I have known very few writers, but those I have known, and whom I respected, confess at once that they have little idea where they arc going when they first set pen to paper. They have a character, perhaps two, they are in that condition of eager discomfort which passes for inspiration, all admit radical changes of destination once the journey has begun; one, to my certain knowledge, spent nine months on a novel about Kashmir, then reset the whole thing in the Scottish Highlands. I never heard of anyone making a 'skeleton', as we were taught at school. In the breaking and remaking, in the timing, interweaving, beginning afresh, the writer comes to discern things in his material which were not consciously in his mind when he began. This organic process, often leading to moments of extraordinary self-discovery, is of an indescribable fascination. A blurred image appears, he adds a brushstroke and another, and it is gone; but something was there, and he will not rest till he has captured it. Sometimes the yeast within a writer outlives a book he has written. I have heard of writers who read nothing but their own books, like adolescents they stand before the mirror, and still cannot fathom the exact outline of the vision before them. For the same reason, writers talk interminably about their own books, winkling out hidden meanings, super-imposing new ones,begging response from those around them. Of course a writer doing this is misunderstood: he might as well try to explain a crime or a love affair. He is also, incidentally, an unforgivable bore.

This temptation to cover the distance between himself and the reader, to study his image in the sight of those who do not know him, can be his undoing: he has begun to write to please. A young English writer made the pertinent observation a year or two back that the talent goes into the first draft, and the art into the drafts that follow. For this reason also the writer, like any other artist, has no resting place, no crowd or movement in which he may take comfort, no judgment from outside which can replace the judgment from within. A writer makes order out of the anarchy of his heart; he submits himself to a more ruthless discipline than any critic dreamed of, and when he flirsts with fame, he is taking time off from living with himself, from the search for what his world contains at its inmost point.

難的課文 L55 L58 L58 L60

New words and expressions

confess 承認 confess one's guilt 承認罪行 confess that I am guilty (也可跟從句)

表示"承認"的詞還有：admit, acknowledge, confined

confess與它們的區(qū)別在于：confess是宗教詞匯（懺悔）

inspiration靈感 inspire激發(fā) brain wave靈機一動，腦波 sunden inspiration靈機一動

radical 根本的 也有"激進"之意

（同）primary根本，fundamental基本，essential根本

interweave 交織 inter相互 weave 編

weave a story 編故事 Weaving Maid 織女 He weaves a lie.撒謊

afresh 重新 =again

fresh student 新生 fresh water淡水資源 I am fresh here.

discern辯明，領悟 ——長期的考證，敏銳的目光（強調(diào)result）

(同)observe——（科學上）長期、敏銳考證（強調(diào)process）

detect——偵察，偵探

spot——猛然發(fā)現(xiàn)（suddenly） I spotted an old friend of mine.

indescribable無法描述的 beyond description

utter表述 unutterable非言語所能表達的

express表達 expressible能表達的 inexpressible難以形容的

blur使……模糊不清 Tears blur my eyes.淚水模糊了雙眼。 blur with由于……而看不清

befog——由于霧看不清 blot——墨水弄污 stain——由于污漬而弄得不美觀

yeast激動 來源：酵母，發(fā)酵粉

I am yeasty.我有點激動。 yeasty talk空洞的，一派胡言

fathom領悟，徹底了解 fathomless無法計量，無法了解的 fathomable能夠了解的

原意：測量（水）深的手段 go to the bottom of sth.研究 with plumb研究

comprehend理解 penetrate深入，探索

interminably沒完沒了地 terminable可終止的，有期限的（有完有了：） a terminal（汽車）終點

（同）unbounded無邊的，limitless無限的，無界限的，never ending無限的cease停止 ceaselessly

winkle挖掘（向外挖） dig（向下）挖

易混：wrinkle皺紋

super impose添上，加上 impose強加 He is very imposing.他很威嚴。 Imposing building宏偉的樓

love affairs 戀愛

incidentally順便說一下 （同）by the way; in passing

in the sight of以某人觀點 =in the eye of

He is in sight.他出現(xiàn)了。 Out of sight

Out of sight,out of mind.眼不見，心不煩。

undoing禍根 undo解開 ruin毀壞

The scandal undoes his fame.丑聞把他的名聲壞了。=The scandal is the undoing of his bad fame.

smoking undoes my health.

pertinent中肯的 pertinent suggestion/proposition合理建議

（同）apposite適當?shù)�，suitable合適的，applicable可用的

be pertinent to sth.和……有關 =be relative to

flirt調(diào)情 flirt with sb.不認真對待某人。 flirtatious玩世不恭的，輕浮的

inmost內(nèi)心深處的 =at the bottom of one's heart

at the inmost point

Notes on the text

…those I have known, and (whom)I respect…這里whom可省略，但加上表示強調(diào)（為數(shù)少）

set pen to paper訴諸筆端，也可以用apply pen to paper = write

pass for (= be regarded as)被當作，被認為

a train/line of thought思路

pick me up提神

destination目的地

journey旅途（跋山涉水地）（創(chuàng)作的歷程）；

而trip游山玩水地

to my (certain) knowledge = as I know

set設置 reset重新設置

heard of聽說

skeleton骷髏；提綱 =outline

breaking打破 =drop

remaking重新構想 rethinking

timing時間的轉換

interweaving交織

come to逐步的

organic有機的（flexible）

self-discovery自我發(fā)現(xiàn)（對自己人性的解刨）

reflection思索

psychology心理學

be of結構，表示一種狀態(tài)

It is interesting. = It is of interest.

revise修改（談到寫作）

a blurred image appears突然出現(xiàn)了一個模糊

的影子

image = figure

brushstroke繪畫的技巧

not until直到……才

condensed thinking濃縮的思想

outlive

( = live longer than)超出……，活得比……長

out- 超

outnumber數(shù)目超過，比……多； outwit比……聰明

total immersion完全沉浸其間（作家高境界）

narcissist自我陶醉者，自戀狂

narcissus水仙花

winkling out發(fā)掘出

might as well ( = have reason, is reasonable)

He might as well be proud of son.

bore令人討厭的人

black look遭人白眼

cover the distance彌補之間的距離（= cater for）

pertinent中肯的

a year or two back = a year or two years ago

talent智慧

draft草稿

like any other表示單數(shù)"任何一個"

make order調(diào)理程序

submit to屈服、容忍 =bear

discipline紀律

critic批評家

when he flirts with fame當他不太考慮名譽問題的時候 錯誤，應為：追求名譽

take time off休息

from living with himself不再探索內(nèi)心的感受

at its inmost point在內(nèi)心深處