统一，引线，结局
Highlights from Chapters 8&9 <<On Writing Well>> by William Zinsser
1.
You learn to write by writing. The only way to learn to write is to force yourself to produce a certain number of words on a regular basis.
2.
All writing is ultimately a question of solving a problem. It may be a problem of where to obtain the facts or how to organize the material. It may be a problem of approach or attitude, tone or style. Whatever it is, it has to be confronted and solved.
3.
Unity is the anchor of good writing. So, first, get your unities straight.
Unit choices:
Unity of pronoun.
Unity of tense.
Unity of mood.
4.
Every writing project must be reduced before you start to write.
Ask yourself some basic questions before you start to write.
For example:
“What pronoun and tense am I going to use?”
“How much do I want to cover?”
“What one point do I want to make?”
5.
As for what point you want to make, every successful piece of nonfiction should leave the reader with one provocative thought that he or she didn’t have before. Not two thoughts, or five—just one.
6.
The most important sentence in any article is the first one. If it doesn’t induce the reader to proceed to the second sentence, your article is dead. And if the second sentence doesn’t induce the reader to continue to the third sentence, it’s equally dead.
7.
Your lead must capture the reader immediately and force him to keep reading. It must cajole him/her with freshness, or novelty, or paradox, or surprise, or with an unusual idea, or an interesting fact, or a question. Anything will do, as long as it nudges his/her curiosity and tugs at his/her sleeve.
8.
Every paragraph should amplify the one that preceded it. Give more thought to adding solid detail and less to entertaining the reader. But take special care with the last sentence of each paragraph—it’s the crucial springboard to the next paragraph.
9.
Knowing when to end an article is far more important than most writers realize. You should give as much thought to choosing your last sentence as you did to your first. Well, almost as much.
10.
The positive reason for ending well is that a good last sentence—or last paragraph —is a joy in itself. It gives the reader a lift, and it lingers when the article is over.
11.
Something I often do in my writing is to bring the story full circle—to strike at the end an echo of a note that was sounded at the beginning. It gratifies my sense of symmetry, and it also pleases the reader, completing with its resonance the journey we set out on together.