出版与作家生涯2021lithub.com
作家们谈他们的日常工作
Writers on their day jobs
导读
这是 LitHub 的一篇文章，请来七位作家聊各自的“白天的活儿”，讲他们如何在工作与写作之间来回切换。文后的评论从亲身经历和不同想法出发，讨论全职工作下能不能写作、值不值得写。对业余写作者来说，这里既有具体的时间安排办法，也有关于工作与创作关系的现实思考。
可以直接用的写作要点
- 01
把写作时间固定到上班之外的零散时段，比如午休、通勤、周末，不要总等一整块空闲时间。
- 02
别小看碎片时间，先用便携设备随手记下草稿，再集中修改，比一开始就追求完整更现实。
- 03
先想清楚写作在你生活里有多重要；长期写作靠的不是找到时间，而是有意识地在日常里挤出时间。
- 04
承认上班后精力有限，把创作目标和每天的精力量匹配起来，别用‘没时间’当借口，也别硬撑到耗尽。
HN 评论精选
全职工作下，靠午休、通勤和周末的零散时间，加上便携写作设备，也能长期坚持写长篇小说。
我还没发表过作品，但过去 25 年维持全职 IT 工作，写了三部小说（每部约 10 万词），经过多轮修改。大部分写作发生在午休、周末和假期的零散时间，还有 90 分钟公交通勤的路上。早上时间不够，下班后通常太累，写不了需要创造力的东西。很少能在上班的空档插个 U 盘写作。当然也有例外。读过我作品的人说写得不错，也许有一天我会自费出版。全职工作期间做创作完全可能，但这需要比单纯写作更多的专注和创造力。我一直热衷于寻找便携的写作工具：90 年代末用 Palm Pilot（配无线键盘），后来买得起笔记本电脑，现在用 iPad Air 4 加妙控键盘。
themadturk查看英文原文
I have not been published, but I've written three novels (100k words approximately, each), and put them through multiple editing and revision passes, over the last 25 years while working full time in IT (which may or may not be considered grueling). Most of the writing was done at lunch, a few hours here and there on weekends and during holidays, and some during 90 minutes commutes on the bus. I don't have enough time in the mornings, and am usually too tired after work to do creative work. I've very rarely been able to plug in a flash drive and write during downtimes at work. There are exceptions, of course. I've been told by un-related people who've read the work that they're pretty good, and I may self-publish someday. It certainly is possible do creative work while working full-time. It takes dedication and creativity above and beyond that needed to do the writing. I've been obsessed with finding portable writing systems. In the late 90s I wrote on Palm Pilots (using RF-connected keyboards). Eventually I was able to afford laptops. Today my portable writing device is an iPad Air 4 with Magic Keyboard.
创作意志能战胜环境，但精力是现实门槛；工作既可能是阻碍，也可能成为灵感来源。
我对“白天有繁重工作能否写作”这件事有点矛盾。一方面，有观点认为作家必须写。比如布考斯基在诗《Air and Light and Time and Space》里说：不，宝贝，如果你要创作，哪怕每天在煤矿干 16 小时，你也会创作；哪怕和小房间里三个孩子靠救济金生活，你也会创作；哪怕身心俱疲、失明、残废、精神错乱，你也会创作；哪怕猫爬上背、整座城市在地震、炮击、洪水和火灾中颤抖，你也会创作。宝贝，空气、光、时间和空间跟这事无关，它们只会给你带来更长的寿命，让你找新借口。另一方面，也要面对现实：在自己谋生方式之外的创作活动里找到精力很难。尽管有浪漫化的想象，作家仍要花大量时间磨练技艺、打磨作品。读到这七位作家，我注意到大多数人没有孩子，有时灵感来自日常工作，而不是被它拖累。最好的例子是 Bud Smith……
Jun8查看英文原文
I'm a bit of two minds on whether you can do writing (or other such creative work) while holding a grueling day job. On the one hand there's the notion that writes have to write, e.g. as Bukowski explains in "Air and Light and Time and Space" (https://wordsfortheyear.com/2014/10/15/air-and-light-and-time-and-space-by-charles-bukowski/): no baby, if you're going to create you're going to create whether you work 16 hours a day in a coal mine or you're going to create in a small room with 3 children while you're on welfare, you're going to create with part of your mind and your body blown away, you're going to create blind crippled demented, you're going to create with a cat crawling up your back while the whole city trembles in earthquakes, bombardment, flood and fire. baby, air and light and time and space have nothing to do with it and don't create anything except maybe a longer life to find new excuses for. OTOH, of course, there's the reality of finding the stamina to work on a creative endeavor totally unrelated to how squabble to earn your living. And, despite the commonly romaticized image, writers have to spend a lot of time honing their craft and works. When I read about these seven writers I notice that most don't have kids and sometimes are inspired by they day job, rather than being hindered by it. Take the best example, Bud Smith (https://thecreativeindependent.com/people/bud-smith/):I get a sense that the stories that his coworkers tell daily is a main source of inspiration for his writing. And, BOY, does the following resonate with me: "I get up at dawn, drive in, get dirty, have a good time, sparks flying, squeeze in art, come home, shower, make more art. A simple and privileged life." I've often fantasized about being a blue collar worker, get home and work on my writing, as opposed to going over email. So, what do you do if your job is, say, a Senior Product Manager, you have to go in meetings where people ascertain the obvious and say they love new ideas but explain to you why they cannot be done "in our company"; you have a kid, who you love and ant to give your attention? I don't have the answer, except for the following time-worn message: If you're so inclined, make sure to spend time on such thipursuitsng when you're young and relatively carefree.
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