British writer

Chapter 344 Most people can’t learn it

The lecture is over.

Frankly speaking, Lu Shi didn't know whether this was considered teaching.

In his opinion, it's more like a salon, or socializing——

English writers from around London gathered to brag.

Wodehouse is near,

"Lu, what you just said was really good."

Lu Shi said: "Actually, I didn't meet your requirements. I just grasped the general direction. The technical aspects can only be discussed later."

Wodehouse waved his hand.

"It doesn't matter."

He knows very well that writing is not just about skills;

Lu Shi starts from the source so that people can understand what is happening and why.

Wodehouse said: "From what you just said, are you planning to compile teaching materials?"

Lu Shi said "hmm\

,""It can't be considered a textbook, it can barely be regarded as a reference book. Because I am good at novels, and the writing range is too wide, including prose, poetry... I am not going to do it all. Moreover, the writing skills in different languages are very different. I am going to write in English, French, Mainly in Chinese, written by each."

He thought for a moment and continued: "This is all I can do. The School of Liberal Arts needs real professors and teaching materials."

Wodehouse complained: "You are not a real professor, who is?"

"Well..."

Lu Shi was embarrassed.

At this time, others gathered around.

Bernard Shaw stepped forward;

"Lu, please read the notes I compiled and see if there is anything missing."

Lu Shi looked helpless and said, "Old Xiao, why are you here to join in the fun? Let's meet without looking up. If there are any writing issues, just discuss them by yourself."

Bernard Shaw shook his head repeatedly,

"It's different! Our private communication is wild and unrestrained, how can it be as systematic as before?"

With that said, he forced the note to Lu Shi.

Lu Shi took it and read through it roughly.

The records are very detailed and well-organized. Each part has a subtitle.

"Start from the writing mentality";

"Writing Content";

"Technical Preparation";

…

Lu Shi was surprised when he saw it.

Did you just say so much?

"It felt like these notes would be ready for publication when they were organized," Shaw said.

Other writers chimed in:

"That's right!"

"I think so!"

…

Lu Shi couldn't help but laugh,

"Now that everything is ready for publication, it is necessary to improve it. The writing mentality can be happy or excited, but there is..."

"Wait a minute!"

George Bernard Shaw snatched the notes back,

"You say it, and I'll remember it."

Lu Shi explained: "The writing mentality must be serious. Then there is the issue of sustainability. No matter what industry the masters are in, when asked how they have persisted in the industry for so long, most of the answers are hobbies. People enter the industry because of hobbies, but How long can this hobby last? So try to keep writing every day and continue to produce. Many people are obsessed with inspiration, meaning 'If inspiration doesn't come, what can I do?' This is a good reason and a very good reason. Excuses. However, for writers, writing is no different from going to work. The difficulty in writing is not the method or technique, but the warmth of the writing."

It is very difficult to maintain interest;

This is also the reason why so many online articles are delayed and unfinished.

There is no other reason——

I'm tired and can't write anymore.

Yeats said: "Professor Lu, that's why I admire writers like you who serialize in newspapers. You must maintain quality as well as quantity. Even Mr. Dickens can't do this."

Dickens charged royalties based on the number of chapters in the series;

Therefore, in order to fill the required length of each serialization, the number of words must be increased.

But because of his high level, the water is not boring.

Lu Shi had a headache when he heard about the serialization.

In less than two weeks, the third Harry Potter film, "The Prisoner of Azkaban," will be released in newspapers.

Now I have another task of compiling teaching materials.

Such an intensive project arrangement is even worse than a modern day job.

In this case, you must make full use of your status as a professor of London Economics and let the cows and horses... let the students participate.

Lu Shi said, "Old Xiao, please lend me a pen and paper."

George Bernard Shaw tore a page from the back of his notebook and handed it over.

"Is there a problem?"

Lu Shi said while writing: "Ask the students to help me find these books. I need to find examples from them."

Bernard Shaw browsed the bibliography,

"Hmm... I still need dictionaries of various versions... Fortunately, University College London is famous for its collection of historical and cultural rarities, especially manuscripts, rare books and archives. They are all genuine, so it shouldn't be a big problem."

Lu Shi nodded,

"Just send these books to my house."

He said goodbye to everyone and then walked straight out of Wilkins Hall.

