時尚雙語:Writing:看七位知名作家是怎麼寫出鉅作的

Finding the ideal working habits that will allow me to write as consistently as possible is always something I’m exploring as a writer.

As I’ve said before, I try to make it a habit to write first thing in the morning. It helps me to focus and ensure that I’m getting my writing done.

I love reading about my favorite writers and what writing habits led to their success. Below, I share with you some of my favorite writers’ work habits … and it’s obvious that there’s no single way to success. Some like to write a certain number of words or pages every day, others were happy to write a page or a sentence. Some liked to write long-hand, others did it on index cards. Some wrote standing up, others lying down.

There’s no one way that works. Do what works for you (and share it in the comments!). But maybe you’ll get some inspiration from these greats, as I have.

1. Stephen King.

In his book On Writing, King says that he writes 10 pages a day without fail, even on holidays. That’s a lot of writing each day, and it has led to some incredible results: King is one of the most prolific writers of our time.

2. Ernest Hemingway.

By contrast with King, “Papa” Hemingway wrote 500 words a day. That’s not bad, though. Hemingway, like me, woke early to write to avoid the heat and to write in peace and quiet. Interestingly, though Hemingway is famous for his alcoholism, he said he never wrote while drunk.

3. Vladimir Nabokov.

The author of such great novels as Lolita, Pale Fire and Ada did his writing standing up, and all on index cards. This allowed him to write scenes non-sequentially, as he could re-arrange the cards as he wished. His novel Ada took up more than 2,000 cards.

4. Truman Capote.

The author of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and “In Cold Blood” claimed to be a “completely horizontal author.” He said he had to write lying down, in bed or on a couch, with a cigarette and coffee. The coffee would switch to tea, then sherry, then martinis, as the day wore on. He wrote his first and second drafts in longhand, in pencil. And even his third draft, done on a typewriter, would be done in bed — with the typewriter balanced on his knees.

5. Philip Roth.

One of the greatest living American writers, Roth works standing up, pacing around as he thinks. He claimed to walk half a mile for every page he writes. He separates his work life from personal life, and doesn’t write where he lives — he has a studio built away from his house. He works at a lectern that doesn’t face the view of his studio window, to avoid distraction.

6. James Joyce.

In the pantheon of great writers of the last century, Joyce looms large. And while more prolific writers set themselves a word or page limit, Joyce prided himself in taking his time with each sentence. A famous story has a friend asking Joyce in the street if he’d had a good day writing. Yes, Joyce replied happily. How much had he written? Three sentences, Joyce told him.

7. Joyce Carol Oates.

This extremely prolific writer (see her bibliography on her Wikipedia page!) has won numerous awards, including the National Book Award. She writes in longhand, and while she doesn’t have a formal schedule, she says she prefers to write in the morning, before breakfast. She’s a creative writing professor, and on the days she teaches, she says she writes for an hour or 45 minutes before leaving for her first class. On other days, when the writing is going well, she can work for hours without a break — and has breakfast at 2 or 3 in the afternoon!

What are your writing habits? Share in the comments!

尋找一種理想的工作習慣，讓我能夠儘可能始終如一地堅持寫作，是我作爲一個作家始終不斷探索的領域。

就像我以前說過的，我試圖把“早晨第一件事用來寫作 write first thing in the morning ”當成了一種習慣，它幫我強迫自己確保完成寫作任務。

我 喜愛讀一些關於我最喜歡的作者們的事蹟，看看是什麼樣的寫作習慣能夠讓他們成爲一個成功的作家。下面，我將和你分享一下幾個我最喜歡的作家的工作習慣…… 顯而易見的是，沒有一條單純的道路可以把你引向成功。我所介紹的這些作家們有些喜歡每天寫上一定數量的字數或者頁數，有一些只樂意寫一頁甚至一句。有些喜歡像平常那樣手寫，有些則喜歡寫在索引卡片上，有些人站着寫，還有不少喜歡躺着寫的。

並不是每種方法都管用，哪種方法適合你呢？（最好在評論中分享一下），不過，或許你可以從他們的偉大中獲取一些靈感也說不定。

1. 史蒂芬.金（Stephen King）：在他的《寫作》一書中，他說他能從不間斷的每天寫下十頁，即便是在節假日也一樣。這是一個不小的工作量，當然也導致了一個不可思議的結果：史蒂芬.金是我們這個時代最多產的作家之一。

2. 海明威（Ernest Hemingway）：和史蒂芬.金相反，“老爹”海明威每天只寫500字，不過還不錯啦。他跟我似的，喜歡早早起牀寫東西，這樣可以避免炎熱的天氣的影響，在平和安靜的環境裏寫作。有趣的是，儘管海明威向來有酗酒的名聲，不過他說他從來不在喝醉的時候寫作。

3. 弗拉基米爾·納博科夫（Vladimir Nabokov）：這個寫出了《洛麗塔》（ Lolita）、《蒼白的火焰》（ Pale Fire）和《艾達》（Ada）這樣的牛叉小說的作者是站着寫作的，而且都是寫在索引卡片上，這種方法可以讓他不在乎連續性地寫下各種場景，然後他可以按照自己的意願重新組織整理這些卡片。他的小說《Ada》使用了2000多張這樣的卡片。

4. 杜魯門.凱波特（Truman Capote）：這位《第 凡內早餐》和《冷血》的作者聲稱自己是一個“完全的橫向作者”，他說他必須得躺着才能寫作，在牀上或者沙發上，叼着煙拿着咖啡才行。咖啡稍後會換成茶，然 後是雪利酒，在一天要結束的時候，已經變成了馬提尼。他先用鉛筆寫下第一、第二甚至第三稿，最後用打字機完稿。當然，肯定是在牀上打完的--把打字機平衡 的放在他的膝蓋上！

5. 菲利普.羅斯（Philip Roth）：現在還活着的最偉大的美國作家之一，他也是站着工作的，一邊走圈一邊思考。他聲稱自己每寫上一頁都得走上半英里。他把他的工作和個人生活分離開來，生活中從不寫作--他有一個離他家很遠的工作室，他的工作臺背對着他工作室的窗口，以免被分心。

6. 詹姆斯.喬伊斯（James Joyce）：在上個世紀的作家神殿中，喬伊斯顯得非常突出。當多數高產作家給自己限定幾個字或者幾頁的目標時，喬伊斯驕傲得把他所有的時間都花在了每一個句子上，有個著名的故事是這麼說的，喬伊斯的一個朋友在街上問他今天寫得怎麼。很好，喬伊斯高興的回答他。那他那天寫了多少呢？喬伊斯告訴他的朋友：三句。

7. 喬伊斯.卡羅.歐茨（Joyce Carol Oates）：這個極端高產的作家（看看 Wikipedia 上她的頁面中的著作列表 ）獲得了無數個獎項，其中包括美國國家圖書獎（National Book Award）。她喜歡跟我們一樣平常的手寫。她說，在沒有正式安排的日子裏，她更喜歡在早晨，特別是早餐之前寫東西。她是一個極具創造性的寫作教授。當她有課的時候，她說她寫上 45 分鐘至一個小時之後纔去上她的第一節課，其他的沒課的日子裏，當她寫得漸入佳境時，她可以不帶休息地連續寫上幾個小時 -- 在下午兩三點纔開始吃早餐。

你是不是也有自己的寫作習慣，在評論中分享一下吧。