Three anti-social skills to improve your writing - Nadia Kalman

提高写作的三种反社交技巧- Nadia Kalman

Translator: tom carter Reviewer: Bedirhan Cinar

翻译人员: Yinglei Li 校对人员: Zhao Yini

Dialogue gives a story color,

对话使故事变得生动有趣

makes it exciting and moves it forward.

推动着情节发展

Romeo: O, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?

罗密欧：啊，难道你不打算满足我吗？

Juliet: What satisfaction canst thou have tonight?

朱丽叶：今晚如何才能满足你？

Romeo: The exchange of thy love's faithful vows for mine.

罗密欧：用你忠诚的爱情誓言来交换我的誓言。

Without dialogue: (cricket sounds)

如果没有对话：（蛐蛐声）

So what goes into writing effective dialogue?

那么怎样写出对故事有利的对话呢？

Well, there are social skills:

常规的三大社交技巧：

making friends, solving conflicts, being pleasant and polite.

交朋友，化解冲突，表现得彬彬有礼

We won't be using any of those today.

但是我们今天不讨论这些

Instead, we'll be working on -- let's call them "anti-social skills."

我们今天要讨论的是——“反社交技巧”

If you're a writer, you may already have a few of these.

如果你是个作家，应该已经具备某些类似技巧

The first is eavesdropping.

第一个技巧是偷听

If you're riding a bus and hear an interesting conversation, you could write it all down.

如果你在乘车时听到了有趣的对话，应该把它们都记下来

Of course, when you write fiction, you're not describing real people,

虽然在小说里你写的不是真实人物

you're making up characters.

而是虚构的角色

But sometimes the words you overhear can give you ideas.

但有时偷听到的对话能为你带来灵感

"I did not," says one person.

“我没做”，一个人辩解着

"I saw you," the other replies.

“我看见你做了”，另一个人反驳

Who might be saying those words?

这样的对话会是谁在说呢？

Maybe it's two kids in a class, and the boy thinks the girl pushed him.

也许是班里的两个孩子，小男孩以为小女孩推了他

Maybe it's a couple, but one of them is a vampire,

也许是一对夫妻，妻子是吸血鬼

and the woman vampire saw the man flirting with a zombie.

她看到丈夫与一个僵尸调情

Or maybe not.

还有更多可能性

Maybe the characters are a teenager and his mother,

比如是儿子和母亲间的对话

and they're supposed to be vegetarians, but the mother saw him eating a burger.

他们是素食主义者，但妈妈看到儿子偷吃了汉堡

So let's say you've decided on some characters.

如果你确定好了角色

This is anti-social skill number two:

就可以采用第二个反社会技巧

start pretending they're real.

把他们当成真人

What are they like? Where are they from? What music do they listen to?

他们长什么样？来自哪里？喜欢什么样的音乐？

Spend some time with them.

在角色身上多花点心思

If you're on a bus, think about what they might be doing if they were there too.

你乘车时可以想象，他们坐在车上时会做什么

Would they talk on the phone, listen to music,

他们是在打电话？听音乐？

draw pictures, sleep?

画画？还是打瞌睡？

What we say depends on who we are.

人的性格背景决定了他的语言

An older person might speak differently than a younger person.

年长者和年轻者说的话是不同的

Someone from the south might speak differently than someone from the north.

南方人和北方人说的话也不一样

Once you know your characters, you can figure out how they talk.

只要了解人物性格背景，就知道他们会说什么

At this stage, it's helpful to use anti-social skill number three:

接着，到了使用第三个技巧的时候

muttering to yourself.

自言自语

When you speak your character's words, you can hear whether they sound natural,

念出角色的台词之后，你就会发现不妥之处

and fix them if necessary.

然后对台词进行修改

Remember, most people are usually pretty informal when they speak.

大多数人讲话都很随意

They use simple language and contractions.

用词和缩略语都很简单

So, "Do not attempt to lie to me" sounds more natural as "Don't try to lie to me."

因此，“别想骗我”比“不要想对我撒谎”听上去自然

Also keep it short.

人物对话还应该保持简短

People tend to speak in short bursts,

人们讲话时句子都短小精炼

not lengthy speeches.

而非长篇大论

And let the dialogue do the work.

记得多用对话的形式

Ask yourself: do I really need that adverb?

此外，再反问自己：这句话真的需要副词吗？

For instance, "'Your money or your life,' she said threateningly."

举个例子，“要钱还要命”，她威胁地说

Here, "threateningly" is redundant, so you can get rid of it.

此处，“威胁地”就显多余，可以省略

But if the words and the actions don't match, an adverb can be helpful.

但如果语言和动作不搭调，副词有助于读者的理解

"'Your money or your life,' she said lovingly."

比如，“要钱还要命”，她深情地说

So, to recap:

我来总结一下

First, eavesdrop. Next, pretend imaginary people are real.

第一，偷听；第二，把角色当成真人

Finally, mutter to yourself, and write it all down.

第三，自言自语，并把台词写下来

You already have everything you need.

现在，你已经掌握了必备的技巧

This is fictional dialogue, or "How to Hear Voices in Your Head."

这是虚构的对话，也叫做“如何听到脑内的声音”