Unexpectedly, I encountered a strange scene as soon as I arrived at the door.

I saw a bunch of students surrounding the gate, as if they were holding a banner and marching, shouting loudly,

"What are those writers doing? Are they holding a salon?"

"Why can't the lectures be given to the outside world?"

"We want to participate!"

"Why aren't students allowed to participate?"

…

It was noisy and noisy.

Wodehouse was embarrassed;

"It was my negligence and I didn't do a good job keeping it confidential."

Lu Shi couldn't help but complain: "You are planning to jointly establish a liberal arts college with multiple schools. The students will know sooner or later, so how can you keep it a secret?"

Wodehouse shrugged;

"That's what you said. In that case, let's go to the Lu Family Museum and move your statue~"

Brother, I really dare to think about it.

That statue was made by Monet and was given to Lu Shi to express the French Academy's gratitude to Lu Shi.

If it were used as a symbol of the establishment of the Faculty of Arts by the London University Alliance, it would be a forced hat for the French, and the color would still be green.

It would be strange if the French didn't blow up.

Lu Shi said: "The French are romantic and radical, be careful they send people to assassinate you~"

Wodehouse spread his hands,

"forget it."

The two of them didn't want to meet the students, so they returned to the main building and left through the side door.

Lu Shi returned to his mansion and prepared to write after dinner.

Not long after, his disciples Nikati Nikolic and Tiri Solomon arrived with several classmates carrying boxes of materials.

Margarita came too,

What she brought with her was the original official documents of the royal family over the years.

Lu Shi asked them to enter the study room, and then arranged the work of sorting out the documents.

All the students were a little dizzy.

Organize documents,

The scope of this work is huge.

Solomon asked: "Professor Lu, can you give us an example?"

Lu Shi picked up the first volume of the 1884 "Oxford Dictionary", rummaged through it carefully for a moment, and pointed out one place: "Look at the usage of parallel words and 'and'."

Look along his fingers,

That entry reads:

Red, white, and blue.

Solomon was puzzled;

"Any questions?"

Lu Shi said: "Think about it, what is the more common way to save trouble?"

Solomon's face was very confused.

Nikolic, whose English writing skills are more solid, said: "The second comma will be omitted."

Lu Shi nodded,

"That's right."

Write a line on the paper:

Red, white and blue.

He said: "This usage is definitely found in the Oxford Dictionary. However, in the case of certain words being juxtaposed, the second comma must be added, otherwise it will cause misunderstanding by readers."

The students understood,

Adding a second comma is safest;

Without adding it, it is correct in most cases.

Margarita was curious,

"Teacher, I heard that you went to University College London to teach novel writing techniques. Isn't this grammar?"

Lu Shi said: "Not only words, but also punctuation. When it should be omitted, it must be omitted. These are the 'elements of style', which are the most basic part of writing. Can you say that grammar is not Skill?"

He put a list on the table,

"Follow this order to find examples and sentences."

The list reads:

Avoid clichés, focus on rhythm, keep sentences concise, and maintain consistency...

These are the main points of writing.

The students immediately took action.

Watching them busy, Lu Shi gradually realized the joy of modern graduate and doctoral supervisors.

It feels really good to let the cows and horses work!

Unfortunately, Lu Shi also had a job, so he couldn't be happy for long.

He sat down at his desk and began to think about which book to use as the basis for compiling teaching materials.

The first thing that comes to mind is "This Thing of Writing" by Stephen King.

Jin has many excellent works,

"The Shining", "The Shawshank Redemption"...

All familiar.

Such an excellent writer wants to talk about "writing" out of sincerity and respect for this work.

However, this book is not entirely suitable;

Although Jin neither boasts nor tries to be mysterious, the book contains half memories and half suggestions, which cannot be copied.

Lu Shi thought of "Harvard Nonfiction Writing Course - How to Tell a Story Well".

This book is also excellent,

But the problem is, he thinks more from the perspective of the media.

The so-called "non-fiction writing" can be simply understood as stories written based on real life events.

And many novels are fictional writing.

Lu Shisi thought about it and realized something.

If you want to write thoroughly about writing skills, you must consider multiple books.

Just like writing "The Nature of Japanese Civilization\

,"He drew lessons from "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword", "Bushido", "History of Japan", "Japan and the Japanese"...

