To become a better writer, read as much as you can

想要成为更好的作家，请尽可能多地阅读

I’m obsessed with the craft of writing. I write every day, I read about the craft often, and in my spare time I like to unwind by… watching interviews where authors talk about their writing process. It’s a sickness. Help me. 我沉迷于写作这门技艺。我每天写作，经常阅读关于写作技巧的书籍，闲暇时我喜欢通过观看作家谈论创作过程的访谈来放松自己。这简直是一种病，救救我吧。

One of the key things I’ve learned is this: there’s no real blueprint. I say this to aspiring writers in my workshops, and those I mentor. There’s no one way – every writer will have a different path to creation. Now, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be listening to other authors, not at all – it’s a great way to help you think about the creative process – but it does mean nothing is holy writ. 我学到的关键一点是：写作并没有真正的蓝图。我在工作坊中对有抱负的作家们，以及我指导的学生们都是这么说的。没有所谓的“唯一途径”——每个作家都有自己独特的创作之路。这并不是说你不该听取其他作家的建议，完全不是——这对于思考创作过程非常有帮助——但这意味着没有任何建议是不可违背的“金科玉律”。

Except the one golden rule*. One rule that is true, no matter the writer. One rule, that if you don’t follow, means you shouldn’t be writing in the first place. Here it is: Read as much as you can. Read widely and well. 除了那条黄金法则*。无论你是哪种作家，这条法则都适用。如果你不遵守这条法则，那么你根本就不该写作。它就是：尽可能多地阅读。广泛且深入地阅读。

I would’ve thought the necessity of reading in this profession obvious. But I’ve noticed a worrying trend lately: aspiring writers who don’t read. Whenever I give a workshop, or an occasional creative writing lecture at uni, or mentor an individual, I always ask the following questions: who are your favourite authors? And, what are you reading now? 我本以为在这个行业里，阅读的必要性是不言而喻的。但我最近注意到一个令人担忧的趋势：许多有抱负的作家竟然不读书。每当我举办工作坊、在大学做创意写作讲座或指导个人时，我总会问以下问题：你最喜欢的作家是谁？你现在在读什么书？

I do this as a short cut to finding out their interests, and how therefore I might frame my advice. But over the past few years, more and more the answer will be: I’m too busy to read. Or: I haven’t read a book in a while (whereafter they rack their brains and tell me they might’ve read Fourth Wing a year back). To which I say this: fuck you, you’re not too busy. Joking. I would never say that. But I certainly fucking think it. 我这样做是为了快速了解他们的兴趣，从而更好地给出建议。但过去几年里，越来越多的回答是：“我太忙了，没时间看书。”或者：“我已经很久没看书了。”（随后他们绞尽脑汁，告诉我可能一年前读过《第四翼》）。对此我想说：去你的，你根本不忙。开个玩笑，我绝不会真这么说，但我心里确实是这么想的。

Now, to be clear – I’m not dissing the Fourth Wing here. On the contrary: if Fourth Wing is a gateway drug to getting someone back into reading, then anyone who loves books should be thankful to Rebecca Yarros. 声明一下，我并不是在贬低《第四翼》。恰恰相反：如果《第四翼》能成为让人重拾阅读兴趣的“入门药”，那么所有爱书之人都应该感谢丽贝卡·亚罗斯（Rebecca Yarros）。

But I am saying this: go look at your phone, and tell me what your average screen time is per day. Two hours? Five? Seven? If so – shut up: you’ve time to read. I write full-time, currently work three gig jobs on the side, and am engaged with lives of my two children. I read every night. It’s not hard: instead of staring at my phone, or streaming, I read. This is not a boast, nor is it special. This is my job as a writer. You want to be a writer? Then shut up and read. 但我还是要说：看看你的手机，告诉我你每天的平均屏幕使用时间是多少？两小时？五小时？七小时？如果是这样，闭嘴吧：你明明有时间阅读。我全职写作，目前还兼职三份零工，还要照顾两个孩子。但我每晚都阅读。这并不难：与其盯着手机或刷剧，不如读书。这不是炫耀，也没什么特别的。这是我作为作家的本职工作。你想成为作家吗？那就闭嘴，去读书。

1) Reading teaches the writer about the craft

1) 阅读教会作家技艺

Every book is an education. Good, bad, mediocre, they teach us the writing craft. Even if we’re not studying the text per se, we’re learning. All the books you’ve ever read – especially the books you read when you were younger – have imprinted themselves on your brain. It might be genre, character type, trope, setting, structure, anything, everything – you’ve habituated your brain to the patterns and elements of the novel. 每一本书都是一种教育。无论好坏平庸，它们都在教我们写作技艺。即使我们没有刻意去研究文本本身，我们也在学习。你读过的所有书——尤其是你年轻时读过的书——都已经印刻在你的大脑中。无论是体裁、人物类型、桥段、背景、结构，还是其他任何东西，你已经让大脑习惯了小说的模式和元素。

