"Good writing means entering other people's thoughts, which in turn allows their thoughts to enter our own writing."

This sentence comes from the preface of the book The Secret of Efficient Writing.

I saw the book Secrets of Efficient Writing on Amazon. It was this sentence in the preface that moved me and I bought this book without hesitation.

Writing is "I write my heart by hand". I want to express my views and convey values. "Good writing is getting into other people's minds", yes, I quite agree with this sentence.

But the second half of the sentence makes me a little confused: "I write my thoughts, why should I' turn their thoughts into our own writing'?"

After reading the preface, I understand. The original author's goal in writing this book is:

"Let academic writing return to the origin of society and communication, and unveil its veil. Although writing requires silence and solitude, the mode of "he said/I said" tells students that the correct way to improve their argumentation skills is not to reflect on themselves, but to think about how to talk with relatives and friends, that is, to listen carefully and pay attention to other people's opinions. "

In other words, this book not only teaches you academic writing, but also adopts a special "he said/I said" mode, which allows you to "go all over the world at once", grasp the core and write high-quality academic articles.

Some writers may say, what does this have to do with me? I am engaged in self-media and non-academic. Is it useful to read this book?

Admittedly, the target audience of this book is academic writing. If you engage in research and write professional articles, that's right. But if you're not, it's actually very enlightening. Because its concept is "excellent writing is a dialogue with others", that is, "summarizing other people's views, so as to build your own argument".

Think about it. You write literary criticism, publish insightful articles on hot topics, analyze the economic situation and engage in popular science education. Which one is not academic? What's more, in today's Internet age, if you want to make your point of view unique and outstanding, and have no academic atmosphere, how can you write deeply and convincingly?

Some writers will think: it's all routine! I hate routines, so I just want to be free. Why did you introduce me to "mode"?

I admire this arrogant declaration. If you have been able to move freely, there is no need to read this book. However, if you haven't reached the sublime level and want to write a high-quality and academic manuscript quickly, this book is worth reading.

The subtitle on the cover of The Secrets of Efficient Writing directly reads this line: writing textbooks designated by more than 65,438+0,500 colleges and universities in the United States. It has been reprinted many times. There are two authors, one is Gerald Graff and the other is Kathy Berkenstein. Both authors work in the University of Illinois and have been studying writing education all their lives. Since its publication, this book has been widely praised by students and teachers and reprinted many times. The English version has sold millions of copies, and Amazon has received rave reviews and long-term sales.

It is said that "the eyes of the masses are discerning", not to mention college students who have always found fault with teachers? Being so warmly welcomed by the students shows that this book is not a product of commercial packaging, but is indeed "informative".

Where is the material of this book?

Such as topic-the secret of efficient writing. This secret is the main axis of this book: "He said/I said" mode.

"He said/I said" mode is how others say and how I respond, and then put these responses into an article. In this way, there are three steps: he said, I said, into writing; This is also the structure of this book. The first part is about the art of listening, the second part is about how to make your own response, and the third part is about the way of "integration".

(1) "He said"

"He said" was said by someone else. What others say is "quote". Therefore, the first part starts with "quoting first" and advocates quoting other people's opinions first, instead of directly throwing out your own opinions and explaining the reasons.

Don't know how to quote? Don't worry, the author has given you a magic weapon.

The magic weapon is a series of "quoting" templates: quoting what he said, quoting standard views, introducing assumptions or inferences from what you said for him, and introducing controversy. Finally, let me explain to you why you should keep "what he said" in mind.

After quoting, we have to sum up. The author then began to introduce "He Xiang", which is the art of induction.

How to do induction?

First, put yourself in their position.

You need to put aside your prejudice for a while, put yourself in other people's minds and play the "believe game" first.

Second, know your own direction.

Induction is the accurate presentation of other people's views. If you sum up mistakes and distort other people's views, it will damage your academic reputation. Others will criticize you and say, "I can't understand the original text, and you are still talking nonsense here!" " "However, in addition to being faithful to the original text, we should also be consistent with our whole plan, so we should focus on the summary and prepare our own views.

Although good induction will generally strike a good balance between faithfully presenting other people's views and the author's own intentions, sometimes ironic induction can also expose the ugliness of the summarized views, so the author also specially talked about the template of ironic induction.

Finally, the action tendency and deixis are unified.

What is an instruction? Show your attitude. For example, "show, claim, this is a statement; Recognition, support ",this is to agree; "Confirmed and denied" is an expression of doubt or opposition, pleading and appealing. This is a suggestion. When summarizing or quoting directly, using accurate and vivid indicators will make your article more convincing.

How to quote and summarize the meeting?

The author begins to explain to you "as he said", that is, the way of quoting.

For quotation, the author made an interesting analogy. He said, "quotation is a bit like an orphan: it is separated from the original context and then integrated into the new context."

Therefore, this book specially introduces two important aspects of integrating quotations:

First of all, choose the quotation carefully and pay attention to how much it can support your specific paragraph. When choosing a quotation, you must not "fall out of the book bag", but make sure it can support your argument.

Second, add "matching" to important quotations, such as the author of the original text, the meaning of the quotation, and the connection with the text. It should be emphasized that quoting "what he said" must be related to your own content. If you want to match the quotation, you need to put it in a "quotation sandwich", that is, "the top piece of bread" is a quotation statement, and "the bottom piece" is a subsequent explanation.