Get rid of the dross, take the essence, and finally integrate them together.

Lu Shi wrote the title,

"The Skills of Writing - Starting from Scratch".

In the end, he felt that he should start with "The Thing of Writing".

——

Both short stories and novels are composed of three parts:

Narrative pushes the story from point A to point B, and finally to point Z, where the story ends;

Description brings readers into the scene;

Dialogue, giving life to characters through concrete words.

——

This is Jin Guinao's "Three Bans in Writing", which is very eye-catching and is most suitable as the beginning.

He continued to write subtitles,

"Use Passive Sentences with Care\

,""improve\

,""Adverb of Principle\

,"…

This kind of question is not only important in English writing, but also in writing in other languages.

Lu Shi spread a piece of paper on the left and right sides and wrote the French version and the Chinese version respectively.

Of course, the content is different.

Lu Shi wrote furiously.

The time in the study seemed to become slow and long,

Unconsciously, an afternoon passed, the sun set, and the world outside the window was gradually shrouded in night.

Margarita got up from the pile of manuscripts and came to Lu Shi's side.

I saw the afterglow of the setting sun shining on Lu Shi's face, reflecting his focused and calm expression.

Her Royal Highness the Princess is feeling mischievous.

She poked Lu Shi's cheek with her finger and looked at the muscle there to make a small dimple.

Lu Shi did not raise his head.

"Problem? Wait a moment."

This wait lasted twenty minutes.

Lu Shi first raised his pen, moved it to the paper on his right, and wrote a dozen lines of Chinese characters at an extremely fast speed.

Then I switched to the manuscript on the left, written in French.

Margarita chuckled,

Thought,

Teachers always like to write and translate at the same time.

She leaned over curiously and carefully read the English version and then the French version.

After a moment, she was shocked,

"Teacher, what are you doing?! Why are the contents of the French and English versions different!?"

Lu Shi still didn't look up.

"Wait until I finish writing."

After another five minutes like this, he slowly exhaled,

"Done."

Then he turned to Margarita and said: "With different languages, writing techniques are naturally different, and teaching materials must be 'adapted to local conditions'. Isn't this a matter of course?"

Because Lu Shi's tone of voice was too plain, Margarita almost believed it.

"It's a matter of course...that's weird! Although I can't read Chinese, I still understand a little bit of French. Your French and English versions, except for the subtitles, have completely different contents!"

Lu Shi spread his hands,

"The subtitles indicate the same structure~"

Margarita has black lines all over her head,

￣□￣｜｜

I had known that Lu Shi was a pervert, but who would have thought that he would be so perverted.

Lu Shi smiled and said,

"Actually, the Chinese version is earth-shaking. For example, in the chapter "Use Passive Sentences with Care", because Chinese is very weak in modern literature, few people even write in vernacular, so I can only talk about translation here. "

Margarita asked in confusion: "Translation?"

Lu Shi said "hmm" and said, "Translation is also writing~"

Margarita understands,

"I see."

She now also handles publishing company matters.

Before, when Gauguin's works were published, she heard editors complain about the current translators.

When faced with French-English translation, editors have to change the translation for the translators. In fact, they are changing the "composition".

For example,

"My hands have lost their dexterity."

Change to,

"My hands are useless."

This kind of problem has nothing to do with translation.

On the one hand, Gauguin’s original text is obscure;

On the one hand, the translator himself has problems with writing and even expression.

Margarita was curious,

"Is it also available in Chinese?"

Lu Shi nodded,

"That's too many. Look at the chapter "Use Passive Sentences with Care", how many examples I gave. Regardless of English or French, there are far more passive sentences than Chinese. If the Chinese translation and writing are not up to standard, there will definitely be problems."

He gave an example in the article:

"The food has been eaten."

In general, this is a fallacy,

Because the passive part in Chinese does not need to be specified, just write "the food is all eaten", and everyone can understand it.

Margarita cannot understand Chinese;

However, she knew that Lu Shi was indeed writing three books at the same time.

Although these three books have the same name, "The Skills of Writing - Starting from Scratch\

,"But they are really different.

Margarita couldn't help but murmured: "Teacher, you are really good!"

Lu Shi was confused,

"What can't be done? Men can't do it."

"(ˉ▽￣~)Cut~~"