Rules of Writing【续三】

【mabokov按】BTR最近在他的《看得见风景的房间》里翻译介绍了《卫报》上的名作家谈写作戒律的文字。这里是BTR贴出的第七、第八期四位作 家的写作 戒 律。现转贴于此与大家分享。

萨拉·沃特斯 Sarah Waters

1 发疯般阅读。但尽量带着分析的眼光来读——这可能会很难,因为一本小说越好越引人注目,你就越少意识到它的谋略。值得去领会那些谋略,无论如何:它们早晚 在你自己的作品里用得上。我觉得看电影也有好处。几乎每部现代好莱坞大片都令人绝望的冗长而松散。试着想象经大胆剪辑后变得好得多的电影,对于讲故事的艺 术,这是种绝佳的练习。这带领了我……

2 发狂般删节。少就是多。我——经常阅读手稿——包括我自己的——我会来到,比如说,第二章的开头,想着:“这才是小说应该开始的地方。”关于人物和背景故 事的大量信息可以通过小细节来传达。你对于场景或章节的情感依恋会随着你进展到其它故事而消退。要实事求是。实际上……

3 把写作当成一件工作。有纪律。很多作家都有点强迫症。格雷厄姆·格林一天写500个词。让·布雷迪午餐前写5000词,然后下午用来回复粉丝邮件。我最少 一天写1000个词——有时侯容易做到,而有时,老实说,就像便秘,但我会让自己坐在书桌前,直到我写到那儿,因为我知道这样一来,我把这本书推进了一点 儿。那1000个词很可能是垃圾——它们经常是。但是,晚些时候回到这些垃圾词并把它们变得更好,总是更容易一些。

4 写小说并不是“自我表达”或“疗愈”。小说是给读者看的,写小说意味着技巧、耐心、无私地制造效果。我将我的小说视为某种类似露天市场兜风的东西:我的工 作是在第一章开头把读者捆在他们的车上,随后让他们飕飕地经过各种场景和惊诧之事,循着精心设计的线路,以一种小心控制好的节奏。

5 尊敬你的人物,即使是小人物。在艺术领域,一如在生活中,人人都是自身特定故事的主人公;值得思考一下你的次要人物的故事是怎样的,即使他们的故事仅仅与 你的主角的故事略有交叉。同时……

6 别容纳过多的叙事。人物应该是个体化的,但要有功能性——就像画作中的形象。想想Hieronymus Bosch的《被嘲弄的基督》,画中坚毅忍受苦难的耶酥被四个恶狠狠的男人紧紧包围。每个人物都是独一无二的,然而每个又代表了一种类型;而加在一起他们 构成了一种叙事,这种叙事因如此紧凑简约的建构而变得更有力量。对于类似的主题……

7 别写过头。避免重复的句子,分散注意力的形容词和无用的副词。尤其是初学者,似乎认为写小说需要一种特别的华丽词藻,与人们在日常生活碰到的任何一种语言 都迥然不同。这是对于小说效果如何产生的一种误解,可按遵守第一条规则来消除。比如,读一些科姆·托宾或考麦克·麦卡锡的作品,看看如何故意用有限的词汇 来制造令人惊异的情感冲击。

8 节奏很关键。优美的写作是不够的。写作班学生可能善于创造一页技巧高超的行文;有时侯他们缺少的是在漫长旅程中随地域、速度和心情的变化,将读者带入一段 旅程的能力。再一次,我发现看电影有帮助。许多小说会希望以一种电影的方式靠近,逗留,挪开,推进。

9 别慌张。小说写到中途时,我常常会经历胆战心惊的时刻,我思忖着眼前屏幕上的胡言乱语,和接连而来的,嘲讽的评论,朋友的尴尬,失败的职业,缩水的收入, 变卖的屋子,离婚……然而,在诸如此类的紧要关头顽强工作下去,总令我到达终点。离开书桌一会儿会有帮助。彻底谈论问题可以帮助我回想起在遭遇困境前我曾 试图达成的东西。去散一个长步几乎总能令我以一种略微新鲜的方式思考我的手稿。如果所有这些都没用,还有祈祷。St Francis de Sales,作家的守护神,经常帮助我脱离困境。如果你想广撒网,你也可以试试恳求Calliope,史诗的缪思。

