HN 写作课

工程师们二十年里聊过的写作。

工程师、作家、编辑和创业者在 Hacker News 上聊了二十年“怎么写”:怎么写得清楚、怎么讲好一个故事、技术文档怎么写、小说和出版是怎么回事。这里把其中关于写作与讲故事的帖子挑出来,配上中文导读、可以直接用的写作要点和评论翻译。

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    1. 01

      从全量里捞

      读取 Hacker News 自 2006 年以来的全部帖子,用关键词先捞出 40 分以上、可能和写作有关的约 1.1 万篇。

    2. 02

      只留真正讲写作的

      由 AI 逐条判断是否和写作、讲故事、文风、出版有实质关系,剔除“写代码”“编辑器”这类字面撞车,并分进十个类别。

    3. 03

      提炼可用的要点

      为值得读的帖子写中文导读,提炼 2-4 条可以直接用到自己写作里的要点,并精选翻译 HN 高赞评论。内容由 AI 生成,可能有误。

    小说与文学2019factordaily.com

    中国科幻小说的不断崛起

    The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction

    阅读原文 HN 讨论
    249HN 得分
    196条评论
    4条写作要点

    导读

    这篇文章梳理中国科幻的崛起,HN 讨论很快集中到刘慈欣《地球往事》三部曲:有人盛赞其世界观与绝境破局,也有人批评人物扁平、语言呆板。对写作者来说,这组争论正好照出“宏大构想”与“人物/语言基本功”之间的张力,也提醒关注类型读者口味的变化。

    关键词 科幻写作人物塑造世界观构建类型小说市场

    可以直接用的写作要点

    1. 01

      把主角放进看似无解的困境,再给出有铺垫、可信的破局方式,能制造强烈阅读张力。

    2. 02

      世界观和高概念可以吸引读者,但人物若只是推进情节的工具,作品会像“点子草稿本”而非完整小说。

    3. 03

      让角色自己做选择、承担后果,而不是由作者指派任务,才能让读者关心其命运。

    4. 04

      语言和陈词滥调会直接削弱宏大设定;写作时要用具体、新鲜的表达托住想象力。

    HN 评论精选

    盛赞三部曲的绝境设计与世界观,认为它抬高了读者的科幻标准。

    刘慈欣《地球往事》三部曲是我读过最好的科幻。他把人物放入看似无法解决的处境,让人觉得他写不出出路,却总能达成不可能;世界观构建无人能及,还引入许多新颖有趣的技术。读完后我很沮丧,因为很久读不到这么好的作品;也提醒后来科幻会显得逊色。

    Jerry2查看英文原文

    Cixin Liu's 'Remembrance of Earth’s Past' trilogy are the greatest sci-fi books I've ever read. I still remember when I picked the first volume and than patiently waited for a very long time for translations of the next books to arrive. The wait was well worth it. He manages to put his characters into seemingly insurmountable situations and it feels like he won't be able to write his way out of them but somehow he manages to achieve the impossible. His world-building skills are second to none and he introduced so many novel and interesting technologies into his universe. Liu's a true master of sci-fi (and definitely a genius) and these books are my favorite fiction books of all time. After I finished the last book, I was depressed because I realized that I'm not going to read something this great again for a very long time. They're also the first Chinese sci-fi books I've ever read. Since then, I read the rest of Liu's books (including the Ball Lightning which came out last year). Can't recommend these books highly enough but beware that it might make subsequent sci-fi books less enjoyable since you'll be judging them by a different yardstick. I tried to read so many sci-fi books since (I usually buy various award winning books since it's a decent filter) but I rarely finish them because they never capture my attention (and imagination) like Liu's books.

    批评人物工具化,但承认宏大构想能弥补部分文学短板。

    《三体》确有角色刻画薄弱的问题:刘笔下人物常像机械、功能性的工具,命运由作者指派,读者很难共情。但故事愿景极出色,掩盖了不少文学技巧弱点;所以它不算好小说,而是几十年来最疯狂又最美丽科幻点子的伟大草稿本。

    tanilama查看英文原文

    Three body problem does suffer the problem of weak characterization. Liu's account of his characters are often robotic and functional, in a way that is pretty anti-climatic, since you hardly feel for those characters and their fate. They are disposable vehicles with string attached, who don't control their own fate or make their own decisions but simply carry out appointed missions from the author himself. Granted, his vision for the story is simply brilliant, which covers up a lot of weak points in his literary skills, but weakness is weakness nevertheless. In a way, Three Body Problem series aren't good novels, since it lacks humartian elements in them, but great sketchbooks of some of the craziest, but at the same time, most beautiful SF ideas in decades.

    指出读者转向日更快节奏类型文,传统科幻杂志式微,市场并不乐观。

    中国图书/小说市场几乎全面转向数字自出版,杂志濒死,图书只是网络版的实体副本。最重要的科幻杂志《科幻世界》——多位作者起步的地方——正边缘化。新一代读者更青睐长篇、日更、快节奏武侠/仙侠,靠讨喜角色和套路取悦读者;市场压抑,中国科幻前景不乐观。

    tanilama查看英文原文

    Chinese book market, or fiction market has now almost fully embraced digital self-publishing. Magazine are now almost dead, books are just physical copies of their online version. Sad but true, the one most important Chinese SF magazine, the SF World, where all the mentioned authors started their career, has been hanging on the edge and gradually becoming irrelevant for some time now. The new generation of readers has put their vote on longer, daily updated, fast paced Wuxia(Martial Arts)/Xianxia(Martial Arts with Fantasy element) series, which focuses entirely on pleasing the readership with favorable characters/troupes. With a strangling market, I wouldn't say the Chinese science fiction's future is a bright one.

    严厉批评语言、人物和情节,质疑其被过度赞誉。

    我只读过《三体》,觉得各方面写作糟糕:语言陈词滥调、呆板,胜过不少同人;人物发展不存在,多数角色浅薄只为推进情节;除三体生命基本设定外,情节乏味,只有文革闪回让我想继续读;科幻部分如感知基本粒子很荒谬。我不懂为何好评如潮、还比海因莱因,感觉像骗局或误入后现代艺术展。

    int_19h查看英文原文

    I have only read "Three-Body Problem", and I found it to be atrocious writing on pretty much all levels. Language-wise, it was more cliched and wooden than many fanfics I've read. Character development is non-existent, and most of the characters are very shallow and only exist to advance the plot. The plot itself, aside from the basic idea of a three-body system with life, was also very boring - the only part of it that I actually looked forward to continue reading was the Cultural Revolution flashbacks. And then there's the whole sci-fi part of it, which was beyond ridiculous - sentient elementary particles etc. I still don't understand how that book gets so many good reviews, and especially don't understand people comparing it with Heinlein. Those reviews were the only reason why I forced myself to read it all the way through, and it still feels like some elaborate hoax, or accidentally ending up in some postmodernist art convention by mistake.

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