词汇大师(Wordmaster)--Creative Writing, Part 1

Broadcast on COAST TO COAST: October 21, 2004

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on Wordmaster: we have a special guest to discuss creative writing.

CHITRA DIVAKARUNI: "My name is Chitra Divakaruni, and I am a writer and also a professor of creative writing at the University of Houston."

RS: "Creative writing is something you can teach?"

CHITRA DIVAKARUNI: "Only if you already know how to write. We can help you get better and we can help writers see what are their strengths and what are their weaknesses. And this is something that many writers, and myself included, sometimes have a hard time with, because we are so close to our own writing that it's hard to be critical about it."

AA: "And you have to think about, I suppose in some cases, commercial considerations, if you want to actually make money from your writing. I mean, what's the market demanding right now?"

CHITRA DIVAKARUNI: "What we are dealing¹ with in creative writing programs is really literary² fiction. So over there the market is very open and looking for new talent, people who can tell a story in a different way, people who create characters that are unique. That's what publishers are looking for, people who have a voice that is different from other voices."

RS: "You talk about strengths and weaknesses. When you look at a story, what would be some of those strengths and weaknesses?"

CHITRA DIVAKARUNI: "Well, one of the things that I would look for in my students' stories is, how well are the characters depicted³? Are these characters coming alive? Are they believable? Do they have a unique voice when they speak in their dialogue? That would be one of the first things. Does the reader feel sympathy or empathy or at least some kind of strong reaction to these characters?"

RS: "Wouldn't that be highly⁴ subjective⁵?"

CHITRA DIVAKARUNI: "Creative writing, as you continue to work in the field, you see that it is often subjective in the ways in which people express things. But certain things are universal about good literature, and one of them is that good literature makes the reader think about a lot of issues and makes the reader feel about a lot of issues that are central in the novel. And if that connection is not created right away, then your book has failed on some level."

RS: "You say 'right away.' What do you mean right away, in the first sentence -- "

AA: "The first chapter?"

RS: " -- in the first chapter, in the first paragraph?"

CHITRA DIVAKARUNI: "If it's a story, yes, the first paragraph. If it's a novel, then you have a few more pages to work with, but within two or three pages, the reader must want to continue reading. The reader must say 'wow, this is really exciting and worth my time.'"

AA: "So, now, you are out with your latest novel. It's called 'Queen of Dreams.' Why don't you just talk a little bit about the process you went through. Did you feel a bit like a student, or do you talk to your students about -- did you have to do many rewrites? Tell us a little bit about the process."

CHITRA DIVAKARUNI: "Yes, definitely⁶. When I was doing 'Queen of Dreams,' when I was writing that, I had to do a lot of revision. I always do a lot of revision. I'm kind of one of those addicted⁷, compulsive revisers. And for me, each word just has to be right, or I'll keep worrying the text, I'll keep working with it.

"And one of the first things that's always important to me in my writing, and certainly in 'Queen of Dreams' but also in earlier novels like 'Mistress⁸ of Spices' and 'Sister of My Heart,' is that I have to have a very strong idea of the protagonist⁹ or at least two or three of the major characters before I can start writing. I have to be able to visualize¹⁰ them, I have to understand their inner¹¹ thinking, and I have to get a sense of their voice, how they speak. And I can't start stories until I have that clearly in my head."

RS: "Are any of the voices, or students, in your classes, are they from other communities, other cultures, so they're speaking with a wide variety of voices?"

CHITRA DIVAKARUNI: "We have a very multicultural¹² program, and I have students who are Indian American. I have African American students. I have Latino American students. I really have students from just about, so many cultures, and that creates a really wonderful mix in the classroom, because everyone is bringing their own culture into their writing. And even though they're writing in English, they have the rhythms¹³ of their own mother tongues."

RS: "And what is your mother tongue?"

CHITRA DIVAKARUNI: "My mother tongue is Bengali."

RS: "And is that voice heard in your novels?"

CHITRA DIVAKARUNI: "Very much so. In 'Queen of Dreams,' the title character, who is a dream interpreter, comes from Bengal. She's living in the United States right now."

AA: And, next week, we鈥檒l hear more from Chitra Divakaruni, a novelist, poet and professor of creative writing at the University of Houston, in Texas. That's all for now. Our e-mail address here is。。。。。。And find our interviews online at voanews.com/wordmaster. With Rosanne Skirble, I'm Avi Arditti.

 

1 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

2 literary   

adj.文学（上）的

参考例句：

• Literary works of this kind are well received by the masses.这样的文学作品很受群众欢迎。
• The book was favourably noticed in literary magazines.这本书在文学杂志上得到好评。

3 depicted   

描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• Other animals were depicted on the periphery of the group. 其他动物在群像的外围加以修饰。
• They depicted the thrilling situation to us in great detail. 他们向我们详细地描述了那激动人心的场面。

4 highly   

adv.高度地，极，非常；非常赞许地

参考例句：

• It is highly important to provide for the future.预先做好准备非常重要。
• The teacher speaks very highly of the boy's behaviour.老师称赞这个男孩的表现。

5 subjective   

a.主观(上)的，个人的

参考例句：

• The way they interpreted their past was highly subjective. 他们解释其过去的方式太主观。
• A literary critic should not be too subjective in his approach. 文学评论家的看法不应太主观。

6 definitely   

adv.一定地，肯定地；明确地，确切地

参考例句：

• The team will definitely lose if he doesn't play.如果他不参加比赛，这个队肯定会输。
• I shall definitely be home before six o'clock.6点以前，我一定回家。

7 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

8 mistress   

n.（文学用语）使男子为之倾倒的女人，女主人

参考例句：

• Does his wife know he has a mistress?他的妻子知道他有一个情妇吗？
• Is your mistress at home?你家女主人在家吗？

9 protagonist   

n.(思想观念的)倡导者；主角，主人公

参考例句：

• The protagonist reforms in the end and avoids his proper punishment.戏剧主角最后改过自新并避免了他应受的惩罚。
• He is the model for the protagonist in the play.剧本中的主人公就是以他为模特儿创作的！

10 visualize   

vt.使看得见，使具体化，想象，设想

参考例句：

• I remember meeting the man before but I can't visualize him.我记得以前见过那个人，但他的样子我想不起来了。
• She couldn't visualize flying through space.她无法想像在太空中飞行的景象。

11 inner   

adj.内部的，里面的；内在的，内心的；精神的

参考例句：

• The label is on the inner side of the box.标签贴在盒子内侧。
• Other people seek the mountains for renewal of their inner lives.另一些人到深山中去，寻求新的精神生活。

12 multicultural   

adj.融合多种文化的，多种文化的

参考例句：

• Children growing up in a multicultural society.在多元文化社会中长大的孩子们。
• The school has been attempting to bring a multicultural perspective to its curriculum.这所学校已经在尝试将一种多元文化视角引入其课程。

13 rhythms   

节奏( rhythm的名词复数 )； 规则变化； 规律； 节律

参考例句：

• Double rhythms, resounding through the lyric depiction and connecting with each other, indicate the thespian place of mankind and the cognition of the writer to this thespian place. 这双重旋律互为表里，表明了人类的某种悲剧性处境以及作家对这种悲剧性处境的感受和认识。
• Stylistically, the term implies loose, rapid painthandling, large rhythms and broken colour. 从风格上来说，这个名称意味着松散而迅速的绘画笔触，奔放的格调，使用强烈配色。