What every writer wants

原文

I have known very few writers, but those I have known, and whom I respected,confess at once that they have little idea where they arc going when they first set pen to paper. They have a character, perhaps two, they are in that condition of eager discomfort which passes for inspiration, all admit radical changes of destination once the journey has begun; one, to my certain knowledge, spent nine months on a novel about Kashmir, then reset the whole thing in the Scottish Highlands. I never heard of anyone making a 'skeleton', as we were taught at school. In the breaking and remaking, in the timing, interweaving, beginning afresh, the writer comes to discern things in his material which were not conseriously in his mind when he began. This organic process, often leading to moments of extraordinary self-discovery, is of an indescribable fascination. A blurred image appears, he adds a brushstroke and another, and it is gone; but something was there, and he will not rest till he has captured it. Sometimes the yeast within a writer outlives a book he has written. I have heard of writers who read nothing but their own books, like adolescents they stand before the mirror,and still cannot fathom the exact outline of the vision before them. For the same reason, writers talk interminably about their own books, winkling out hidden meanings, super-imposing new ones, begging response from those around them. Of course a writer doing this is misunderstood: he might as well try to explain a crime or a love affair. He is also, incidentally, an unforgivable bore.

This temptation to cover the distance between himself and the reader, to study his image in the sight of those who do not know him, can be his undoing: he has begun to write to please.

A young English writer made the pertinent observation a year or two back that the talent goes into the first draft, and the art into the drafts that follow. For this reason also the writer, like any other artist, has no resting place, no crowd or movement in which he may take comfort, no judgment from outside which can replace the judgment from within. A writer makes order out of the anarchy of his heart; he submits himself to a more ruthless discipline than any critic dreamed of, and when he flirts with fame, he is taking time off from living with himself, from the search for what his world contains at its inmost point.

译文

我认识的作家寥寥无几，但那些我认识并尊敬的作家，都坦率承认，当他们第一次动笔写作时，对自己将往何处去一无所知。他们有一个角色，也许两个；他们处于那种急切的不安状态，这种状态被当作灵感，所有人都承认，一旦旅程开始，目的地就会发生根本性的改变；据我所知，有一位作家花了九个月时间写一部关于克什米尔的novel，然后把整个故事改到了苏格兰高地。我从未听说过有人像我们在学校里学的那样，先做个“skeleton”。在拆解和重构中，在调整节奏、交织情节、重新开始的过程中，作家开始在自己的素材中发现一些东西，这些东西在他开始时并没有有意识地存在于脑海中。这个有机过程，往往导致非凡的自我发现时刻，具有无法形容的魅力。一个模糊的形象出现，他添加一笔又一笔，然后它消失了；但有些东西确实存在，他不会停歇直到捕获它。有时，作家内在的酵母会超越他写出的书。我听说有些作家只读自己的书，就像青少年站在镜子前一样，仍然无法看清眼前愿景的确切轮廓。出于同样的原因，作家们没完没了地谈论自己的书，挖掘隐藏的含义，强加新的含义，乞求周围人的回应。当然，这样做的作家会被误解：他不妨试着解释一场犯罪或一段恋情。他同时，也是一个不可原谅的无聊鬼。

这个诱惑——拉近自己与读者的距离，在不认识他的人眼中审视自己的形象——可能会成为他的毁灭：他已经开始写作来取悦别人。

一位年轻的英国作家一两年前做过一个中肯的观察：天赋体现在初稿中，而艺术体现在随后的草稿中。正因如此，作家就像其他艺术家一样，没有安身之处，没有可以安慰他的群体或运动，没有外界的判断可以取代内心的判断。作家从内心的混乱中创造秩序；他服从一种比任何批评家想象的更严酷的纪律，当他调情于名声时，他只是在从与自我的共处中偷取时间，从寻找自己世界最深处的内涵中抽身。

词汇表

writers

名词

英:/ˈraɪtəz/

美:/ˈraɪtərz/

定义

1. 作家 - A person who writes books, stories, or other literary works as a profession.

例子: Many famous writers gather at literary festivals.