Certain writers will have a style that will appeal, and it is completely fine to emulate that style as you develop your own ‘voice’ as a writer (by voice I mean, the expression of individuality in your art). When I began writing, I had some early beta readers say: oh, I see you’ve followed the classic three-act structure. To which I thought: I did? I didn’t know structure back then; I’d never taken a creative writing class. Yet my writing brain instinctively created one, because it had been informed by my life as a reader. 有些作家的风格会吸引你，在发展自己作为作家的“声音”（我所说的“声音”，是指你在艺术中表达的个性）时，模仿那种风格是完全没问题的。我刚开始写作时，一些早期的测试读者说：“哦，我看出你遵循了经典的三幕式结构。”我当时心想：我有吗？那时我根本不懂结构；我从未上过创意写作课。然而，我的写作大脑本能地创造了一个结构，因为它受到了我阅读生涯的熏陶。

In the years since, I’ve subsequently taught classes on three and five-act structures, and the purpose of structure in general. I’m not saying such formal classes are of no value, but I do tend to think they are overrated. The reality is, up until recent decades, ‘creative writing’ was not a degree in and of itself. The much-vaunted MFA is only a relatively recent phenomena. They might be useful for some, but ultimately are peripheral compared to the central importance of reading. 此后，我教过关于三幕式和五幕式结构以及结构总体目的的课程。我并不是说这些正式课程毫无价值，但我确实认为它们被高估了。现实情况是，直到近几十年前，“创意写作”还不是一个独立的学位。备受推崇的艺术硕士（MFA）只是一个相对较新的现象。它们对某些人可能有用，但与阅读的核心重要性相比，它们终究是次要的。

2) Reading inspires the writer

2) 阅读激发作家的灵感

I love reading out of genre. The best ideas I get for science fiction don’t come from science fiction. Crime, for example – hardboiled fiction in particular – helped me better understand the origins of cyberpunk, its thematic core, and some of the stylistic possibilities of the subgenre. Non-fiction has given me an unending supply of the raw materials for story – whether that be current events, or history, or science, or philosophy, or anything else – and been a constant source of inspiration. 我喜欢阅读非本领域的书籍。我为科幻小说构思出的最佳点子，往往并非来自科幻小说。例如，犯罪小说——尤其是硬汉派小说——帮助我更好地理解了赛博朋克的起源、其主题核心以及该子类型的一些风格可能性。非虚构作品为我提供了源源不断的素材——无论是时事、历史、科学、哲学还是其他任何领域——它们一直是我灵感的源泉。

Poetry, as a third example, has taught me how I might use words in an elegant way, and with the strictest of economy create an image, or a mood, or a feeling. A book almost always has something to teach us – even if it’s how not to write. 诗歌是第三个例子，它教会了我如何优雅地遣词造句，并以最精炼的方式创造出意象、氛围或情感。一本书几乎总能教会我们一些东西——即使是教会我们“不要怎么写”。

3) Reading changes the structure of the brain

3) 阅读改变大脑结构

There was a terrible American TV show called Everyone Loves Raymond. I remember little about it, other than when it came on, I tended to change the channel. But to this day I remember an exchange between the two leads. Raymond has just left his job as a journalist. His wife says to him: “Why don’t you write the great American novel?” Raymond replies: “Write it? I wouldn’t want to read it.” Cue the canned laughter. 曾经有一部糟糕的美国电视剧叫《人人都爱雷蒙德》。我对它印象不深，只记得每当它播出时，我就会换台。但直到今天，我还记得两位主角之间的一段对话。雷蒙德刚辞去记者的工作。他的妻子对他说：“你为什么不写一部伟大的美国小说呢？”雷蒙德回答道：“写它？我才不想读它呢。”随后是罐头笑声。

It is a little funny, I guess, because Raymond has no interest in literature, so the thought of him writing it is absurd. But here’s the thing: it sums up what’s wrong with the mentality of many an aspiring writer today. One I simply don’t understand. Why be a writer if you don’t love reading? Why devote your intellectual and emotional energy to creating a book, when it’s a form you’re not invested in? Why write, when you aren’t steeped in wonder of storytelling? 这确实有点好笑，因为雷蒙德对文学毫无兴趣，所以他去写小说的想法显得很荒谬。但关键在于：这总结了当今许多有抱负的作家心态上的问题。我实在无法理解。如果你不爱阅读，为什么要当作家？如果你对书籍这种形式本身都不投入，为什么要投入智力和情感去创作一本书？如果你没有沉浸在讲故事的奇妙之中，为什么要写作？

Think about the great film directors. Nolan, or Tarantino, or Scorsese, any of them. They love film. They live and breathe it. Their knowledge of cinema is encyclopaedic and it has without question inspired them and made them better directors. Their cinematic vision has been informed by the richness of the [past]. 想想那些伟大的电影导演。诺兰、昆汀或斯科塞斯，他们中的任何一位。他们热爱电影。他们为电影而生。他们对电影的知识储备堪比百科全书，毫无疑问，这激发了他们的灵感，使他们成为了更优秀的导演。他们的电影视野正是得益于[过去]的丰富积淀。