How to improve one’s writing? There is a shortcut to
improve the style of writing: imitation.
What is imitation writing?
Imitation writing is to read the articles of excellent authors intensively, and then imitate yourself to write one.
Speaking of this, many people will be dismissive of this method, thinking that it is not “plagiarism,” and how can it be advocated?
！ They even think that imitation is a shameful act, and that a good writer should rely entirely on his own inspiration and ability to create his own words.
But in fact, this idea is the biggest misreading for most people to learn to write.
Born to be able to write a good article is a genius, after all, genius is a minority, most ordinary people must go through the acquired learning. A shortcut to learning the
day after tomorrow is imitation. Wu Tseng-chi, who is quite accomplished in
literature, says, “The style of writing is often the same as that of ancient times, but later generations imitate it, even though people don’t think it’s a disease.”.
In modern and contemporary poetry and prose, there are also many examples of this kind of imitation and enlightenment.
For example, Liang Heng, a famous contemporary writer, published a beautiful article “Jinci” in Guangming Daily in 1982, which was selected as a middle school Chinese textbook. In
this article, we can see the shadow of Ouyang Xiu’s Zuiweng Pavilion, Liu Zongyuan’s Xiaoshitan and Zhu Ziqing’s Songtang Travel Notes.
Liu Zhiji said, “It has been the rule since ancient times to follow the example of the narrator.”.
Another example is Mo Yan, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature. His first study was also imitation writing.
His early published works, such as “Spring Night Rain”, “Shoumian Avenue” and “Folk Music”, have borrowed and imitated other famous works in the world.
After imitating enough works, we will gradually form our own style of writing, with our own style of writing, we are a mature author.
Of course, imitation is not a mechanical copy, but also pay attention to two points: First, to read a good article, diligent thinking, choose a good imitation point.
Before imitating, we must read the content of the original work intensively, analyze its writing skills, how the theme is demonstrated, how the structure is arranged, what skills are there in expression, and what is good about the article. After understanding all
these clearly, we should also think about where our imitation points are, whether it is imitating the structure of the text, or describing the details, or expressing the language.
Only when we have a clear idea and imitate it pertinently, can effect be better.
Second, make more comparisons and draw more lessons. How to start an
article, how to build a structure, how to end, how to write a transition, etc. In addition to imitating more, we should also compare our own works with good articles, carefully analyze our own shortcomings, and realize where the beauty of good articles lies, and where the gap between our own works and famous works lies. The same is true of the saying,
“Look at a thousand swords and then know the weapon; play a thousand songs and then hear the sound.”.
For example, there is a passage in Shi Tiesheng’s “I and the Temple of Earth”: “For fifteen years, the shape of this ancient garden was wantonly carved by people who could not understand it. Fortunately, there are some things that no one can change.
For example, the setting sun in the stone gate of the altar, when the silent brilliance is spread out, reflects brilliantly on every bump on the earth; for example, in the most desolate time in the garden, a group of swifts come out to sing loudly, making the world desolate; For example, the footprints of children in the snow in winter always make people wonder who they are, where they have done something, and where they have gone; For example, those dark ancient cypresses, when you are melancholy, they stand there calmly, when you are happy, they still stand there calmly, they stand there day and night, from the time you were not born to the time when you are not in the world, such as the sudden rainstorm in the garden, which arouses the smell of burning and pure vegetation and soil. It reminds us of countless summer events, such as the sudden arrival of autumn wind, another early frost, falling leaves or swaying singing and dancing or lying calmly, spreading the smell of ironing and slight bitterness in the garden.
Once, I had a brainwave. When I graduated from university, I also imitated a paragraph: After graduating from university, I carried my bags on my back and reluctantly left my alma mater, where I had lived for four years. Fortunately, there were some things that I could not take away, but no one could change them.
For example, the rows of tall and dense sycamore trees on the sidewalk, when the sky is clear, how many couples of lovers are on and off under the shade of the trees, joys and sorrows; For example, sitting in the classroom, watching the teacher speak eloquently, only to understand how pleasant it is to wander in the sea of knowledge, sometimes it is Tang and Song poetry, sometimes it is the four masterpieces, sometimes it is Shakespeare, fantasizing that he can chat with the literary masters about the past and the present. For example, every final exam, students crowded the library and dormitory corridors, reading aloud one after another; For example, the same hobby brings us together in a club, putting aside professional differences, cooperating sincerely, and striving to make our little dreams come true. For example, at the moment of parting, we hold hands, talk heart to heart, put aside all the unhappiness, say goodbye sincerely, and then embark on different life paths and rush to our own future.
You see, it’s not very difficult to imitate, but we just need to use our imagination and sensibility to borrow other people’s melodies and sing our own songs.
So, how to practice imitation writing?
We can be divided into the following categories according to the subject matter of the article: (1) The imitation of narrative articles can be roughly divided into three themes: exposition, narrative and prose. If the subject matter of the article is different, the focus of our imitation will be different.
Of course, the type of writing we encounter most is narrative.
It is to introduce the context of a thing clearly by recording it.
Narrative looks very simple, but it is very difficult to write well. We need to master the narrative method.
