出版与作家生涯2016themillions.com编辑精选
成为作家没有现成手册
There Is No Handbook for Being a Writer
导读
这篇讨论的不是“写作技巧手册”，而是“身为写作者”这件事：没有现成指南教你处理身份认同、日常坚持和心理压力。它值得写作者读，因为它把写作的技术问题与以写作者身份生活时的尴尬、代价和自处方式分开来谈。
可以直接用的写作要点
- 01
先分清“写作技法”和“写作者身份”两个问题，前者可学，后者更多是心理与生活方式的调适。
- 02
每天坐下来写、并对外承认自己是写作者，会带来持续的心理负担，需要正视而不是假装不存在。
- 03
动笔前先抓住真正想表达的东西，文字会随之而来；不要只纠结措辞。
- 04
正规文学教育不一定滋养创作热情，非科班出身也可以持续写作；多读外语原著能拓展视野。
HN 评论精选
文章核心是写作者身份带来的心理负担，而不是写作技法。
我知道大家列出写作技法或创作过程手册是想帮忙，但这跑题了。作者谈的是标题所说的“身为写作者”，比如“你做什么？”“哦，我是作家”，而不是“能不能用 but 开头？”“永远不能，我是个拘泥规矩的人！”每天坐下来写作并告诉别人你在做这件事，会带来一堆心理上的黏糊东西，神志正常的人若想保持正常就得应对。这篇文章更接近谈这个。尽管如此，还是推荐了一些好书，谢谢。
methehack查看英文原文
I know folks are trying to be helpful by listing all the handbooks on the mechanics of writing, or on the creative process (closer), but it's off topic. The author is talking about 'being a writer', as in the title. As in: "What do you do?" "Oh, I'm a writer" Not like: "Should one _ever_ begin a sentence with 'but'?" "No, you should _never_ do that. I'm a prig!" It seems that sitting down to write every day and telling people you're doing it brings with it a wrath of psychological goop that sane people need to cope with if they're going to keep remain sane. That's more what this essay is about. All that finger-waggingly-said, some great books recommended. Thank you for that!
正规文学教育可能扼杀热情；非科班也能写作，并应读外语原著拓展视野。
有趣的是，作者读了文学学位，最终却因此被推离这条职业道路。正式创意艺术教育让人想去做别的，似乎是常见现象。我有音乐背景的熟人后来转做别的，包括 IT；老友说音乐学院多数毕业生学会讨厌音乐，并在毕业后放弃。相反，我没受过文学教育，却越来越被这条道路吸引；不确定是否彻底转行，软件工程和创业太令人兴奋。感觉用编程技能比用文字更能贡献社会，但可能错。目前只是偶尔写文章发博客，似乎够了。相关建议：不要回避读外国文学。很多母语英语者世界里其他语言不存在，但你会错过拓展视野的思想。别困在英语孤岛，学外语去探索。翻译不一样，缺少原文的能量。
AndreyErmakov查看英文原文
It's interesting that the author pursued a degree in literature and that's what ultimately pushed her away from that career path. It seems to be a common theme where a formal education in creative arts makes people want to do something else in life, anything else. I've had acquaintances with a musical background and eventually they went to do something else, including IT. From what an old buddy told me once, most graduates of a musical school learn to hate music and quit that vocation past graduation. In the opposite fashion, I've never had a literary education and I'm feeling more and more drawn to this line of work. I'm not sure if I want to make a complete switch though, software engineering and startups are just too exciting to give it all up. Somehow it feels I can accomplish more and make a better contribution to the society with my honed programming skills than with words, but I might be wrong about it. For now, I'm just writing essays every now and then, publishing them on my blog and that seems to be enough. One word of advice in relation to all of this. Don't shy away from reading foreign literature. I know that for many native English speakers other languages simply don't exist in their world, but you're missing out on an incredible body of thoughts and ideas that might expand your vision borders. Don't be stuck in your English silo, learn some foreign language and go exploring. And no, a translation is not the same, it's devoid of the original energy. That's why people are often unimpressed by what before a translation was a profound piece of work. You can't translation energy.
先想清楚内容再找词；学习他人经验避免错误；“作家”身份的社交尴尬很少被谈论。
我读写作四十年得到的最好写作建议是加图老的名言：抓住事物，词语自会跟随。关于成为写作者的最好建议，主要是读别人怎么做的，然后避免他们的错误。因此希望我不要在爱达荷孤独路上踢罐子、醉醺醺去 Buckley 采访、娶太年轻的表妹或得任何奖。补充：身为写作者在社会上很尴尬，尤其在这个社会。我有类似作者感受，得学会应对。几乎没人谈写作的这一面。
sverige查看英文原文
The best advice on writing I've come across in 40 years of reading about writing is a "pithy maxim" from Cato the Elder: Rem tene, verba sequentur. (Grasp the thing, the words will follow.) The best advice on being a writer is mostly reading how others did it and then avoiding their mistakes. Thus, I hope I don't end up kicking a can up a lonely road in Idaho or showing up drunk for an interview by Buckley or marrying my too-young cousin or winning any kind of prize. Edit: I forgot to say what I came here to say: "Being a writer" is socially awkward and a little embarrassing, especially in this society. I've had feelings similar to the author's and had to learn to deal with them. Almost no one talks about that part of writing.
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