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2013.12.11
在大学工作的近30年中，我看到很多有才华的人因为不能写作或者没有写作而失败了。而有些能力平平的人（每天早上，我都能从镜子中看到这个人）就因为掌握了写作技能在学界混得还算不错。
这开始于研究生院。从那时起，你要从上课转变为写作，开始几乎正好相反的转型。许多研究生在前两年上课期间是人人都羡慕和高看的明星，但突然间他们发现自己不再是主角了。相反，那些不在乎通过认真阅读参考书目中的每一页书来讨好教授的不起眼的学生突然给刊物投稿而且发表了，实现了从学生到专业学者的转变。
其实，差别并不复杂，就是因为写作水平。
写作是一种训练。只有通过练习才能写得更好、更快
1．写作是一种训练。只有通过练习才能写得更好、更快。如果你一年后要跑马拉松，你能够等待几个月后一下子跑26英里吗？不可能，你应该逐渐增加，每天都要跑。你或许可以先在平地上练习，慢慢在要求更高的、难度更大的地方跑。要成为作家，就要写作。不要等待需要写书稿或写可怕的外部评审报告了才开始写作。
5．还未写出来的著作都是最精彩的。没有写出来的东西越多，就越精彩。我们都遇见过那些口若悬河、令人钦佩的研究生或者老师。他们在酒吧或者办公室聚会上一手拿着啤酒瓶，另一手拿着香烟，旁若无人般高谈阔论。他们对什么问题都能回答，会告诉你他们要写什么东西，内容将多么精彩。但几年过去了，再问他“你在写什么书？”时，他们仍然给出同样的答案，200字的答案。从来没有变化，因为他们实际上除了吹嘘外，根本没有写任何东西。另一方面，你在研究某些东西，它在不断变化。你不喜欢刚刚写完的东西，也不敢肯定接下来将发生什么。当有人问“你在写什么？”时你张口结舌，不知怎么回答，因为这很难解释。那些拿着啤酒和香烟的自鸣得意的家伙呢？他们是装腔作势的人，实际上从来不写任何东西。通过几百瓶啤酒和几千支香烟，没完没了地重复他们的答案。不要被假象所迷惑，你才是胜利者。当你真正在写作，为了成功努力工作时，你会感到自己太愚蠢、水平太臭、疲惫不堪。如果你没有这样感觉，那说明你还不够努力。
9．你最深刻的思想往往是错误的，或至少不完全是对的。尤其是在问题很难的时候，准确地提出问题或疑问不是轻而易举的事。当刚入学的研究生说他们知道自己希望研究的东西或毕业论文要写的内容时，我总是暗自发笑。几乎所有最优秀的学者在研究和写作的切身经历中都经历过重大改变。他们都是在做中学，有时候了解到自己错了。
如果你写作时遇到麻烦，那说明你写得不够多。在我看来，一下子写很多页轻而易举，虽然我不可能成为作家，毕竟我文笔不好。但是，因为考虑了这些建议，并试图按这些建议来做，我已经达到了轻松对付自己和职业所需要的写作的地步。希望读者也能从中受益。
10TipsonHowtoWriteLessBadly
ByMichaelC.Munger
Mostacademics,includingadministrators,spendmuchofourtimewriting.Butwearen'tasgoodatitasweshouldbe.Ihaveneverunderstoodwhyourtradevalues,butrarelyteaches,nonfictionwriting.
Inmynearly30yearsatuniversities,Ihaveseenalotofverytalentedpeoplefailbecausetheycouldn't,ordidn't,write.Andsomemuchlesstalentedpeople(Iseeoneinthemirroreverymorning)havedoneOKbecausetheylearnedhowtowrite.
Itstartsingraduateschool.Thereisarealtransformation,approachinganinversion,aspeopleswitchfromtakingcoursestowriting.Manyofthegraduatestudentswhowerestarsintheclassroomduringthefirsttwoyears—thepeopleeveryoneadmiredandlookedupto—suddenlyaren'tsostellaranymore.Andafewofthemarginalstudents—theoneswhodidn'tcarethatmuchaboutpleasingtheprofessorsbyreadingeverypageofeveryassignment—aresuddenlysendingtheirownpapersofftojournals,gettingpublished,andtransformingthemselvesintoprofessionalscholars.
