10月 21 2008
英语阅读 The art of avoiding writer’s block
Harriet Swain 的 How to be a student 系列介绍了几个克服”没有东西可写”困境的招数。阅读这篇文章，不仅可以学习英语，还可以学到些有用的学习方法。
How to be a student: The art of avoiding writer’s block
Harriet Swain
The Guardian,
Tuesday October 21 2008
Sometimes it can be hard to tell the difference between writer’s block and feeling you can’t be bothered. If it happens every time you face a blank page or screen, and involves screwed up pieces of paper or frenzied use of the delete key, not to mention hours of pacing and chewed fingernails, it’s writer’s block. If it happens only when there’s a good gig on at the students’ union, it’s not. If there always seems to be a good gig on at the union whenever you face a blank page, it’s probably somewhere between the two.
Either way, the solution is the same – just write something. Anything. Even if it is “I can’t think what to write”, “Everything I write is rubbish”, or “Am I really that into a Take That tribute band?” That way you get your mind moving – and you may eventually find that you write something interesting.
Another solution is barely to stop writing. If you carry a notebook around to jot down your thoughts, not only will you have a pile of ready-written ideas on which to draw when you sit down to write something more formal, but you won’t find writing such a big deal.
Have a regular time set aside for writing, which you keep to no matter how you are feeling. The fact that you have a slight hangover, have argued with your boyfriend or can’t find your favourite pen doesn’t mean you need to postpone all work until tomorrow.
Nor should you get hung up on perfectionism. Don’t assume you are writing anything more than a draft, and always leave yourself enough time to revise it once you’ve finished the last sentence. Delay putting pen to paper and you may be forced to complete an assignment by an unachievable deadline, which would be even more daunting. Instead, set yourself easy targets, and once you get going you may find yourself reaching way beyond them.
It isn’t helpful to have the sneaking suspicion you could be the next Ernest Hemingway, either. You’ll find it inhibiting, and anyway you’re not. Even if you are, no one will find out unless you write something. Treat it as a job that has to be done, rather than a rare chance to share your genius.
If your mind is blank, leave your desk and go for a walk or do the weekly washing up, but keep mulling over the topic. A change of scene can trigger all sorts of new thoughts and connections, and there’s nothing like the fifth bean-smeared plate to make your desk seem a safe haven.
It is worth discussing your work with someone. This forces you to order your ideas, and lets you know quickly which are boring. Run out of real friends? Try an imaginary one – even a stuffed toy.
Alternatively, try writing constantly for a set period of time and then underline any ideas you find interesting. Start writing again, for a slightly shorter period, using these ideas as a starting point, and continue until you have something worth saying.
If you’re teeming with ideas but can’t start, begin in the middle – or the end – and write the first paragraph later. Tackle the bits you find easiest.
Meanwhile, avoid distractions. Turn off other applications on your computer, shut the door, and avoid libraries frequented by the girl of your dreams. She’s only notice you, anyway, if you turn out to be the next Hemingway.
