What is the best way to improve writing skills and become a master of it?
如何最有效地提高并熟练掌握写作技能？
James Altucher
对，你已经来不及了，别做梦了。
没错，20岁起步已然晚矣。很不幸，你永远都不会成为作家。所以这点无所谓，不过……
你还是要每天阅读，每天写作。即使没得写也要盯着空白的屏幕发呆（雷蒙德·钱德勒的诀窍）。 (译者注：雷蒙德·钱德勒是美国侦探小说家，硬汉派推理代表人物，著有《漫长的告别》等。)
为什么要阅读和写作？因为你喜欢。
你应该读什么？
选择代入感强、仿佛置身书中的作者去阅读。《老人与海》这本书的风格可以引领你进入一望无际的大海。
《万有引力之虹》荒诞不经的写作风格正映衬了故事情节的离奇。
甚至约翰.格里森姆这种不按套路（“没有风格”）的作者也能让情节跌宕起伏。(译者注：约翰·格里森姆是美国畅销小说作家，他的作品绝大多数是情节紧张、结局出人意料，但又不失深度的法律悬念小说。)
不停地阅读，然后尝试模仿，直到练就独有的写作风格。
你自己的风格一直根植于心。20年来形成的风格在你的潜意识里蠢蠢欲动，就像被引诱的蛇一样。但是把脑海里的蛇化为文字还需要技巧。
通过阅读可以意识到你内心有多少考古地层，在找到现存古代文明的真迹之前，你需要不断摸索前行。
而写作是实实在在的挖掘，直到碰触文物的碎片，让它们得见天日。
20岁太迟吗？当然，你打出生起就来不及做有意义的事情了。一旦了然于心，就可坦然面对。
现在你可以心无旁骛地写作了。归根结底，这才是创作出有价值作品的关键。
James Altucher
YES, YOU ARE WAY TOO LATE. IT'S OVER.
Yes, at the age of 20 you are too late. Unfortunately, you will never make it as a writer. So now it no longer matters. But...
Read every day anyway. Write every day anyway. Even stare at a blank screen if you have nothing to write about (Raymond Chandler's trick).
Why should you read and write? Because you love it.
What should you read?
Read writers where the style is almost like a character in the story itself. In 'Old Man and the Sea' the style the book is written in makes you think of the starkness of the sea.
In 'Gravity's Rainbow', the frenetic craziness of the style is a mirror of the plot of the book.
Even in John Grisham, the sparseness of the style (the 'no-style') allows the plot to shine through.
Read, read, read. Then try to copy the styles of the people you read until you have your own style.
Your own style is there. It's deep inside of you. You have 20 years of style, all twirled around your subconscious, like a snake ready to be charmed out. But it takes skill to tease the snake out of your mind and onto the paper.
Reading helps you realize how many archaeological layers inside of you, you have to go until you find the real ancient civilization that exists.
And writing is the actual digging until you hit the remnants of those relics so you can show them to the outside world.
Is 20 too old? Yes, of course it is. The moment you were born you were too old to do anything meaningful. Once you realize that, you can relax.
Now you can write and not care at all. Which is ultimately the key to making something worth reading.
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