Thedifferenceisnotcomplicated.It'swriting.
RachelToorandotherwritersonthesepageshavetalkedabouthowharditistowritewell,andofcoursethat'strue.Fortunately,thestandardsofwritinginmostdisciplinesaresolowthatyoudon'tneedtowritewell.WhatIhavetriedtoproducebeloware10tipsonscholarlynonfictionwritingthatmighthelppeoplewritelessbadly.
1.Writingisanexercise.Yougetbetterandfasterwithpractice.Ifyouweregoingtorunamarathonayearfromnow,wouldyouwaitformonthsandthenrun26milescoldNo,youwouldbuildupslowly,runningmostdays.Youmightstartontheflatsandworkuptomoredemandinganddifficultterrain.Tobecomeawriter,write.Don'twaitforthatbookmanuscriptorthatmonsterexternal-reviewreporttoworkonyourwriting.
2.Setgoalsbasedonoutput,notinput."Iwillworkforthreehours"isadelusion;"Iwilltypethreedouble-spacedpages"isagoal.Afteryouwritethreepages,dosomethingelse.Prepareforclass,teach,gotomeetings,whatever.Iflaterinthedayyoufeellikewritingsomemore,great.Butifyoudon't,thenatleastyouwrotesomething.
3.Findavoice;don'tjust"getpublished."JamesBuchananwonaNobelineconomicsin1986.Oneofthequestionsheasksjobcandidatesis:"Whatareyouwritingthatwillberead10yearsfromnowWhatabout100yearsfromnow"Someoneonceaskedmethatquestion,anditisprettyintimidating.Andembarrassing,becausemostofusdon'tthinkthatway.Wefocuson"gettingpublished"asifithadnothingtodowithwritingaboutideasorarguments.Paradoxically,ifallyouaretryingtodois"getpublished,"youmaynotpublishverymuch.It'seasiertowritewhenyou'reinterestedinwhatyou'rewritingabout.
4.Giveyourselftime.Manysmartpeopletellthemselvespatheticlieslike,"Idomybestworkatthelastminute."Look:It'snottrue.Nooneworksbetterunderpressure.Sure,youareasmartperson.Butifyouarewritingaboutaprofoundproblem,whywouldyouthinkthatyoucanmakeanimportantcontributionoffthetopofyourheadinthemiddleofthenightjustbeforetheconference
Writerssitattheirdesksforhours,wrestlingwithideas.Theyaskquestions,talkwithothersmartpeopleoverdrinksordinner,goonlongwalks.Andthenwriteawholebunchmore.Don'tworrythatwhatyouwriteisnotverygoodandisn'timmediatelyusable.Yougetideaswhenyouwrite;youdon'tjustwritedownideas.
Thearticlesandbooksthatwillbereaddecadesfromnowwerewrittenbymenandwomensittingatadeskandforcingthemselvestotranslateprofoundideasintowordsandthentoletthosewordsleadthemtoevenmoreideas.Writingcanbemagic,ifyougiveyourselftime,becauseyoucanproduceinthemindofsomeotherperson,distantfromyouinspaceoreventime,animageoftheideasthatexistinonlyyourmindatthisoneinstant.
5.Everyone'sunwrittenworkisbrilliant.Andthemoreunwrittenitis,themorebrilliantitis.Wehaveallmetthoseglib,intimidatinggraduatestudentsorfacultymembers.Theyareattheirmostdangerousholdingabeerinonehandandacigaretteintheother,insomebaroratanofficeparty.Theyhavealltheanswers.Theycantellyoujustwhattheywillwriteabout,andhowgreatitwillbe.
Yearspass,andtheystillhavethesamepat,200-wordanswerto"Whatareyouworkingon"Itneverchanges,becausetheyarenotactuallyworkingonanything,exceptthatonelittleact.