(2) I said

"I said" is my response to those "he said". In this part, the book talks about various ways to respond, explains the transition between "he said" and "I said", introduces and responds to objections, and how to answer the two most important questions: "What's the point" and "Who cares".

First of all, the author puts forward three most common and recognizable answers: "yes/no/yes, but", that is, agreement, opposition and the combination of the two.

When responding, don't throw out a lot of specific opinions at the beginning. On the contrary, you should use straightforward and unquestionable common usage to express your position, such as "I agree" and "I object" or "I agree with some opinions, ..."; But there are also voices of opposition ... ". Once you give such a clear proposition, readers will have a strong understanding of your position, and then follow your reasoning to understand all the subtleties behind.

Agree, but you can't follow suit, otherwise it will be of no value to readers. The main point of agreement is to show the difference or contrast between your point of view and your approved point of view, rather than copying it as it is.

Objection is the easiest way to write an article: identify a topic, find a relevant paragraph that others have said but you object to, summarize it, and then give an argument.

There are both those who agree and those who disagree, which are often encountered. Academic circles attach importance to careful consideration. It may be a blockbuster if you directly announce your original idea, but there are always some questions that you can't make up your mind and are not sure. This is also an opinion.

Since excellent academic writing is a dialogue with others, at any time, you need to let readers distinguish your own views from your statements about others' views.

Secondly, how to prevent readers from confusing the two in the process of changing from "he said" to "I said"?

The book introduces two methods: "phonetic symbols" and "inserting quotation marks".

Some subtle hints can show whose voice the author is talking about. Such words are "phonetic symbols". After getting into the habit of using phonetic symbols, readers will not be so confused. You can pay more attention to similar symbols when reading complex texts.

When reminding the reader who the viewpoint you expounded belongs to, you don't have to use "X-thinking" to explain the argument. You can also insert a reference to X in your own sentence.

Furthermore, are there any skills to introduce and respond to objections?

If you want to make your words stand up, join the role of objector and tell readers what they can criticize you from. This is a preemptive way of writing.

Excellent writing does not accumulate indisputable facts in a vacuum, but means joining in dialogue or debate. Once you think of writing as entering a dialogue, you should see that tit-for-tat views are good for you.

For example, the template given in the book is very useful: "Although some readers may object to one of your arguments, you" gave the answer … ".

Finally, the writing skills about the meaning of the paper.

Talking about the significance of the paper is to answer two most important questions: "What is the significance? Who cares? " "Who cares" requires you to be clear about who or which groups will care about your ideas; And "what's the point" is about the practical application and consequences of these concepts, that is, what changes will be brought about by accepting these concepts.

(3) the way of "integration"

Since it is a model, it naturally summarizes the "integration" method. How to integrate? There are three main points in the book:

The first is fluency and consistency.

The best article will give a clear connection between the parts, forming a sense of "potential" and direction. Each sentence (or paragraph) not only lays the foundation for the following article, but also paves the way for the previous article. When you write a sentence, you create an expectation in the reader's mind that the next sentence will continue and expand the current sentence in some way, even if the next sentence will start in a new direction.

To make the article fluent and coherent, we should remember these four practical methods:

A. Use conjunctions (such as "so" and "so");

B, add indicators (such as "this" and "this");

C, setting a set of keywords for each article;

D, in other words, there must be some changes to avoid redundancy.

Then, it is how to mix written and non-written language.

Academic papers are not incompatible with everyday spoken English outside the ivory tower. "I don't think so" and "lack of feasibility" are two styles. Of course, you can use them flexibly according to the audience and purpose, ensuring that you can not only speak your mind, but also write powerful academic arguments. Xiao Chang's spoken English can often make academic articles lively and even make words more rigorous and accurate.

Finally, there is a "meta-comment" to clarify the problem.

The so-called "meta-comments", that is, comments, show how to guide readers to understand the text and tell others how to understand these views.

No matter how clear and accurate you write, readers still misunderstand you in countless ways. By using meta-comments, you can clarify your ideas. The main forms of "meta-comment" are title, subtitle and subtitle. Besides, there are many other techniques that can also be used in meta-criticism, such as discussing opinions, adding conjunctions, adding supporting words to quotations, answering questions such as "What's the point" and "Who cares".

But do you think this is the end of the secret explanation?

Don't! The author tells you after writing the method: "Don't worry, you just finished writing the first draft, and you still need to revise it."

Revision is one of the most important writing links. You should read through the first draft and check whether the argument is perfect and can be improved. The difficult thing is to find out where improvement is needed and then how to do it.

How to find out? The author gives a list of questions arranged in chapter order in this book, which you can check against.

That is not the end of it. You have mastered the secret and understood the method. The author said, "Wait, I have a gift for you!" " "

Ha, what a surprise, it is actually an application in different scenes, as well as the template index of the whole book and five model articles.

Well, sit down and write. You won't just flip through the books.

Efficient, here is: apply the template, and then quickly write your "in-depth paper", compare with the model essay, revise and improve it, and get it!

It's that simple. What are you waiting for? Learn!

(End of this article)

I have devoted my life to reading classic books, writing heavy words and living a profound life. I'm Du Doudou, thank you for your attention.

About the author: Du Doudou, who has been engaged in IT for more than 20 years, has studied English, computer, aesthetics and psychology. Debuted in his early years, and later worked for many world-renowned IT foreign companies. Now he works in a research institute. Bookworm is the code word of free-time code. He is also a signing author of several platforms, a member partner, a 10,000-volume good book studio and the founder of a 10,000-volume good book reading club.