The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century

繼《The Elements of Style》之後，新世代的寫作聖經《語言本能》作者Steven Pinker談寫作之道 許多人都在擔心，因為網路、簡訊盛行，現在的人都不會寫作了，語言和文字行將崩壞。暢銷書《語言本能》的作者帶我們回頭看看，其實這種擔憂18世紀早已存在，而且是每一個世代以傳承知識為己任的人都會擔憂的事。身為語言學家與心理學家，他說語言用字隨著時代改變而演化，是很自然的。毋須將網路視為敵人，其實優秀的部落客可在乎寫作的呢。當他們要以文字影響讀者，更講求文字效力、說服力、架構、鋪陳、用字遣詞與個人風格。我們的敵人不是網路，要寫得好，是每一個世代的不變挑戰。 「優美句子就是要用被動時態」、「句子越長越結構繁複，越能顯示文法和詞彙的運用能力」⋯想寫好英文？丟掉老舊的教條寫作指南，讓哈佛心理學家告訴你更科學的方法！ 哈佛知名心理學與語言學家Steven Pinker，繼暢銷作品《語言本能》、《The Blank Slate》、《The Better Angels of Our Nature》⋯從心理演化角度為讀者解說語言、心智以及暴力行為的運作，屢次以清晰的解說與獨特的見解躍上暢銷書之列。這次發揮自身語言學與心理學本科專業，分析寫作、閱讀與大腦的關聯，為讀者歸納出究竟優美的寫作風格從科學的角度看是怎麼一回事！ 在這本簡潔輕快，卻又極其實用的作品中，Pinker將告訴你好寫作不可或缺的配備——想像力、同理心、連貫性、文法訣竅，以及品味並重構他人好作品的能力。諸如優美的句子應能讓讀者大腦流暢的理解，形成圖像與情境；長度和結構超載的語句，只會讓大腦跟著打結。或者寫作者又該如何拿捏描述與對話的比例才能夠構築一個吸引讀者的故事。 使用豐富的好壞寫作範例，以科學式的理由和證據取代過往條列式的寫作規範，放下早已是百年前不符需求的規則與整理，讓寫作者能獲得明確的指引卻不被束縛喪失揮灑的空間。 要如何改善我的寫作？好的寫作技能真的重要嗎？新世代的媒體平台又為寫作帶來什麼變化？以上這些問題，《The Sense of Style》都將為你提供21世紀的新解答。Steven Pinker, the bestselling author of The Language Instinct, deploys his gift for explaining big ideas in The Sense of Style - an entertaining writing guide for the 21st centuryWhat is the secret of good prose? Does writing well even matter in an age of instant communication? Should we care? In this funny, thoughtful book about the modern art of writing, Steven Pinker shows us why we all need a sense of style.More than ever before, the currency of our social and cultural lives is the written word, from Twitter and texting to blogs, e-readers and old-fashioned books. But most style guides fail to prepare people for the challenges of writing in the 21st century, portraying it as a minefield of grievous errors rather than a form of pleasurable mastery. They fail to deal with an inescapable fact about language: it changes over time, adapted by millions of writers and speakers to their needs. Confusing changes in the world with moral decline, every generation believes the kids today are degrading society and taking language with it. A guide for the new millennium, writes Steven Pinker, has to be different.Drawing on the latest research in linguistics and cognitive science, Steven Pinker replaces the recycled dogma of previous style guides with reason and evidence. This thinking person's guide to good writing shows why style still matters: in communicating effectively, in enhancing the spread of ideas, in earning a reader's trust and, not least, in adding beauty to the world. Eye-opening, mind-expanding and cheerful, The Sense of Style shows that good style is part of what it means to be human.