10 才能胜过一切。如果你是一个真正伟大的作家,这些规则都不用遵守。如果詹姆斯·鲍德温觉得应该加快一点节奏,他就永远不可能达到《乔万尼的房间》那样绵 长、强烈的诗性。没有“过度的”行文,我们就不会有狄更斯或安吉拉·卡特般丰盛的语言。如果人人都节省人物,那么就不会有《狼厅》……然而,对于我们其他 人而言,规则还是很重要的。而且,关键在于,只有理解了这些规则目的何在以及如何运作,你才可能试着去打破它们。

海伦·辛普森 Helen Simpson

我拥有的最接近规则的东西,是贴在我书桌墙上的一张便条纸,上面写着“Faire et se taire”(福楼拜),我自己将之翻译为“闭嘴去做”。

埃尔莫·伦纳德 Elmore Leonard

1.决不要用天气开篇。如果只是为了营造气氛,而不是写人物对天气的反应,你就不会继续看下去多少。读者倾向于往前翻寻找人物。也有例外。如果你碰 巧是巴里·洛佩兹,在他的书《北极梦》里,他比爱斯基摩人有更多方法描写冰雪,那么你就可以随心所欲地做天气报告。

2 避免写序幕:它们可能会令人讨厌,尤其是跟在序言和介绍之后的序幕。但这些一般都是非小说的情形。小说的序幕是背景故事,你可以把它放在随便那儿。斯坦贝 克的《甜蜜星期四》有个序幕,但这没问题,因为书里的一个人物讲出了我的规则的要义。他说:“我喜欢书里有许多谈话,我不喜欢有人告诉我正在讲话的那家伙 长相如何。我想从他讲话的方式来判断他长相如何。

3.决不要用“说”之外的动词来传达对话。对话句属于人物;动词则是作者横插一脚。但“说”的侵略性要比“咕哝道”、“气喘吁吁地说”、“警告”、 “说谎”少很多。我曾注意到玛丽·麦卡锡用“她郑重声明”结束一句对话,而不得不放下书去查字典。

4.决不要用副词来修饰“说”……他严肃地训诫道。这样(或随便怎样)使用副词是不可饶恕的大罪。由此作者认真地暴露了自己,使用了一个分散注意力 的词并打乱了对话的节奏。我的一本书里有个人物讲述了她曾如何写了一本“充满强奸和副词”的历史传奇小说。

5.控制好你的感叹号。每写十万字可以用两三个。如果你像汤姆·伍尔夫一样掌握了把玩感叹号的诀窍,你可以大把大把地用。

6.决不要用“突然”或者“一团糟”这样的词。这条规则无须解释。我注意到使用“突然”的作家一般在使用感叹号时缺少控制。

7.保守地使用方言、行话。一旦你按照发音来拼写对话,让书页上充满了撇号,你就一发不可收了。注意一下安妮·普鲁在她的短篇集《近距离》中记录怀 俄明风味的方法。

8.避免像斯坦贝克那样详细描述人物。海明威的《白象般的山》里,“亚美力加和跟随他的女孩”是什么样子?“她脱下帽子,放在桌上。”那是故事里唯 一的身体描写。

9.别巨细靡遗地描写地点和事物,除非你是玛格丽特·阿特伍德,会用语言逼真地描绘场景。你不会希望描写令动作、令故事的流传停滞不前。

10.尽量略过那些读者会跳过的部分。想想看你看小说时跳过了什么:那些有太多词的极长的段落。

PD 詹姆斯 PD James

1.提升你的词汇量。词语是技巧的原材料。你的词汇量越大,你的写作就越有效。我们用英语写作的人幸运地拥有世界上最丰富最多样的语言。对之表示敬 意。

2.广泛而有辨别地阅读。坏的写作会传染。

3.别只是计划写——去写。惟有去写,而不是想着去写,才会发展出我们自己的风格。

4.写你需要写的东西,而不是时下流行或你觉得卖得动的东西。

5.开放地面对新鲜经验,尤其是他人的意见。没有什么发生在作家身上的事——不管多快乐或悲惨——会是一种浪费。

10 of the Best Heroes from Children’s Fiction

【mabokov按】“儿童文学中10大经典人物形象”转载自《卫报》。作为资料收藏。

Pippi Longstocking from The Adventures of Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren

Also known as Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Mackrelmint Ephraim’s Daughter Longstocking, this nine-year-old Swede is a rebel and an eccentric who strides about town in a pair of man’s shoes and is possessed of a strength so formidable that she can lift her horse. She lives free of adults and their rules in a house with her pet monkey, said horse and a suitcase full of gold. A thrilling naughtiness, particularly towards the more exasperating breed of adult, is tempered by a pronounced sense of fair play. A powerful defender of the weak and oppressed, she introduces her two young friends to realms beyond the conventions of 1940s village life

Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery

Despite a brutal upbringing, Anne Shirley, an orphan sent to live with a sibling couple on Prince Edward Island in Canada, has an infectious appreciation for the beauties of life. She is a dreamer whose fantasies land her in unusual predicaments that appal the local worthies in this early 20th-century community. Kindness, courage and relentless optimism can make for a bland read, but Anne’s headstrong nature and garrulousness attract enough trouble to keep her winsome throughout the nine books in the series.

