关键要点
- 让更多人读你写的东西的简单技巧:用口语写。
- 多数人一提笔就换了一种语言:句式、用词都和跟朋友说话时不同——没人会在口语里把 pen 当动词用。
- 书面语更复杂(读起来费力)、更正式疏远(读者注意力容易漂移);最糟的是,复杂句式和 fancy 词会让作者误以为自己说的比实际多。
- 表达复杂思想不需要复杂句子:专家聊本领域难题时,句子并不比聊午饭吃什么更复杂——主题越难,越要让语言别挡路。
- 实操法:先按习惯写初稿,然后逐句问“跟朋友说话我会这么说吗”;不会就换成会说的说法;久了这个过滤器会在写作时自动运行。
- 发表前 PG 会大声朗读全文,改掉一切听起来不像对话的地方;极端情况可直接跟朋友口头解释一遍,用说的内容替换草稿。
—— 本文选自东西书院 dongxishuyuan.com
PG 原话
非正式语言是思想的运动服。
Informal language is the athletic clothing of ideas.
如果你能做到像说话一样写作,你就超过了95%的写作者。而这很容易:别让任何一句话通过,除非那是你会对朋友说的话。
If you simply manage to write in spoken language, youll be ahead of 95% of writers. And its so easy to do: just dont let a sentence through unless its the way youd say it to a friend.
出处
- 英文原题:Write Like You Talk(2015年10月)
- 原文:https://www.paulgraham.com/talk.html
- 本书院编译 · 底本为 paulgraham.com 英文原典
中文为本书院编译(意译),关键英文术语保留原文;英文引文逐字核验为原典连续子串。
延伸阅读 · 跨篇互见
Reddit教训:投的是创始人不是想法;伟大公司与创始人之间有惊人的匹配度。
As with all the really great startups, theres an uncannily close match between the company and the founders.
Reddit the site (and now app) is such a fundamentally useful thing that its almost unkillable.
场景交集:发布上线、决策出处:The Reddits · paulgraham.com 原文 ↗
美国创业公司若拿不到 x.com,大概率该改名——边缘域名传递的是边缘公司的信号。
If you have a US startup called X and you dont have x.com, you should probably change your name.
having x.com signals strength even if it has no relation to what you do.
场景交集:发布上线、决策出处:Change Your Name · paulgraham.com 原文 ↗
写作是检验想法的酷刑:没写下来过的想法都不算真正成形;写作是必要条件,虽非充分条件。
Writing about something, even something you know well, usually shows you that you didnt know it as well as you thought.
If writing down your ideas always makes them more precise and more complete, then no one who hasnt written about a topic has fully formed ideas about it.
场景交集:写作、决策出处:Putting Ideas into Words · paulgraham.com 原文 ↗
反驳的艺术:从骂人到直击要害的七层阶梯
好的反驳不是骂人,而是直击对方论证的中心点;反驳层级越高,说服力上限越高。
The most convincing form of disagreement is refutation. Its also the rarest, because its the most work.
DH levels merely describe the form of a statement, not whether its correct. A DH6 response could still be completely mistaken.
场景交集:写作、决策出处:How to Disagree · paulgraham.com 原文 ↗
本区为 L2 延展案例(跨篇互见):PG 其他原典中的相关论述,仍属原典直读;引文均为逐字核验。解读与主编观点见 L3(筹备中)。