原文链接：know thyself...by writing your first novel
短评：原文教你如何开始自己的第一部小说。对我来说是教如何开始写作，怎样做好心理建设。大概每一个人都有一个写作梦，以前我总是在脑海里构想各种各样的情节，却从未动笔，因为我各种担心，担心能力不够、担心暴露自己的底，担心别人的看法。作者鼓励我们：这个世上没有理由你不能写做，唯一阻止你这样做的是自己；不要在意别人的看法，你是为自己写作；好点子出现不是在你如何如何的计划中，而是写作过程中等等。
这几天又反复读过几遍，觉得挺实用的，适合那些和我一样想要开始写作却不敢动笔的朋友们。于是整理了部分内容放在简书上，建议阅读原文。（现在我已经不害怕写作的这回事了，证明这篇文章值得一读吧！可我还是没有开始写，因为懒！）
The writing stuff
- There is no reason in the world why you can’t write a novel and the only thing stopping you from doing so is yourself.
- Writing is about claiming ownership of yourself in order to become the person you know you can be.
- The first question to ask yourself is: “What do I want to say?”
- You will have to push yourself far outside your comfort zone.
- No matter how well you plan a novel beforehand, it is in the act of writing itself that the best ideas usually present themselves.
“One must not seek, one must wait”---Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot
- Exposure is a great fear. But don't worry what other think, you are writing for yourself.
- Don't writing for approval, and don't write for money.
Write from your stomach, not your head or heart. When you have an idea, wait. The longer you do, the more fully formed your story will come out.
The necessity of writing comes before its beauty. Imagine listening to Chopin. Then imagine playing it; the approach is completely different. Think about where you place your fingers, not about its beauty.
Twist your plot like a screw, don’t hammer it like a nail. Events have to be spread out evenly along the narrative so that the story is sustained and developed over the whole narrative.
If a character wants to become rich, rob them first. You need to put obstacles in your characters’ way. Characters must pay some kind of price for what they desire and that cost is our investment in their story.
Dialogue is more like two monologues that only sometimes connect. Your characters should talk ‘at odds’ with each other, addressing their own issues instead of each other’s.
