写作方法2020writingroutines.com编辑精选
保罗·格雷厄姆谈写作：一次访谈
An interview with Paul Graham on writing
导读
这是一篇 Paul Graham 谈写作的采访，正文未附，但评论区延伸出两类对写作者有用的内容：一是多位作家共通的作息规律，二是对“写作要具体而不失真”这一标准的争论。前者可直接借鉴到自己的写作日程，后者提醒我们警惕空泛陈述与过度断言之间的分寸。
可以直接用的写作要点
- 01
把最清醒的早晨时段留给写作，连续写 4-6 小时，每天固定起止时间，其余时间不再强求创作。
- 02
写作时杜绝干扰，甚至可以用纸笔或打字机，减少分心的可能。
- 03
写完当天的主要任务后去散步或小睡，让潜意识继续处理素材，好点子常在散步时出现。
- 04
陈述要尽可能具体又不变形：说某地在某州中部附近比说“在某州某处”有用，但说“正中心”就过了头。
HN 评论精选
优秀作家的共同作息：早晨连续写作 4-6 小时、固定时间、无干扰，写后散步或小睡。
综合多方资料（尤其是《巴黎评论》访谈），许多优秀作家的作息有共同点：最高效的时段是早晨刚醒来，可配上咖啡或早餐；写作只占连续 4-6 小时，纯创作到此为止；写作时不受干扰，所以常有人手写或用打字机；每天起止时间固定；不少人写完当天任务后喜欢散步或小睡。这些和当前关于生产力的研究基本吻合，不太像是巧合。
cambalache查看英文原文
From what I have read from several sources --especially from the Paris Review interviews- the routines for many good writers share the following traits: - Most productive time is in the morning, right after waking up + optional coffee/breakfast. - The time slot dedicated to writing lasts 4-6 continuous hours and that's it for the day, as far as for the pure creative process goes. - No distraction when writing, so it is not weird to see people writing by hand or typewriter. - Same starting/finishing time every day. - Many writers like to go for a walk or nap after finishing the main daily task. All those things are pretty much aligned what the current research says about productivity so I dont think is just a coincidence.
批评 PG 的写作自我膨胀、信息量低，并以“派克峰”例子说明具体与过度精确之间的分寸。
他批评 Paul Graham 自《On Lisp》之后越来越自我膨胀。以 PG 近期一篇谈“有用写作”的文章为例：文中说“有用的写作要提出尽可能强、但又不至于失真的论断”，并举派克峰为例——说它在科罗拉多中部附近比说“在科罗拉多某处”更有用，但说“在正中心”就过头了。评论者认为这类文字极其平庸，若匿名投稿根本经不起盲评；要读真正出色的技术写作，不如去看 David Foster Wallace 的《Everything and More》或 Umberto Eco 的《如何写毕业论文》。
seanhunter查看英文原文
Whenever anyone wants to talk to Paul Graham about writing I always wonder whether they've read any of his works, because since writing "On Lisp" (which I think is great) he's been in a death spiral of self-importance. Let's take a recent example (from [1]): > Though no doubt correct, such statements tell the reader > nothing. Useful writing makes claims that are as strong as > they can be made without becoming false. > For example, it's more useful to say that Pike's Peak is > near the middle of Colorado than merely somewhere in > Colorado. But if I say it's in the exact middle of > Colorado, I've now gone too far, because it's a bit east > of the middle. This is deeply pedestrian writing you could be proud of if English was your second language and writing was not any sort of job but as written it reads like that boring father-in-law who collars you at a family picnic and insists on telling you (even though you know) about what a frequent flyer programme is and about that time 15 years ago when they hit silver status. It's a very unfair comparison, but if you want to read amazing technical writing, try reading "Everything and more: A compact history of Infinity" by David Foster Wallace. Or contrast PG's essay with Umberto Eco's "How to write a Thesis"[2]. It's hard to escape the conclusion that PG's writing would not survive a double-blind test where someone didn't see his name attached. [1] http://www.paulgraham.com/useful.html [2] It's a whole book but is excerpted here in a format that bears comparison to PG's essay https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/umberto-eco-how-to-write-a-thesis/
作家把写作与散步结合，散步常是灵感来源；克尔凯郭尔的咖啡仪式说明日常惯例对创作的支撑作用。
想了解作家作息，强烈推荐 Mason Curry 的《Daily Rituals》。书里克尔凯郭尔的咖啡仪式最有趣：他上午写作，中午到哥本哈根长时间散步，回来继续写到晚上；散步是他灵感的来源，有时怕忘掉好点子，回家后还戴着帽子、握着拐杖或雨伞就站在书桌前写。他靠咖啡提神，通常晚饭后配一杯雪利酒喝；秘书回忆他有至少五十套杯碟、每套只有一只，喝咖啡前秘书得先挑出他当天喜欢的那套，还得向他解释为什么选它。
keiferski查看英文原文
If you are interested in the routines of writers, I can't recommend Daily Rituals by Mason Curry enough. Kierkegaard's method of preparing coffee is probably my favorite: “The Danish philosopher’s day was dominated by two pursuits: writing and walking. Typically, he wrote in the morning, set off on a long walk through Copenhagen at noon, and then returned to his writing for the rest of the day and into the evening. The walks were where he had his best ideas, and sometimes he would be in such a hurry to get them down that, returning home, he would write standing up before his desk, still wearing his hat and gripping his walking stick or umbrella. Kierkegaard kept up his energy with coffee, usually taken after supper and a glass of sherry. Israel Levin, his secretary from 1844 until 1850, recalled that Kierkegaard owned “at least fifty sets of cups and saucers, but only one of each sort”—and that, before coffee could be served, Levin had to select which cup and saucer he preferred that day, and then, bizarrely, justify his choice to Kierkegaard. And this was not the end of the strange ritual. The biographer Joakim Garff writes: “Kierkegaard had his own quite peculiar way of having coffee: Delightedly he seized hold of the bag containing the sugar and poured sugar into the coffee cup until it was piled up above the rim. Next came the incredibly strong, black coffee, which slowly dissolved the white pyramid. The process was scarcely finished before the syrupy stimulant disappeared into the magister’s stomach, where it mingled with the sherry to produce additional energy that percolated up into his seething and bubbling brain—which in any case had already been so productive all day that in the half-light Levin could still notice the tingling and throbbing in the overworked fingers when they grasped the slender handle of the cup.” https://www.amazon.com/Daily-Rituals-How-Artists-Work/dp/0307273601 https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/oct/05/daily-rituals-creative-minds-mason-currey
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