CATCH 22:MY FAVORITE WRITING TIPS

⊙By Melissa Donovan

一直以來，《作文天地》欄目給大家介紹了各種各樣的寫作建議和技巧，兩年過去了，同學們收獲如何呢？有沒有學到一些東西？寫作水平有沒有提高？其實每個喜歡寫作的人都有一套自己的做法，比如本期這位博主Melissa，她對待寫作就是個標準的行動派——要多讀、多思，最重要的是勤動筆，“寫”不可以已。

1 Do it. Write.

2 Read as much and as often as you can. Remember, every writer is a reader first.

3 Keep a journal or notebook handy at all times so you canjot down[匆匆記下]all of your brilliant ideas. If you’ve got a smartphone, make sure it’s loaded with[裝載]a note-takingapp[應用]. A voice-recording app also comes in handy for recording notes and ideas.

4 Make sure you have a dictionary and thesaurus[同義詞詞典]available whenever you are writing.

5 Beobservant[善于觀察的]. The people and activities that surround you will provide you with great inspiration for characters, plots, and themes.

6 Grammar: learn the rules and then learn how to break them effectively.

7 Invest in[花錢買]a few useful resources[工具書], starting with The Chicago Manual of Style and The Elements of Style注.

8 Stopprocrastinating[拖延]. Turn off the TV, disconnect from the Internet, tune out[不理睬]the rest of the world, sit down, and write.

9 Read works by successful authors to learn what earns a loyal[忠誠的]readership.

10 Read works by the canonical[權威的]authors so you understand what constitutes[構成]a respectable literary[文學的]achievement.

11 Join a writers’ group so you can gain support from the writing community and enjoy camaraderie[友情]in your craft[行業].

12 Create a space in your home especially for writing.

13Proofread[校對]everything at least three times before submitting your work forpublication[發表].

14 Write every single day.

15 Start a blog. Use it to talk about your own writing process, share your ideas and experiences, or publish your work to a reading audience.

16 Subscribe to writing blogs on the Internet. Read them, participate, learn, share, and enjoy!

17 Use writing exercises to improve your skills, strengthen your talent,and explore different genres[體裁], styles, and techniques.

18 Let go of your inner editor. When you sit down to write a draft,refrain from[忍住]proofreading until that draft is complete.

19 Allow yourself to write poorly, to write a weak, uninteresting story or a boring, grammatically incorrect poem. You’ll never succeed if you don’t allow yourself a few failures along the way.

20 Make it your business to understand grammar and language. Do you know a noun from a verb, apredicate[謂語]from a preposition? Do you understand tense and verb agreement? You should.

21 You are a writer so own it and say it out loud: “I am a writer.”Whether it’s ahobby[愛好]or your profession, if you write, then you have the right to this title.

22 Write, write, write, and then write some more. Forget everything else and just write.

注：《芝加哥手冊》和《風格的要素》都是英文寫作方面的經典工具書?！吨ゼ痈缡謨浴返谝话嬗擅绹ゼ痈绱髮W出版社于1906年發行，是世界公認的、英文出版業內最常用的格式標準之一。《風格的要素》出版于1918年，主要講解英語的文法原則與運用，被認為是“每個學生和寫作者的必讀之書”。