For example, Lu Xun’s “Fan Jin Zhong Ju”: After reading the full text, we can ask ourselves this question: “What is the overall idea of this article? If we divide the story of the article, how many parts can it be divided into?
You may say, “I think it should be divided into two parts. The first part is the situation before Fan Jin passed the imperial examination. The second part is the situation after Fan Jin passed the imperial examination.”.
For these two parts, which part is the focus of the author’s writing? Why do I use so many languages to write it?
You may say: Paragraphs 3 to 12 are all about the scene after Fan Jin passed the imperial examination, mainly to say that Fan Jin went crazy after he passed the imperial examination, which shows that the society at that time disliked the poor and loved the rich, and the fickleness of the world.
In the front, only two paragraphs were used to describe the situation before Fan Jinzhong was lifted, in order to pave the way for the following plot.
So: What techniques of narrative writing can we learn from this passage?
You may say, “Narrative writing must be detailed and appropriate, with a contrast before and after, to better highlight the theme.”.
Through this way of self-questioning and self-answering, we can have a clearer understanding of narrative writing. In the future writing process, no matter what kind of narrative we encounter, we can try to use this way to expand the narrative, and our writing ability can be greatly improved.
(2) As for the imitation of explanatory texts, Yeh Sheng-tao said, “Explanatory texts are very useful.”. The main reason why
many people can’t write expository texts is that they don’t know how to describe an object.
Although most people know the basic ways of writing expository essays, such as “total points,” when it comes to practice, they still feel that there is no way to start.
The main reason is that we still have too little practice in writing expository essays.
But in this era, it is a very important skill to be able to write an explanatory text, such as the popular live selling, which is actually an explanatory text.
For example, “Whale”, the first paragraph of this article is written: “Many people have seen the elephant, said that the elephant is a very large animal.
In fact, there is a much bigger animal than elephant, and that is the whale.
At present, the largest known whale weighs about 160,000 kilograms, and the smallest is 2,000 kilograms. A whale weighing nearly 40,000 kilograms has been found in
our country. It is about 17 meters long, and its tongue weighs as much as a dozen fat pigs. If
it opens its mouth, people stand in its mouth, raise their hands and can not touch its palate, four people sit around the table in its mouth to read, but also look very spacious.
We can ask ourselves, “What is this passage mainly about?”?
“Answer yourself:” Whales are very big animals. Ask
yourself, “How did the author write that whales are big?”?
Answer: The first sentence is a comparison, starting from the elephant we are familiar with. The elephant is big enough, but the whale is much bigger than elephant.
The second sentence is to really use data to explain how big and how heavy the whale is.
The third and fourth sentences use very vivid language to illustrate the meaning of these data. For example, a tongue is as heavy as a dozen big fat pigs. If it opens its mouth, people can stand in its mouth and raise their hands to touch its palate. Four people sit around the table and read in its mouth, which is very spacious. Ask
yourself, What expository writing skills can we learn from this? Answer:
Writing an expository essay is usually to introduce something that everyone is unfamiliar with, so we need to start with something familiar to eliminate the strangeness of everyone. Comparison and data are good ways to explain, but for data that people have no concept of, we must use scenario-based description, so that people can understand the specific meaning of these data. By analyzing and imitating
such good articles one after another, we can quickly improve our writing level.
(3) Imitation of prose Most prose is lyrical.
Of course, there is also an element of “lyricism” in narrative and expository writing.
If you want to express your feelings well, it is not easy to express clearly.
For example, Zhu Ziqing’s “Moonlight over the Lotus Pond”: We can ask ourselves: “What feelings does the article want to express?
Answer: It expresses a kind of light sadness, which is relieved for a short time in the beautiful scenery. Ask
yourself, How does the reader know? Answer
yourself: Because the author said at the beginning: These days my heart is not quite quiet. Ask
yourself, “Then how did the author get rid of the beautiful scenery? How did the author write about the beautiful scenery?”? Answer
himself: The author writes very well throughout the article. For example, above the zigzag lotus pond, what you can see is the leaves of the fields.
The leaves are very high above the water, like the skirt of a graceful dancer. And here and there, among these
tiers of leaves, were white flowers, some in demure bloom, some in shy bud, like scattering pearls, or twinkling stars, or beauties fresh from the bath. When
the breeze passed, it brought a faint fragrance, like a faint song on a tall building in the distance. Ask
yourself, “How did the author write such a beautiful sentence?”?
Answer: The author uses a variety of writing techniques, such as reduplication, metaphor, personification, and synaesthesia.
So, in the future, can we also use these techniques to describe scenery and feelings? Walking
along the winding riverside path, you will see the sparkling water surface, on which lie fat red water chestnuts, one by one hidden under the dense green leaves. The leaves are
full of gaps, dotted with small white flowers.
Breeze slowly, brought bursts of fragrance, like the snoring of a sleeping red water chestnut. The process of
imitation writing is the process of intensive reading and accumulating skills.
Of course, imitation writing is only a basic method of learning writing, we can not only be satisfied with imitation writing, after mastering certain writing knowledge and writing skills, we should choose our own style and expression to write, and form our own style of writing.
But as long as we persevere and practice properly, imitation will achieve results, and we can also quickly produce some better works.
. Focus on not getting lost ~
