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

提升你寫作能力的三項反社交技巧 - Nadia Kalman

Translator: tom carter Reviewer: Bedirhan Cinar

譯者: Alicia Chen 審譯者: Jephian Lin

Dialogue gives a story color,

對白賦予故事色彩

makes it exciting and moves it forward.

令人興奮又能推動故事發展

Romeo: O, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?

羅密歐：「啊，你就不留給我一點滿足嗎?」

Juliet: What satisfaction canst thou have tonight?

茱麗葉：「今夜你還想要什麼滿足?」

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

羅密歐：「與我交換對愛情的誓言」

Without dialogue: (cricket sounds)

少了對白就 （蟋蟀叫聲）

So what goes into writing effective dialogue?

所以要寫好的對白需要什麼？

Well, there are social skills:

有些社交技巧像是

making friends, solving conflicts, being pleasant and polite.

善於交友、化解衝突、討喜知禮

We won't be using any of those today.

今天完全用不到

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

用的反而是──我們稱之為「反社交技巧」

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

如果你是作家，有些對你來說可能不陌生

The first is eavesdropping.

第一是偷聽

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

你搭公車時聽見有趣的對話，應該抄下來

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

當然，寫小說時你不是在描述真實人物

you're making up characters.

而是虛構角色

But sometimes the words you overhear can give you ideas.

有時偷聽到的對話能提供你靈感

"I did not," says one person.

甲說：「我才沒有。」

"I saw you," the other replies.

乙回：「我看見了。」

Who might be saying those words?

是誰在對話？

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

也許班上有兩個小孩，男孩認為女孩推了他

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

也許是一對情侶，但其中一位是吸血鬼

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

女吸血鬼抓到男友在搭訕僵屍

Or maybe not.

也可能不是

Maybe the characters are a teenager and his mother,

也許是一位青少年和他的母親

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

兩人都吃素，但媽媽發現他偷吃漢堡

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

假設你已經決定角色

This is anti-social skill number two:

接下來是反社交技巧二

start pretending they're real.

假裝角色都是真的

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

他們是什麼樣子？打哪來？都聽什麼音樂？

Spend some time with them.

多跟他們相處

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

搭公車時，想像他們在旁邊做什麼

Would they talk on the phone, listen to music,

是講電話、聽音樂、

draw pictures, sleep?

畫圖、或睡覺？

What we say depends on who we are.

什麼人說什麼話

An older person might speak differently than a younger person.

老人與年輕人說話方式不同

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

南、北方人的說話方式也不同

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

先認識你的角色，就能找出他們說話方式

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

在這階段，反社交技巧三便派上用場

muttering to yourself.

喃喃自語

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

實際唸出角色台詞，才知道聽起來是否自然

and fix them if necessary.

有需要再作修正

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

記得，一般人平常講話不會太正式

They use simple language and contractions.

他們使用簡單的文字和縮寫

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

「不要企圖欺騙我」改成 「別想騙我」較自然

Also keep it short.

句子短一點

People tend to speak in short bursts,

一般人講話簡潔

not lengthy speeches.

不像演講般冗長

And let the dialogue do the work.

讓對話傳達情境

Ask yourself: do I really need that adverb?

想想看，那副詞真有必要嗎？

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

例如：「要錢還要命？」她恐脅著

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

「恐脅著」在這裡很多餘，拿掉它吧

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

但如果說出來的話與行動不搭，副詞便派上用場

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

「要錢還要命？」她深情地說

So, to recap:

我們來回顧

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

首先偷聽，接著假裝你幻想人物都是真的

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

最後自言自語，再寫下來

You already have everything you need.

你需要的都有了

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

這是虛擬對話，或「如何聽到腦子裡的聲音」