Words and expressions

1. The sentence is so folksy that we imagine ourselves sitting on the porch of White’s house in Maine.

folksy: friendly and informal

仿寫: Some readers might be put off by the folksy style of these discussions.

2. Nobody wants to be patronized.

patronize: to talk to someone in a way which seems friendly but shows that you think they are not as intelligent or do not know as much as you

仿寫: The program focuses on kids’ interests without patronizing them.

3. Sometimes you will tap a vein of eloquence or racial memory that gives your writing a depth it could never attain on its own.

eloquence: powerful and effective language

仿寫: He is gifted with rare eloquence.

4. From their comments I realized that several of them thought I was being facetious.?

facetious: cleverly amusing in tone

仿寫: Don’t be so facetious!

Reflection

My commodity as a? writer, whatever I’m writing about, is me. And your commodity is you. Don’t alter your voice to fit your subject.? 這段話其實作者再次強調了寫作中的be yourself

Imitation is part of the creative process for anyone learning an art or a craft. 這句話讓我想起了中文里的“天下文章一大抄”，但不是完全的復制粘貼，所謂熟讀唐詩三百首，不會寫詩也會吟，作者表達的是需要有不斷的看的輸入，不斷學習和不斷模仿，我們才能成長，形成自己的風格和特色