Writing, Briefly

March 2005 (Informal surveys of referring urls suggested demand for essays that were short and didn't mention Lisp.) --> (In the process of answering an email, I accidentally wrote a tiny essay about writing.

2005 年 3 月（对引用 url 的非正式调查显示，人们需要简短且未提及 Lisp 的文章。） --> （在回复电子邮件的过程中，我不小心写了一篇关于写作的小文章。

I usually spend weeks on an essay.

我通常会花几周的时间写一篇论文。

This one took 67 minutes—23 of writing, and 44 of rewriting.) I think it's far more important to write well than most people realize.

这篇文章花了 67 分钟——23 分钟写作，44 分钟重写。）我认为写得好比大多数人意识到的要重要得多。

Writing doesn't just communicate ideas; it generates them.

写作不仅仅是交流思想；它生成它们。

If you're bad at writing and don't like to do it, you'll miss out on most of the ideas writing would have generated.

如果你不擅长写作并且不喜欢这样做，你就会错过写作所产生的大部分想法。

As for how to write well, here's the short version: Write a bad version 1 as fast as you can; rewrite it over and over; cut out everything unnecessary; write in a conversational tone; develop a nose for bad writing, so you can see and fix it in yours; imitate writers you like; if you can't get started, tell someone what you plan to

至于如何写得好，这是一个简短的版本： 尽可能快地写一个糟糕的版本 1；一遍又一遍地重写；删掉一切不必要的东西；用对话的语气写作；培养对不良写作的敏锐嗅觉，这样你就可以在你的写作中发现并改正它；模仿你喜欢的作家；如果你无法开始，请告诉别人你的计划

write about, then write down what you said; expect 80% of the ideas in an essay to happen after you start writing it, and 50% of those you start with to be wrong; be confident enough to cut; have friends you trust read your stuff and tell you which bits are confusing or drag; don't (always) make detailed outlines; mull ideas over for a few days before writing; carry a small notebook or scrap paper with you; start writing

写下，然后写下你所说的；预计一篇文章中 80% 的想法是在你开始写作之后才会出现的，而你一开始的想法中有 50% 是错误的；有足够的信心去削减；让您信任的朋友阅读您的内容并告诉您哪些部分令人困惑或拖沓；不要（总是）制定详细的轮廓；在写作之前仔细考虑几天的想法；随身携带小笔记本或便条纸；开始写作

when you think of the first sentence; if a deadline forces you to start before that, just say the most important sentence first; write about stuff you like; don't try to sound impressive; don't hesitate to change the topic on the fly; use footnotes to contain digressions; use anaphora to knit sentences together; read your essays out loud to see (a) where you stumble over awkward phrases and (b) which bits are boring (the

当你想到第一句话时；如果最后期限迫使您在此之前开始，请先说最重要的一句话；写一些你喜欢的东西；不要试图让自己听起来令人印象深刻；不要犹豫，立即改变话题；使用脚注来包含离题内容；使用照应法将句子编织在一起；大声朗读你的文章，看看 (a) 你在哪些地方遇到了尴尬的短语，以及 (b) 哪些部分很无聊（

paragraphs you dread reading); try to tell the reader something new and useful; work in fairly big quanta of time; when you restart, begin by rereading what you have so far; when you finish, leave yourself something easy to start with; accumulate notes for topics you plan to cover at the bottom of the file; don't feel obliged to cover any of them; write for a reader who won't read the essay as carefully as you do, just as pop songs are

你害怕阅读的段落）；尝试告诉读者一些新的、有用的东西；工作时间相当长；当你重新开始时，首先重读到目前为止所读的内容；当你完成后，给自己留下一些容易开始的事情；在文件底部积累您计划涵盖的主题的注释；不觉得有义务报道其中任何一个；为那些不会像你一样仔细阅读文章的读者写作，就像流行歌曲一样

designed to sound ok on crappy car radios; <!-- read writers you like, and try to figure out what makes you like them;--> if you say anything mistaken, fix it immediately; ask friends which sentence you'll regret most; go back and tone down harsh remarks; publish stuff online, because an audience makes you write more, and thus generate more ideas; print out drafts instead of just looking at them on the screen; use simple, germanic words; learn to distinguish

设计用于在蹩脚的汽车收音机上听起来不错； <!-- 阅读你喜欢的作家，并尝试找出是什么让你喜欢他们；--> 如果你说错了什么，请立即改正；问朋友哪句话你最后悔；回去缓和严厉的言论；在线发布内容，因为观众会让你写更多内容，从而产生更多想法；打印草稿，而不仅仅是在屏幕上查看；使用简单的德语单词；学会辨别

surprises from digressions; learn to recognize the approach of an ending, and when one appears, grab it.

离题带来的惊喜；学会识别结局的临近，当结局出现时，抓住它。