【文章标题】：The Golden Rule for Becoming a Better Writer 【文章标题】：成为更好的作家的黄金法则
【文章正文】： 【文章正文】：
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. 我痴迷于写作这门手艺。我每天都写作，经常阅读关于写作技巧的书，闲暇时我喜欢通过……观看作者谈论自己写作过程的采访来放松。这是一种病。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. 我学到的一个关键点是：并不存在真正的蓝图。我在工作坊里对有志成为作家的人以及我指导的人这样说。没有唯一的道路——每位作家都会有通往创作的不同路径。这并不是说你不应该听其他作者的意见，完全不是——这是帮助你思考创作过程的好方法——但这确实意味着没有什么是不容置疑的金科玉律。
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. 除了那一条黄金法则*。这是一条对任何作家都适用的法则。这条法则，如果你不遵守，就意味着你从一开始就不该写作。
Here it is: Read as much as you can. Read widely and well. 那就是：尽可能多地阅读。广泛而深入地阅读。
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. 我原本以为阅读在这个行业中的必要性是显而易见的。但最近我注意到一个令人担忧的趋势：有抱负的作家不读书。
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? I do this as a short cut to finding out their interests, and how therefore I might frame my advice. 每当我举办工作坊、偶尔在大学里讲创意写作课，或者指导某个人时，我总是会问以下问题：你最喜欢的作者是谁？还有，你现在在读什么？我这样做是为了快速了解他们的兴趣，从而决定如何组织我的建议。
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). 但在过去几年里，越来越多的回答是：我太忙了，没时间读书。或者：我有一阵子没读过书了（然后他们绞尽脑汁，告诉我一年前可能读过《第四翼》）。
To which I say this: fuck you, you’re not too busy. 对此我想说：去你的，你才不是太忙。
Joking. I would never say that. But I certainly fucking think it. 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. 开个玩笑。我永远不会那样说。但我心里肯定他妈的是这么想的。现在，说清楚——我在这里并不是在贬低《第四翼》。恰恰相反：如果《第四翼》是让某人重新爱上阅读的入门毒品，那么任何热爱书籍的人都应该感谢丽贝卡·亚罗斯。
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. 但我要说的是：去看看你的手机，告诉我你每天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：你有时间读书。
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. 我全职写作，目前还兼职三份零工，并且要参与两个孩子的日常生活。我每晚都读书。这并不难：与其盯着手机或看流媒体，我选择读书。这不是自夸，也不是什么特别的事。这是我作为作家的本职工作。
You want to be a writer? Then shut up and read. 你想成为作家吗？那就闭嘴读书吧。
Here’s why: 原因如下：
- Reading teaches the writer about the craft
- 阅读教给作家写作技巧
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. 每本书都是一次教育。好的、坏的、平庸的，它们都在教我们写作技巧。即使我们没有专门研读文本，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里。
It might be genre, character type, trope, setting, structure, anything, everything – you’ve habituated your brain to the patterns and elements of the novel. 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). 可能是体裁、人物类型、套路、背景、结构，任何东西，所有东西——你已经让你的大脑习惯了小说的模式和元素。某些作家会有吸引你的风格，在你发展自己作为作家的“声音”时，模仿那种风格是完全没问题的（我说的声音，是指你艺术中个性的表达）。
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. 当我开始写作时，一些早期的试读读者说：哦，我看你遵循了经典的三幕结构。对此我想：我有吗？当时我并不懂结构；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，因为它受到了我作为读者的生活的影响。
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. 在那之后的几年里，我先后教过三幕和五幕结构，以及结构的一般作用。我并不是说这类正式课程毫无价值，但我确实倾向于认为它们被高估了。现实是，直到最近几十年，“创意写作”本身才成为一个学位。备受吹捧的艺术硕士（MFA）也只是相对较新的现象。它们对某些人可能有用，但与阅读的核心重要性相比，终究是次要的。
- Reading inspires the writer
- 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. 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. 我喜欢跨体裁阅读。我为科幻小说想到的最好的点子并不来自科幻小说。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，以及这一亚体裁在风格上的一些可能性。非虚构作品为我提供了源源不断的故事原材料——无论是时事、历史、科学、哲学，还是其他任何东西——并且一直是灵感的持续来源。第三个例子是诗歌，它教会我如何优雅地使用文字，并以最严格的经济手法创造出一个意象、一种情绪或一种感觉。
A book almost always has something to teach us – even if it’s how not to write. 一本书几乎总能教给我们一些东西——即使教的是如何不写作。
- Reading changes the structure of the brain
- 阅读改变大脑的结构
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 (the show is so old that changing channels was still a thing). But to this day I remember an exchange between the two leads. Raymond has just left his job as 有一部很糟糕的美国电视剧叫《人人都爱雷蒙德》。我对它没什么印象，只记得它一开播，我就想换台（这部剧太老了，那时候换台还是件常见的事）。但直到今天，我还记得两位主角之间的一段对话。雷蒙德刚刚辞去了他作为