The thirty-two chapters of a novel—if we consider how to read a novel first——are an attempt to make something as formed and controlled as a building：but words are more impalpable than bricks;Reading is a longer and more complicated process than seeing. Perhaps the quickest way to understand the elements of what a novelist is doing is not to read，but to write;To make your own experiment with the dangers and difficulties of words. Recall，then，some event that has left a distinct impression on you—how at the corner of the street，perhaps，you passed two people talking. A tree shook;an electric light danced;the tone of the talk was comic，but also tragic;a whole vision;an entire conception，seemed contained in that moment.

　　一部长篇小说分成三十二章，是作者的苦心经营，想把它建构得如同一座错落有致的布局合理的大厦。可是词语比砖块更难捉摸，阅读比观看更费时、更复杂。了解作家创作的个中滋味。最有效的途径恐怕不是读而是写，通过写亲自体验一下文字工作的艰难险阻。回想一件你记忆忧新的事吧。比方说，在街道的拐弯处遇到两个人正在谈话，树影婆娑，灯光摇曳，谈话的调子喜中有悲。这一瞬间似乎包含了一种完善的意境，全面的构思。

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（编辑：王美娇）