个细节——而是要记录每一个重要的细节。伴随着想象，读者能够自己在脑海中勾画出形象来。
Herbert Spencer 在 Philosophy of Style 中举了一例说明一个模糊空泛的句子如何变得生动有力。
In proportion as the manners, customs, and amusements of a nation are cruel and barbarous, the regulations of its penal code will be severe.
In proportion as men delight in battles, bullfights, and combats of gladiators, will they punish by hanging, burning, and the rack.
George Orwell 曾经从圣经中抽出一段，去除了其中的血液，以说明鲜活的文字是如何被剥夺生命力的。下面的两段文字，第一段是 Orwell 的翻译，第二段是钦定版圣经传道书中的原文。
Objective consideration of contemporary phenomena compels the conclusion that success or failure in competitive activities exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity, but that a considerable element of the unpredictable must inevitably be taken into account.
I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
17. 删掉多余的词。
充满活力的文字是简洁的，作者必须保证，每一字每一词都言之有物。
出现在任何场合的“the fact that”都是华而不实的。
owing to the fact that --> since (because)
in spite of the fact that --> though (although)
call your attention to the fact that --> remind you (notify you)
I was unaware of the fact that --> I was unaware that (did not know)
the fact that he had not succeeded --> his failure
the fact that I had arrived --> my arrival
“Who is”、“which was”等等也是冗余的，应当直接用同位语代替。
主动态一般比被动态简洁，肯定式一般比否定式简洁，因此规则 14 和 15 中的例子事实上也佐证了这条规则。
冗余文字的一种常见的错误就是逐步地通过一系列句子表达某个单一复杂的概念。
Macbeth was very ambitious. This led him to wish to become king of Scotland. The witches told him that this wish of his would come true. The king of Scotland at this time was Duncan. Encouraged by his wife, Macbeth murdered Duncan. He was thus enabled to succeed Duncan as king. （51 个单词）
Encouraged by his wife, Macbeth achieved his ambition and realized the prediction of the witches by murdering Duncan and becoming king of Scotland in his place. （26 个单词）
明确、详细、具体的语言不是说要巨细无遗地记录每一个细节——而是要记录每一个重要的细节。伴随着想象，读者能够自己在脑海中勾画出形象来。
Herbert Spencer 在 Philosophy of Style 中举了一例说明一个模糊空泛的句子如何变得生动有力。
In proportion as the manners, customs, and amusements of a nation are cruel and barbarous, the regulations of its penal code will be severe.
In proportion as men delight in battles, bullfights, and combats of gladiators, will they punish by hanging, burning, and the rack.
George Orwell 曾经从圣经中抽出一段，去除了其中的血液，以说明鲜活的文字是如何被剥夺生命力的。下面的两段文字，第一段是 Orwell 的翻译，第二段是钦定版圣经传道书中的原文。
Objective consideration of contemporary phenomena compels the conclusion that success or failure in competitive activities exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity, but that a considerable element of the unpredictable must inevitably be taken into account.
I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
17. 删掉多余的词。
充满活力的文字是简洁的，作者必须保证，每一字每一词都言之有物。
出现在任何场合的“the fact that”都是华而不实的。
owing to the fact that --> since (because)
in spite of the fact that --> though (although)
call your attention to the fact that --> remind you (notify you)
I was unaware of the fact that --> I was unaware that (did not know)
the fact that he had not succeeded --> his failure
the fact that I had arrived --> my arrival
“Who is”、“which was”等等也是冗余的，应当直接用同位语代替。
主动态一般比被动态简洁，肯定式一般比否定式简洁，因此规则 14 和 15 中的例子事实上也佐证了这条规则。
冗余文字的一种常见的错误就是逐步地通过一系列句子表达某个单一复杂的概念。
Macbeth was very ambitious. This led him to wish to become king of Scotland. The witches told him that this wish of his would come true. The king of Scotland at this time was Duncan. Encouraged by his wife, Macbeth murdered Duncan. He was thus enabled to succeed Duncan as king. （51 个单词）
Encouraged by his wife, Macbeth achieved his ambition and realized the prediction of the witches by murdering Duncan and becoming king of Scotland in his place. （26 个单词）
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