出版与作家生涯2018longreads.com
40岁以后才“崭露头角”的写作者
‘Emerging’ as a Writer After 40
导读
这篇文章讲的是四十岁之后才开始写作的人，作者借多位“晚起步”写作者的经历说明：起步晚并不意味着没有出路。评论区的讨论更值得写作者一读：写作作为职业的经济回报很低，所以先建立稳定的收入再写作、或者干脆把写作当成副业和技术写作，反而是更现实的选择。
可以直接用的写作要点
- 01
先把写作的经济账算清楚：靠写作谋生很难，先有稳定收入，才能长期写下去而不被迫放弃。
- 02
不必把目标定成“国际畅销书作家”，持续产出被人读到的文章，本身就是可积累的成果。
- 03
技术写作是既能拿钱又能磨练文字的现实路径，可以一边工作一边写自己想写的东西。
- 04
起步晚反而是优势：多活几十年带来的经验与视角，是年轻写作者写不出来的素材。
HN 评论精选
写作的经济回报远低于技术工作，所以选择业余写作，是为了不留遗憾。
我本科读到一半就放弃了当奇幻作家的梦想。这个决定算是“明智”的：计算机科学成了我同样热爱的东西，收入也极高。但到了二十几岁中期，我开始业余写作，以免老了后悔自己没试着发表点什么。可悲的是，即使我定期发表、成了国际畅销书作家，收入也超不过现在的软件工程师；写作付不起我在湾区的房贷，我还会失去公司的一大堆福利。我被困在这座镀金牢笼里。
ilovecaching查看英文原文
I gave up on my dream of being a fantasy writer in the middle of undergrad. It was a "great" decision in that computer science became something I was equally passionate about and has been extremely lucrative, but halfway through me twenties, I'm trying to write on the side in order to avoid the late in life regret I'll feel if I don't make an attempt at publishing something. What's sad is that I would have to be an international best seller to make more than I do as a software engineer, even if I published regularly; writing would not pay my bay area mortgage, and I'd lose out on tons of perks at work. Trapped in the gilded cage.
晚起步有其合理性：先有经济基础和生活阅历，再谈专业写作。
库尔特·冯内古特说过，人不到四十岁不该开始写作。考虑到写作作为职业的经济前景如此黯淡，晚一点再开始专业写作似乎很有道理：先给自己时间建立财务稳定，也活得更久，积累更多经验和作为作者的视角。
jaysonelliot查看英文原文
Kurt Vonnegut once said that no one should start writing before the age of 40. Given the dire economic prospects of writing as a career, it seems to make a lot of sense to wait until later in life to begin writing professionally. It gives you time to build some kind of financial stability first, and to have lived long enough to have more experience, and perspective as an author.
技术写作兼顾收入与文字训练，是写作者现实可行的折中路线。
技术写作！你是工程师吗？你热爱写作吗？想在一个压力小得多、但智力挑战同样充足的环境里工作吗？你可以写漂亮的文章、做有用的文档，还能第一个试用新功能。想的话也可以继续写小功能或内部工具，对团队之间的沟通有很大影响。这是我这辈子最好的选择：既能赚不少钱，又能打磨写作和工程手艺，还能做写小说的白日梦。再过十年，也许我会转去写奇幻；如果不转，我也有几十上百篇受欢迎的教学文章可以拿出手。这就够了。
goodroot查看英文原文
Technical writing! Are you an engineer? Do you love writing? Want to work in an environment that is far less stressful, but just as intellectually stimulating? You get to write neat articles, create helpful documentation. You are the first one to play with nifty features. Heck, keep writing small features if you want, or internal tools. You can have a big influence on inter-team communication. It is the best choice I have ever made. I get to make great money, polish my writing and engineering craft, and day dream about my future fictions. In another 10 years, perhaps I shall pivot to fantasy. If not, I can point to dozens and dozens of popular, educational articles which people have enjoyed. And that will be enough for me.
大器晚成有先例：达尔四十五岁才写出成名作。
罗尔德·达尔四十五岁才写出《詹姆斯与大仙桃》，后来的事大家都知道了。
overcast查看英文原文
Roald Dahl wrote James and the Giant peach when he was 45, and the rest is history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roald_Dahl_bibliography
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