Notes

"People read a great deal, but they do not read skillfully written and edited text as a part of daily life. Of literary readers there may be precious few, but the computer and the internet have made writers of all the generations present and to come. To write emails, messages, posts, tweets, and blogs is all to the good. To write a grammatically accurate post, an alliterative tweet, a metaphorical blog entry, will salvage just a little of our culture. To recognize the tools of grammar, alliteration, and metaphor will salvage a little more."

"人们喜爱阅读，但不会把阅读构思巧妙、精雕细琢的文本作为日常生活的一部分。虽然阅读文学作品的人少之又少，但电脑和互联网使所有年代的作家得以存在，而且持续产生。写邮件、发消息、发帖子、发推特、发博客都是写作的福音。写一个语法精准的帖子、一则押韵的推特、一篇富含隐喻文采的博客都对挽救我们的文化有所裨益。认识一些语法、押韵和隐喻的技巧将更加有助于挽救我们的文化。"

"In Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Yuval Noah Harari points out that it is not language itself but the related capacity to imagine what is not immediately present that distinguishes the human species. To imagine what is not immediately present allows us spirituality, nationhood, commerce, and law, and it is of course the essence of story. To write better and better stories may promote cooperation, gender equality, and the cementing of social bonds. If an aspiring writer has natural talent, so much the better. If she gets published, even paid— wonderful. Her mother is probably right that she'll need a day job. She may even find one with her literary skills, in PR, marketing, or law. (My best friend in college, hoping to break into journalism, ended up as the first female chief justice of the Supreme Court of New York . . .) But in any case, it is good for a full-blooded life and good for the culture that human beings should continue to study the craft of fiction."

"在《人类简史》（Sapiens：A Brief History of Humankind）中，尤瓦尔·诺亚·赫拉利(Yuval Noah Harari)指出，区分人种的不是语言，而是能够对不在现场的事物进行想象的能力。对不在现场的事物进行想象，使我们拥有了灵性、国家意识、商业和法律，想象对故事而言是不可或缺的。写出越来越好的故事，能够促进合作、性别平等和巩固社会关系。如果一个作家既有抱负又有天赋，则善莫大焉。如果她的作品被出版，甚至还有稿酬，那真是妙不可言。她的母亲说得没错，她需要一份正经工作。凭借她的文学才能，她也许能谋到一个公关、营销或法律方面的职位（我大学里最好的朋友原本希望闯入新闻界，但她最终却成了纽约最高法院的首位首席女法官……）。但无论如何，人类都应该坚持学习小说写作的技巧，这对我们丰富多彩的生活和文化都大有裨益。"