Have you ever stopped and thought about the quality of your writing? Are you sure it’s considered to be good writing? Are you getting the right message across, or are your readers confused as to what you’re trying to accomplish?
你有没有停下来想一想自己的写作质量?你确定你的写作技巧比较好?你写的内容别人能正确理解吗?还是说你的读者对你到底想表达什么内容感到迷惑?
1. Express, not impress.
是表达，而不是印象
Good writing is not about the number of words you’ve produced, the quality of the adjectives you’ve written or the size of your font–it’s about the number of lives you’ve touched! It’s whether or not your reader understands you. It’s about expression, not impression.
写得好不好不在于你用了多少词、你用的形容词的质量或你使用的字体大小——而在于你写的东西感动了多少人!写得好不好是看你的读者是否理解你。它是关于表达，而不是印象。
2. Simple sentences work best.
简单的句子效果最好。
示例：
- The only possible option in order to accelerate the growth of the food industry is to focus on the fact that the target market of this business demands convenience, competence and cost-effectiveness.
-要想加快食品行业的发展，最可能的方式是聚焦于目标市场对便利性、管辖权和成本效益的要求上。
- Better: The food industry can grow faster if food trucks focus on convenience, competence and cost-effectiveness.
-更好的写法：如果食品交易聚焦于便利性、管辖权和成本效益，那么食品行业会发展得更快。
3. Active, rather than passive.
主动，而不是被动
示例：
- The offering price was established by the real estate vendor and the negotiation process was initiated by the real estate buyer.
-定价是由房地产商决定的，协商过程是由购房者发起的。
- Better: The real estate vendor set the offering price, and the real estate buyer started negotiating.
更好的写法：房地产商定价，购房者展开协商。
4. Know who your target audience is.
了解目标受众
Who are you writing for? Who do you expect to read your article, your book, or your blog post? Will they care about what you’re talking about? Will they understand the message that you’re trying to get across? Good writing isn’t generic; it’s specific because it’s targeted towards a group of people with something common binding them.
你为谁写作?你期望谁来读你的文章、你的书或你的博客?他们关心你写的内容吗?他们会理解你想表达的信息吗?好的写作不是泛泛的;而是具体的，因为它针对的是一群有共同特征的人。
5. Read it aloud.
大声朗读
Reading your works out loud allows you to notice something that you might not have noticed if you were just reading it silently. Go on, read them out loud now. Also, try to listen to your work objectively as you read it. Are you making sense? Or are you simply stringing a couple of words together just to fill a gap?
把你的作品朗读出来，这会让你注意到默读时所忽略的内容。现在就把它们朗读出来吧。另外，当你朗读时，试着客观地去倾听你的作品。你写的有理吗?还是只是把几个词凑在一起来填补空白?
6. Avoid using jargon as much as possible.
尽量避免使用行话。
Not everyone in your audience will know what a “bull market” is. Not everyone knows that “pyrexia” is basically the same thing as “a fever”. And surely you can come up with a better term for high blood pressure than “hypertension”?
不是每个读者都知道“牛市”是什么。不是每个人都知道“pyrexia” (注：发热的临床用语)和“fever”基本上是一个意思。当然，你可以造一个比"hypertension"更好的词来表示高血压。
7. In terms of words, size matters.
词的长短也很重要。
Please, don’t strain yourself by browsing the Internet, looking for complicated and fancy-sounding words. Less is always more.
请不要让自己忙于浏览互联网来寻找复杂及花哨的词。少即是多。
示例：
- The man gave me a look so sharp that I sincerely believed it could pierce my heart and see my innermost fears.
-那名男子看我的眼神如此的犀利，我真的相信它能刺穿我的心，看清我内心的恐惧。
- Better: The man glared at me.
更好的写法：那名男子瞪着我。
8. Being positive is better than being negative–even in writing!
肯定比否定要更好——即使在写作中!
示例：
- I did not think that the unbelievable would not occur.
-我不认为令人难以置信的事情不会发生。
- Better: I thought the unbelievable would happen.
-更好的写法：我认为令人难以置信的事情是会发生的。
9. Set aside time for revising and rewriting–after you’ve written the whole content.
留下时间来修改和重写——在你写完全部内容后。
I’m not suggesting that you should edit each time you’ve finished a paragraph–that would just be tedious. What I’m telling is that you should first give yourself some time to finish the content prior to editing. Write away. Don’t edit yet. Don’t focus on the grammar yet. Don’t worry about the syntax, the synonym, the antonym or the order that you’re using.
我不是建议你每次写完一段话就修改一下——那样会很乏味。我建议你在编辑之前，应该给自己一些时间来完成写作的内容。写下来。先不要编辑。不要注重语法。不要担心语法、同义词、反义词或你用词的顺序。
Write for yourself, but mostly, write for your target audience. Write the message clearly and don’t be afraid to express your thoughts. Don’t censor yourself yet. Let the words flow. Don’t erase what you’ve written yet.
为你自己写作，但最重要的是，为你的目标受众写作。把内容清晰地写下来，不要害怕表达自己的思想。不要审查自己。让你的文字流动。先不要删除你所写的内容。
All the editing and the fixing will come later.
编辑内容和调整内容可以稍后进行。
10. Write. All the time.
写下来。每时每刻。
Good writing is simply always writing. Write when you’re sad. Write when you’re scared. Write when you don’t feel like writing.
好的写作技巧就是一直在写。悲伤时去写，害怕时去写，不想写的时候还要写。