Matilda Wormwood from Matilda by Roald Dahl

At the age of six she has read her way through her local children’s library and embarked upon Dickens, Orwell and Austen. This formidable intellect is unappreciated by her parents, who compel her to watch more television, and by her brutal headteacher, who is inclined to fling irritating children out of windows. And so her frustrated genius finds outlet in telekinetic powers that can usefully torment said headteacher with invisibly guided newts and chalk. The precociousness is softened by childish mischief – she takes imaginative revenge on her parents – and by fearless loyalty to the one person who shows her sympathy.

George from George Speaks by Dick King Smith

At the age of four weeks, George utters his first syllables. Not infant gurgles but stern, fluent, adult loquaciousness. His skills are revealed only to his older sister Laura. He helps her with her homework and in return she assists him with the challenges of babyhood. He is crafty – he uses Laura to manipulate his parents – and intelligent, but also caring and sensitive. When on his first birthday he delivers a speech to his startled family, Laura asks if he would like to be a judge or a lawyer. His ambition, though, is to write stories for other children to enjoy.

Tracy Beaker from The Story of Tracy Beaker by Jacqueline Wilson

Superficially this is the “autobiography” of a graceless 10-year-old with behavioural problems. Tracy, abandoned by her mother, lives in a children’s home and has been rejected by the two couples who try to foster her. She is sulky, vengeful and prone to tall stories. Underneath is a vulnerable little girl who eagerly responds to any show of affection and who invents fantasy worlds to cope with her own grim reality.

Lyra Belacqua from His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

A lack of conventional storybook charm makes this 11-year-old instantly arresting. Raised as an orphan by the staff of a fictional Oxford college in a parallel universe to our own, she is unruly, quick-witted and cunning. She is also an accomplished liar. A witches’ prophecy declares her “destined to bring about the end of destiny” and, after a fashion she does, liberating innumerable souls during her adventures. A second Eve, her Fall brings happier consequences than her biblical counterpart and reveals her pluck, resourcefulness and almost supernatural intuition. She is, at the end, prepared to sacrifice her alter ego/daemon to keep a promise to rescue a friend.

Huckleberry Finn from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Twain reckoned it an account of how “a sound heart and a deformed conscience come into collision and conscience suffers defeat”. Huck, son of a drunkard in America’s deep south is introduced in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer as Tom’s friend and conspirator in a series of madcap adventures. In his own tale he develops into a challenger of early 19th-century mores. As he and the fugitive slave Jim flee down the Mississippi, Huck reassesses his racial prejudices and ignores his civic “duty” to turn Jim in.

Petrova Fossil from Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild

She is one of three abandoned babies salvaged by a scatty geologist and sent (in Petrova’s case by the Russian postal service) to be brought up by his long-suffering great niece. Petrova is the only one of the trio who is not naturally enraptured by the arts (engines are her passion), but she gamely takes to the stage to help supplement the family’s dwindling income. She is industrious, honest and giving and embraces her fate with good humour while nurturing her real ambition to be a pilot.

William Brown from Just William by Richmal Crompton

Grubby, irreverent and accident-prone, William is a rascal with a conscience. He turns a temperance meeting into a punch-up, wrecks the love life of his elder siblings and, due to a misunderstanding of a double negative, throws a wild party in his parents’ absence. His intentions, however, are usually kindly. Ever since he and his band of Outlaws burst into the nation’s consciousness in the 1920s he has come to embody an ideal of boyhood.

Sara Crewe from A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

A Cinderella figure who embodies Victorian saintliness in the face of adversity. At seven Sara is pampered by her father who demands the priciest luxuries from the boarding school at which he enrolls her. Privilege, however, fails to corrupt her. She is intelligent and good humoured with an infectious warmth that embraces the lowliest of her new acquaintances. The sunshine continues when impoverishment and drudgery befall her and she relies on her private fantasies to preserve her natural zest for life. Her selflessness naturally ensures a cheerful destiny.

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