You,ontheotherhand,actuallyareworkingonsomething,anditkeepsevolving.Youdon'tlikethesectionyoujustfinished,andyouarenotsurewhatwillhappennext.Whensomeoneasks,"Whatareyouworkingon,"youstumble,becauseitishardtoexplain.ThesmugguywiththebeerandthecigaretteHe'saposeurandneveractuallywritesanything.Sohecanpracticehispatlittleanswerendlessly,throughhundredsofbeersandthousandsofcigarettes.Don'tbefooled:Youarethewinnerhere.Whenyouareactuallywriting,andworkingashardasyoushouldbeifyouwanttosucceed,youwillfeelinadequate,stupid,andtired.Ifyoudon'tfeellikethat,thenyouaren'tworkinghardenough.
6.Pickapuzzle.Portray,orevenconceive,ofyourworkasananswertoapuzzle.Therearemanyinterestingtypesofpuzzles:
"XandYstartwithsameassumptionsbutreachopposingconclusions.How"
"Herearethreeproblemsthatallseemdifferent.Surprisingly,allarethesameproblem,indisguise.I'lltellyouwhy."
"Theorypredicts[something].Butweobserve[somethingelse].Isthetheorywrong,oristheresomeotherfactorwehaveleftout"
Don'tsticktoocloselytothoseformulas,buttheyarehelpfulinpresentingyourworktoanaudience,whetherthataudienceiscomposedoflistenersatalectureorreadersofanarticle.
7.Write,thensqueezetheotherthingsin.Putyourwritingaheadofyourotherwork.Ihappentobea"morningperson,"soIwriteearlyintheday.ThenIspendtherestofmydayteaching,havingmeetings,ordoingpaperwork.Youmaybea"nightperson"orsomethinginbetween.Justmakesureyougetinthehabitofreservingyourmostproductivetimeforwriting.Don'tdoitasanafterthoughtortellyourselfyouwillwritewhenyougetabigblockoftime.Squeezetheotherthingsin;thewritingcomesfirst.
8.Notallofyourthoughtsareprofound.Manypeoplegetfrustratedbecausetheycan'tgetananalyticalpurchaseonthebigquestionsthatinterestthem.Thentheydon'twriteatall.Sostartsmall.Thewonderfulthingisthatyoumayfindthatyouhavetraveledquitealongwayupamountain,justbykeepingyourheaddownandputtingonewritingfootaheadoftheotherforalongtime.Itishardtorefineyourquestions,defineyourtermsprecisely,orknowjusthowyourargumentwillworkuntilyouhaveactuallywrittenitalldown.
9.Yourmostprofoundthoughtsareoftenwrong.Or,atleast,theyarenotcompletelycorrect.Precisioninaskingyourquestion,orposingyourpuzzle,willnotcomeeasilyifthequestionishard.
Ialwayslaughtomyselfwhennewgraduatestudentsthinktheyknowwhattheywanttoworkonandwhattheywillwriteaboutfortheirdissertations.Nearlyallofthebestscholarsareprofoundlychangedbytheirexperiencesindoingresearchandwritingaboutit.Theylearnbydoing,andsometimeswhattheylearnisthattheywerewrong.
10.Edityourwork,overandover.Haveotherpeoplelookatit.Oneofthegreatadvantagesofacademeisthatwearemostlyallinthistogether,andweallknowtheterrorsofthatblinkingcursoronablankbackground.Exchangepaperswithpeersoramentor,andwhenyouaresickofyourownwriting,reciprocatebyreadingtheirwork.Youneedtogetoverafearofcriticismorrejection.Nobody'sfirstdraftsaregood.Thedifferencebetweenasuccessfulscholarandafailureneednotbebetterwriting.Itisoftenmoreediting.
Ifyouhavetroublewriting,thenyoujusthaven'twrittenenough.Writinglotsofpageshasalwaysbeenprettyeasyforme.Icouldnevergetajobbeingonlyawriter,though,becauseIstilldon'twritewell.Butbythinkingaboutthesetips,andtryingtofollowthemmyself,IhavegottentothepointwhereIcanmakewritingworkformeandmycareer.
MichaelC.MungerischairmanofpoliticalscienceatDukeUniversity,apositionhehasheldsince2000.