5條寫作僞規則，你上當了嗎？

Whether we're experienced writers or just beginners, we all follow certain rules. Not all rules of writing, however, are equally valid or useful.

無論我們是經驗豐富的作家還是寫作新手，我們都遵循一定的規則來寫作。但是，並非所有的規則都有用。

Before applying the principles of effective writing, we need to find out which rules are worth taking seriously and which ones aren't really rules at all. Here we'll look at five phony rules of writing. Behind each one lies a reasonably good idea, but there are also good reasons why these so-called rules should sometimes be broken.

在使用有效的寫作規則之前，我們先要分清哪些規則值得認真學習，而哪些規則根本算不上規則。在此，我們着重瞭解五條僞規則。每條僞規則背後都有值得借鑑的地方，但是有時我們也不必遵循這些所謂的規則。

1.  Never use the first person pronoun ("I" or "we") in an essay.

不要在文章裏使用第一人稱（“我”和“我們”）

Our choice of a personal pronoun should depend on what we're writing about and our reason for writing. In an essay based on personal experience, for example, the I point of view is not only natural but practically unavoidable. (Substituting "one" and "oneself" for "I" and "myself" usually leads to awkward writing.)

人稱的選擇應基於寫作的內容及原因。比如，在一篇描述個人經歷的文章中，第一人稱視角不僅自然，而且無可避免。（用其他人稱代替第一人稱則顯得奇怪。）

On the other hand, critical essays, term papers, and lab reports are commonly presented from the third-person point of view (he, she, it, they) because the subject of the paper, not the writer, should be the focus of attention.

另一方面，評論性文章、學期論文、實驗報告通常採用第三人稱（他、她、它、他們、她們、它們），因爲這類文章的重點在內容上而非作者。

2.  An essay must contain five paragraphs.

文章必須包含五個段落

Although most essays contain a beginning, a middle, and an end, there's no official limit on the number of paragraphs that should appear in an essay.

儘管大多數文章包含開頭、主體、結尾部分，但是文章到底應該有幾段卻沒有一個具體的規定。

Many instructors use the five-paragraph model to introduce students to the basic structure of an essay. Likewise, some standardized essay exams appear to encourage the simple five-paragraph theme. But you should feel free to move beyond the basics (and beyond five paragraphs), especially when dealing with complex subjects.

許多老師用五段論模型向學生介紹寫作的基本結構。同樣的，標準化寫作考試也喜歡簡單的五段論文章。但是，拋開這個基本的框架（拋開五段論）可以讓你的寫作過程更加隨心所欲，尤其是當你在解決複雜的問題時。

3.  A paragraph must contain between three and five sentences.

每一段應包含三到五句話

Just as there's no limit to the number of paragraphs that may appear in an essay, no rule exists regarding the number of sentences that make up a paragraph. If you check out the works by professional writers, you'll find paragraphs as short as a single word and as long as two or three pages.

就像文章沒有固定的段落數一樣，每一段中要寫幾句話也沒有嚴格的規定。如果你看看專業作者的文章，你會發現有的段落短到只有一個詞，而有的段落則長達兩到三頁。

Instructors often encourage beginning writers to build paragraphs with at least three to five sentences. The purpose of this advice is to help students understand that most body paragraphs need to be developed with specific details that prove or support the main idea of a paragraph.

老師經常鼓勵初學者把每段話寫上至少三到五句話。這個建議的目的是幫助學生了解大部分的主體段需要用具體的細節展開來支撐該段的主要論點。

4.  Never begin a sentence with "And" or "But."

不要用“並且”和“但是”作爲段落開頭

It's true that most often the conjunctions "and" and "but" are used to join words, phrases, and clauseswithin a sentence. But on occasion these simple transitions can be used effectively to show that a fresh sentence is building on a previous thought ("And") or shifting to a contrary point of view ("But").

雖然and（和，並且），but（但是）這一類連詞可以在句中連接兩個詞語、短語以及從句，但是，有時這些簡單的過渡詞能有效地告訴讀者這一句話是建立在上一句的想法上的（用and的時候），或者這一句話與上一句話意思相反（用but的時候）。

Because "and" and "but" are so easy to use (and to overwork) at the beginning of a sentence, instructors often discourage students from using them there at all. But you know better.

因爲and和but很容易在段落開頭使用（也容易濫用），老師經常會完全反對學生使用。但你現在知道這樣不對了。

5.  Never repeat a word or a phrase in the same sentence or paragraph.

不要在同一句話或同一段中重複詞語或短語

A sound rule of writing is to avoid needless repetition. No good comes from boring our readers. On occasion, however, repetition of a key word or phrase can be an effective strategy for focusing the reader's attention on a main idea. And it's certainly better to repeat a word than to indulge in elegant variation.

合理的寫作建議是避免無用的重複。讓讀者乏味不會帶來好處。但是，有時重複關鍵詞是個有效的方法讓讀者的注意力保持在論點上。直接重複使用某個詞要比換個同義詞更好。

Cohesive writing flows smoothly from one sentence to the next, and repeating a key word or phrase can sometimes help us achieve coherence.

流暢的文章從一句話過渡到下一句話時是十分行雲流水的，重複使用關鍵詞有時可以達到流暢的效果。