例子: Aspiring writers often face rejection before success.

2. 作者 - Someone who composes text for various purposes, such as journalism or scripts.

例子: Screenwriters are essential in the film industry.

例子: Newspaper writers report on daily events.

近义词

authors: 更侧重于书籍或文学作品的创造者，而 'writers' 更广泛，包括任何形式的写作。

scribblers: 更非正式或略带贬义，常用于描述不专业的写作者，与 'writers' 的专业性不同。

penmen: 更旧式或文学化，常用于历史语境，而 'writers' 是现代通用术语。

反义词:

readers, critics, non-writers

用法

常用于文学或职业语境中，描述从事写作的人群。可与 'aspiring' 或 'famous' 等词搭配；文化背景中，西方社会视作家为创意职业。

形式:

复数: writers (已是复数形式), 单数: writer

关键句型 "those I have known, and whom I respected"

定义

这个句型是一个典型的相对从句结构，用于描述或限定名词短语。基本结构是：主句 + 关系代词 (如 "whom") + 从句。简单来说，它通过关系代词连接两个部分，提供更多关于主句中名词的细节。根据《剑桥英语语法》权威资源，这种句型属于限定性相对从句，常用于正式英语中，帮助句子更精确地表达关系。

例如，在文章中，"those I have known, and whom I respected" 使用 "whom" 指代前面的 "those"，表示这些人是作者认识并尊重的对象。

它让句子更连贯，避免重复，适合描述人或物之间的联系。

用法

这个句型主要用于添加额外信息，解释或限定前面的名词，常出现在叙述性或描述性文本中。规则是：关系代词如 "who", "whom", "which" 后跟一个完整的从句，关系代词在从句中充当主语、宾语或其它成分。

在英语语法体系中，它属于从句类别，与主从复合句相关。横向比较：与简单句相比，这个句型能使表达更复杂和信息丰富；与并列句不同，它强调从句对主句的依赖性。例如，与 "I have known some writers, and I respected them" 的并列结构相比，这个句型更紧凑。

跨语法点联系：它常与代词系统结合（如 "who" 用于人，"which" 用于物），并可与定语从句扩展到非限定性从句（如用逗号隔开)。学生可以比较它与形容词短语的区别，后者如 "the writers I respected"，更简短但不提供完整从句。

总之，这个句型在写作中增强深度，帮助构建复杂叙述。

注意事项

学生容易犯的错误包括：误用关系代词，例如用 "who" 代替 "whom"（"who" 用于主语，"whom" 用于宾语），导致句子不正式；或遗漏逗号，使句子结构混乱。纠正建议：记住 "whom" 后跟动词时表示宾语，并练习区分 "who" 和 "whom"。

另一个常见问题是在非正式英语中过度使用，导致句子过于繁杂。提供例句：

错误示例：Those I have known, and who I respected, confess their ideas.  // 错误：应为 "whom" 因为它在从句中是宾语。
正确示例：Those I have known, and whom I respected, confess their ideas.

练习时，确保从句完整，避免句子过长而影响可读性。

练习

一个原创例子：假设你在描述朋友圈，你可以说："The friends I met in college, and whom I admired, have become successful professionals." 这贴近实际生活，帮助你表达对过去的回忆和情感。

学生可以替换关键词，比如把 "friends" 换成 "books"，变成："The books I read last year, and which I enjoyed, inspired my writing." 这种替换练习能让你在不同语境中应用句型，如在日记或故事中，增强灵活性并加深记忆。

通过多次练习，你会发现这个句型能让你的英语表达更生动和精确。

额外内容

背景知识：相对从句起源于古英语的复杂句法演变，在现代英语中是正式写作的标志，尤其在文学作品中常见，如文章所述的作家描述。文化对比：与中文类似，英语相对从句通过代词连接句子，而中文常使用结构助词（如 "的"）来表达定语，这让英语更依赖语法结构。

对比分析：在法语中，类似结构使用 "que" 或 "qui"，但英语的规则更直观，无需性别或数的变化。这有助于初学者从简单句过渡到复杂句，丰富表达能力。