我希望老師當初有教我的「英文寫作技巧」

寫作本身就不是一件容易的事情，有時候連我們的母語中文都寫不好了，更何況是英文？

前陣子我讀了 Elements of Style，最近讀了 On Writing Well，並且上 Writing in the Science 後，覺得獲益良多。在此跟各位分享幾個我從書中、課程中學到，覺得受用無窮的要點。

以下為我個人消化吸收後的整理，對於同樣的要點，每個人的解讀與應用都不同，以下的範例僅做參考，沒有絕對。

嚴選適當而有力的動詞
說動詞是英文的靈魂，一點都不過分。任何一句英文，都是靠動詞把所有內容串起來的。 動詞傳達了事物之間的關係與他們互動的方式，所有的事物都因動詞而有了生命，活躍了起來。反之，若將動詞名詞化，原本生靈活現的動作，便成為死板板而不易閱讀的陳述。

範例：
(X) I did a lot of shopping last year.
(O) I shopped a lot last year.
(X) We spent most of our time working on this project.
(O) We focused on this project.

佳句欣賞：
"The last rains lifted the corn quickly and scattered weed colonies and grass along the sides of the roads so that the gray country and the dark red country began to disappear under a green cover."
-- John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath, 1939

動詞放越前面越清晰
在動詞與主詞間做太多修飾，或在讓動詞太晚出現會模糊焦點，讀者在讀到動詞之前，只能描繪靜態的情景，提到了越多事物，懸浮在讀者腦海中的事物就越多。直到動詞出現時， 一切才會轉為明朗。凡以清楚溝通為目標的句子，都可參考這個做法。

範例：
(X) Surprisingly, the man, who was not happy about our plan on remodeling his shop, finally agreed on it.
(O) Surprisingly, the man finally agreed on our plan on remodeling his shop.
(X) Mr. U, not knowing which flight to book, hesitated and asked for my opinion.
(O) Not knowing which flight to book, Mr. U hesitated and asked for my opinion

非必要不使用被動式
被動式會讓原先鮮明的動詞變得過於間接、模糊焦點而語意不清。這時我們可以將被動句改寫為原先的主動句。但這不是說我們要絕對避免被動，被動在主詞真的不重要的時候，而受詞是動作的主角時，仍須使用。使用被動時，可以再問問自己「這句話中，受詞真的是主角嗎？」

範例：
(X) The book was written by me.
(O) I wrote the book.
(X) Most of the bread was eaten by him.
(O) He ate most of the bread.

(O) Some mushrooms are said to be poisonous.
(X) Somebody says some mushrooms are poisonous.

使用扼要的說法取代長字、長句、長片語
長字、長句、長片語沒有比較厲害，而精確用字才是好文筆的秘訣。同一件事情如果有兩個說法都是同樣的意思，短的通常會比長的更清楚有力。當然，長字、長句、長片語並非罪大惡極，但在我們使用長字、長句、長片語時，不彷想想，我們真的有必要寫成這樣嗎？我們的長字有沒有精確的短字可以取代、長句可否用更扼要的短句改寫、長片語是否有更簡明的短片語可以替？如果有較短的版本，又不易混淆的話，不妨採用較短的版本，讓讀者更能輕鬆了解你的意思。

範例：
(X) We were late due to the fact that it was raining.
(O) We were late because of the rain.
(X) In order to pass the exam that will be held tomorrow, he spend most of his time studying for the exam tonight.
(O) To pass the exam tomorrow, he studied most of the time tonight.
(X) This is supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
(O) This is fantastic.

不使用冗餘的副詞或形容詞
英文裡面有許多動詞與名詞，本身就帶有被副詞或形容詞修飾的意思。已經使用這類動詞或名詞時，就不必再使用同樣意思的副詞或形容詞重複描述相同的概念。雖然中文有同義複詞的概念，但英文寫作中沒有這樣的用法。從另一方面來看，我們用形容詞或副詞修飾名詞或動詞時，可以再想想、查查，是否有更妥切的動詞或名詞來描述我們要說的事情。

範例：
(X) Both Tom and Mary mutually helped each other.
(O) Tom and Mary helped each other.
(X) I hope you will accept the proposal we proposed.
(O) I hope you will accept our proposal.
(X) The athletes ran quickly towards the finish line.
(O) The athletes dashed towards the finish line.

使用肯定句直接表達自己的意思
肯定句一般而言比使用 not 的否定句有力。用 not 否定動詞時，因許多須使用不肯定 (indefinite) 型，如 anytime、anywhere，讀者只能揣測作者確切的意思。肯定句直接讓讀者知道確切的意思，而非透過否定來劃清「不是」的界線。通常用 not 否定的事情，都會有一個不使用 not 的說法。若是形容詞，有時可將否定的意思寫入字首，如 not legal 可寫成 illegal。若是否定動詞時，則使用否定字，如 never、no one、nothing 亦比 not 來得強烈清楚。如此一來，整個句子便能更清楚直接地傳達意思。

範例：
(X) Smoking in public places is not lawful.
(O) Smoking in public places is illegal.
(X) I didn't remember her birthday, so she was not happy.
(O) I forgot her birthday, so she was angry.

結語
當然，知道了這幾個規則後，還需要不斷地練習、修正，並且從這些角度學習好文的優點，才會確實進步。最後，引用 William Zinsser 一段總結寫作秘訣的話，送給大家。

"The secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components. Every word that serves no function, every long word that could be a short word, every adverb that carries the same meaning that’s already in the verb, every passive construction that leaves the reader unsure of who is doing what—these are the thousand and one adulterants that weaken the strength of a sentence. And they usually occur in proportion to the education and rank."
-- William Zinsser, On Writing Well, 1976

建議延伸閱讀：
On Writting Well by William Zinsser
The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr.
Writing in the Science by Kristin Sainani

圖片來源：
http://www.flickr.com/photos/philgyford/4284791548/