儿童书作家都是上帝或者米开朗琪罗

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04:33

When I began writing a series of three storybooks for middle school kids in China, I had little idea who the characters would be or what conflicts would drive the action.
当我开始为中国的中学生写故事书三部曲时，基本没有对主人公性格和故事冲突的设定。
I only had a general idea: I wanted to bridge Chinese and Western cultures by telling stories of a young Chinese boy who rises to challenges, develops himself with a humble attitude and eventually becomes a hero.
我只有一个大致的想法，希望通过一个中国男生历经艰险成长，最终成为英雄的故事，连接中西方文化。
This project was an outgrowth of the bedtime stories I used to make up for my children decades ago. They have pestered me for years to write them down. So this is a first step.
这是我几十年前为子女们编撰的睡前故事的延展。孩子们多年来都催促我写下这个故事，所以我迈出了第一步。
Let me tell you, the hardest thing was getting started. I dabbled at the first story for eight years, only to find that hours of pondering a story — mentally working out all the details — are useless. Sooner or later, I have to sit down at the keyboard and type the first sentence, even if it's gibberish.
不瞒你说，最难的部分在于动笔。我耗费了八年时间在第一个故事上，只发现了纠结于细节毫无意义。早晚我得坐下来开始敲打第一句话。
Unlike outline-style writers, I can't seem to frame a whole story in advance. I'm someone who thinks through his fingers.
不同于作家写大纲，我不喜欢提前设定好整个故事，而喜欢边想边写。
And so the most important thing is … to … just … start … typing. Putting a single thought into words triggers another thought, and then another and another. And then the story is rolling and it practically writes itself, like magic.
所以最重要的部分莫过于开始打字。写下一个想法就能激发出下一个，整个故事自己就呼之欲出了，像魔法一样。
It's a lot of fun, actually — especially when it's finished and I can find my books on Taobao by searching the keyword "kidnappers". That comes from my first story — Kai & the Kidnappers, in which 8-year-old Wang Kaihao learns how to drive and, with the encouragement of his teacher, becomes the official driver for the president of the United States. Then the kidnappers attack.
我从中获得很多乐趣，特别是出书后在淘宝上搜索"kidnappers"一词，就能出现我的第一个故事《凯和绑匪》，讲述了八岁的王凯浩在老师的鼓励下学会开车，成为美国总统的御用司机，继而遭到绑匪攻击的故事。
In the second story, Kai & the Space Rescue, he's around age 10 or 11. He overcomes a bully's hectoring and finds the inner strength, along with his dog Muttly, to complete his training and attempt a rescue of astronauts orbiting Earth in a damaged space station.
第二个故事《凯和星级救援》发生在两三年后。凯浩打败了欺负自己的人，找到了内在的力量。他和小狗Muttly一起完成了训练，营救在毁坏的地球空间站里的航空员。
Last comes Kai & the Treasure Hunt, about how our hero, now about 13 or 14, befriends an elderly man in China with clues to a secret treasure from an ancient Chinese dynasty. Then our boy goes up against a gang of international relics thieves to find it.
第三个故事《凯和寻宝之旅》讲述了十三四岁的凯和一位知晓神秘宝藏的中国老人成为忘年交，继而打败国际盗窃团伙，找到古老王朝的宝藏。
Writing fiction is very much a solitary and personal pursuit, not cold mechanics, as with much of news writing. With fiction, you end up with new friends and acquaintances. My characters have become real to me. I know them intimately — their every thought, fear, emotion and motive — even though they are unaware of my existence.
写小说是独立的个人追求。小说家不是写作机器，写法也不同于新闻。小说可以带来新朋友，我塑造的人物对我而言都是真实的。我知道他们的每个想法、恐惧、情绪和动机，及时他们并不知道我的存在。
Strange, isn't it?
是不是很奇怪？
It's as much a matter of discovering as creating. Michelangelo described creating his sculptural masterpieces as a process of removing excess material to reveal the figure that already existed inside a raw block of stone. It's like that for me, sort of.
写小说其实是发现创造的过程。米开朗基罗形容自己的雕塑创造是运用材料，揭示出石头本身的内在，我写小说也有些类似这样。
Like Michelangelo's work (apologies for name-dropping, Mike) the writing process is not so much a question of creating characters as discovering what makes them tick — and then providing an environment in which they can be themselves. Their personalities emerge as the story progresses.
和米开朗基罗一样，写作时创作人物并不难，为他们提供能展示自己的环境就好。人物性格会随着故事发展展现出来。
Technically, as the all-powerful author, I am God. I can force them to do anything I want. I can make them fall in love, or feel pain or fear or shame. I can kill them if they give me trouble … hahaha! But mostly I try to listen to them. They often tell me what needs to happen next.
从技术层面而言，作为作者的我就是上帝。我能强迫人物做任何事，可以让他们恋爱、感受疼痛、恐惧和羞耻。如果他们带来麻烦我就杀了他们......啊哈哈哈！然而多数情况下，我试着聆听他们，他们经常告诉我会发生什么。
Bottom line, when all is said and done, is a simple objective: I merely hope to delight a young reader, or perhaps inspire one to work a little harder, develop good morals and be of service to others. If my stories can do even some of that, I'll be content.