WRITING

 

 

　But to write good English, you have to read good english. We all need models.whatever art or craft we are trying to learn. Bach needed a model. Picasso needed a model. They didn't spring 1)full-blown as Bach and Picasso. And this is especially true of writers. Writing is learned by imitation. If anyone asked me how I learned to write, I'd say I learned by reading the writers who were doing the kind of writing I wanted to do, and trying to figure out how they did it. So find the best models in the field you want to write about and get what they're doing into your ear. Get a sense of all the wonderful possibilities that are just waiting for you as a non-fiction writer. Don't worry that you'll lose your own style or your own identity by imitating somebody else. That's part of the learning process for all creative people, soon enough we 2)shed those skins and become who we are supposed to become.

　Most readers listen to what they read, so you must listen to what you write. I write entirely¹ by ear, matters of rhythm, and 3)cadence² and 4)alliteration, and musical 5)lilt are tremendously important to me, how my sentences sound, and I read everything aloud before I let it go out into the world. You should start doing that now. With everything you write, read it aloud. You will be amazed, at how much you hear that needs fixing, that your eye didn’t catch. You'll hear clunkiness. All the sentences that move at the same 6)plodding pace. You will hear repetition. You will hear cliches that hit you in the ear, and every cliches you get rid of is pure gold.

　Reading aloud you will also find ambiguity³, all those places where something you wrote isn't quite clear, often because you wrote a sentence without asking yourself, as you always should, where did I leave the reader in the previous sentence. You've changed the direction, maybe a change of tense or place or mood, and that direction, is clear to you. But you didn't take the reader along. You didn't provide the transition, the bridge that the reader needs to follow your train of thought and he's lost. And there's no sin worse than losing the reader because he'll stop reading and you won’t get him back, or confusing the reader or delaying the reader, making him read a passage two or three times to figure it out, because that's just carelessness, sloppy⁴ use of the craft. English is a wonderful precise language. It can say anything you want it to say very simply, if you take care to say it right. One of the things you should aspire⁵ to be is a careful writer. So listen to what you write. And if the sound doesn't please you, and if it doesn't please you, it won't please your reader, do some 7)tinkering, with the metres and the musical patterns and the length of your sentences and the shape of your sentences. Turn a sentence around, or turn it into a question or throw in a very short sentence, and see if you can make those sentences dance, or at least sing. One of the main reasons we like to read a stylist like E.B White like is that we know in our ear, that he is a man who cares 8)in his bones, about the sonority⁶ of the English language.

 

写作指导

 

　  要想写好的英语文章，你就得先读些好的英语作品。不管我们学的是哪一行，人人都需要榜样。巴赫需要榜样，毕加索需要榜样,他们并不是一夜之间就成了我们所熟悉的巴赫和毕加索。这一点对于作家来说更是如此,学习写作是通过模仿来实现的。如果有人问我是怎么样学习写作的，我的回答是∶我想写哪一类作品，我就通过阅读那一类作家的作品来学习，看看他们是怎样写的。因此，你也应该在你自己的写作领域找最好的榜样，熟悉他们的写作方式。这样，你就会知道作为一个非小说类作家，你的前途是无限的。你不必担心模仿他人会让你丧失自己的风格或失去自我，因为这是所有搞创作的人的必经之路，很快，你就会摆脱他人的模式，成为有自己风格的作家。

　  大部分读者都注意听他们读到的东西，所以你也必须倾听你自己写的东西。我一直都全凭听觉来写作。语言的节奏、抑扬顿挫的语调、头韵法，以及轻快的旋律对我来说都非常重要。我写的句子听起来究竟怎么样？在我的作品面世之前，我会大声朗读自己写的所有东西。从现在开始，你也应该这样做。大声朗读你自己写的一切。通过听自己的朗读，你会惊奇地发现很多你之前没有发觉、但却又是需要修改的地方。你会找到很拗口的句子，你会听出你的句子全都单调乏味，你会听到自己翻来覆去，拖沓冗长，你还会听到连你自己听起来也很不舒服的陈词滥调，你对每一句陈词滥调的删除都价值连城。

你还可以通过大声朗读发现自己写的东西有含糊不清的地方。这常常是因为你在下笔时没有仔细想一想，你的上一句话把读者带到了什么地方。你已经改变了方向，或者你的时态变了，或者地点改变了，又或者你的情绪发生了变化。这种变化对你来说是很明确的，但你并没有让读者了解这种变化，没有把你变化的思路告诉读者，以致让他迷失了方向。读者一旦罢手不读，你就不可能让他回心转意，你会把读者搞糊涂，或者耽误读者的时间，使他不得不把一段文字读上两三遍才搞懂你的意思，没有什么比这更无法让人宽恕的了，这是对待写作不认真的马虎态度。英语是十分精确严谨的语言，如果你认真对待，英语可以很容易地表达你的思想。你必须尽全力去做一个认真的作者。仔细地倾听你写的文字。如果你听起来觉得不舒服（如果你自己听了都不舒服的话，读者也会有同样的感受），就该动手做些修改，如句子的韵律、音律、长短与结构，或者改写句子，或者把陈述句改为问句，你也可以加一个短句。总而言之，看怎样才能让你的句子生动有趣，至少让它听起来悦耳。像怀特这样具有独特风格的作家的作品，我们都喜欢读。一个主要原因是他真正关心、认真对待英语的语调和言辞。

 

　1) full-blown: a. 完全成熟的

2) shed  v. 去除      

3) cadence n. （声音的）抑扬顿挫

4) alliteration  n. （语言）头韵，头韵法（指在一组词或一行诗中用相同的字母或声音开头）

5) lilt n. 节奏轻快的旋律 

6) plod  a. 单调乏味的 

7) tinker v. 修理，修改

8) in his bones  在某人的本性中

1 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

2 cadence   

n.（说话声调的）抑扬顿挫

参考例句：

• He delivered his words in slow,measured cadences.他讲话缓慢而抑扬顿挫、把握有度。
• He liked the relaxed cadence of his retired life.他喜欢退休生活的悠闲的节奏。

3 ambiguity   

n.模棱两可；意义不明确

参考例句：

• The telegram was misunderstood because of its ambiguity.由于电文意义不明确而造成了误解。
• Her answer was above all ambiguity.她的回答毫不含糊。

4 sloppy   

adj.邋遢的，不整洁的

参考例句：

• If you do such sloppy work again,I promise I'll fail you.要是下次作业你再马马虎虎，我话说在头里，可要给你打不及格了。
• Mother constantly picked at him for being sloppy.母亲不断地批评他懒散。

5 aspire   

vi.(to，after)渴望，追求，有志于

参考例句：

• Living together with you is what I aspire toward in my life.和你一起生活是我一生最大的愿望。
• I aspire to be an innovator not a follower.我迫切希望能变成个开创者而不是跟随者。

6 sonority   

n.响亮，宏亮

参考例句：

• Vowels possess greater sonority than consonants.元音比辅音响亮。
• The introduction presents arpeggios on the harp against a string tremolo--an enchanting sonority.引子在弦乐的震音上竖琴奏出了琶音，一种迷人的音响。