見尼爾.舒斯特曼

Susan著 小哭譯

今天我見到了我最喜歡的作者了！今年夏天，我開始閱讀尼爾.舒斯特曼的書，現在，我已經成為了他的忠實粉絲了。他寫的故事是那麼地有趣兒並令人思考，我可以將它們很好地聯繫在一起，這一切是如此地神奇。所以，當聽說他要來我們學校的時候，我超級地激動。

他來學校前的那天晚上，我開始緊張起來。媽媽說我能在早晨七點半到八點之間和他交談，但是，他若是不喜歡我怎麼辦呢？媽媽還會給他看我寫的跟他有關的寫作內容，但是，如果他認為我誤解了他的書怎麼辦呢？如果他認為我的那些寫作很糟糕又該怎麼辦呢？我緊張，不是因為我害怕他或是我不知道去說什麼，而是因為我擔心他會如何看待我。以前我從來沒有見過任何名人，我不想自己看起來對人家太有興趣兒讓人煩，也不想看起來對人家太沒興趣兒以致於讓人家覺得和我說話是浪費時間。

第二天早晨，媽媽帶着我七點半趕到了學校，但不幸的是，舒斯特曼先生沒在那兒！原來他把鬧鐘定在了晚上六點而不是早晨六點，所以他遲到了。知道了甚至象他這樣著名的作家也會犯這種低級錯誤挺不錯。然而不幸的是，因為遲到導致他沒有多少時間和我們交談。最後，我不得不去教室，他和我媽媽談了幾句。

課前通告過後，我們不用上第一和第二節課，改成去參加舒斯特曼先生的報告會。以前，我總認為他是“寫了那些真是很棒的書的男人”，不是哪個我真的將要見到或與之交談的人。我有點驚訝於他與我們交談的輕鬆方式。他讓我們提問，他來回答。當他說這話的時候，我的大腦開始運轉起來。我有這麼多的問題，我應該問哪一個呢？！別人問了一個我也有點感興趣的問題，於是我決定先聽聽，然後再問。

有人問舒斯特曼先生《分解人》的靈感來自於哪。我已經聽過了他是如何從那三個無關的話題中得到這些靈感的基本概況（我媽媽給我看的一個視頻），但是聽到他親自帶着很多細節來講解這件事兒，則很不同。我很驚訝於他怎麼能夠在那些新聞文章中看到這些潛在的故事並將它們揉合在一起的。還有，我很驚訝於“分解”的威脅是如此地真實。他告訴我們關於他在某處讀到一篇新的文章，關於這些“恐怖的青少年”在英國正在造成的許多麻煩，一些人如何聲稱為了社會的安定想要殺死那些青少年的事兒。我不知道世界上發生過那些事情。（我不怎麼看新聞，因為它們太令人沮喪了。晚間新聞經常始於“晚上好”，然後就開始告訴你為什麼事實並非如此。）

我有一個問題是關於他是如何從有一個靈感到完成一本書的。他是如何知道這個靈感適不適合寫一本書的？對他來講，寫作過程是怎麼樣的？在開始寫之前他已經知道了這個故事的多少了，在寫的過程中他又能夠想出來故事的多少呢？他很好地回答了問題的第一部分，但是沒有回答第二部分。舒斯特曼先生回答說，不論什麼時候他有一個靈感，他會立即就把它寫一本書。首先，他要弄清楚這個故事是否值得講。他想講一些特別的故事、一些有別於常規的書中的故事。他不講吸血鬼的愛情故事，也不講關於仙女或者關於龍的什麼故事，他要講一些新穎的東西。還有，他要他的故事能夠以某種方式和現實生活關聯。他希望他的讀者能夠和這些故事有關並覺得故事可信。還有，當他將一個故事寫進書裡時，這個故事通常正在對着他大聲尖叫着讓他去講出來。最後一個問題是他寫作的動力來自哪裡。

我想他的回答相當地好。那些正是使他的書如此令人喜歡的原因，我真的羨慕他能夠想得出來那些東西。然後，他開始告訴我們他的寫作過程，說直到他覺得故事好到可以被稱為“我的第一稿”之前，他通常會寫一大堆草稿（我想可能是五稿……至少是四稿…….但是我沒記清）。他說在他將每一章都寫完之前，他從不回顧一個故事，也不會從頭開始修改什麼。那正是我總是很內疚地做着的事情。還有一件讓我真的覺得很有趣兒的事情是他會在筆記本上先寫下一些東西，然後再將它們敲進電腦，因為在他打字的時候，他通常都會做些編輯工作，使書變得更好。

我發現舒斯特曼回答提問答得非常周到仔細、很有幫助性。我應該在自己的寫作中也試着應用他的一些方法。除了關於他是怎麼寫書的這類問題之外，也有一些關於他最喜歡的人物、他怎麼想到了不同的人物、以及其它的我覺得有趣兒但是並不那麼重要的問題。兩節課後，我們都不得不上樓去上課了，我很高興我見到了他，但是也很失望於我不能提問我想問的所有問題。

我認為舒斯特曼先生真的是一個偉大的作家。他顯然從裡到外地了解他的人物，他也有許多的天賦。如果我讀了和他同樣的資料，我永遠也不可能想出來象《分解人》這樣的一個故事來。我有大把的問題想問他（主要是因為他出給了這麼好的回答）！我想（並且還在想）知道他是怎麼展開他的人物的。不僅僅是關於他是怎麼得到這些人物的靈感的，還有他是怎麼讓這些人物有血有肉、充滿個性並如此真實的。我想知道他是如何面對當故事走到了盡頭、寫不下去的日子的（他肯定有這樣的日子，對嗎？）。我想知道他是怎麼在寫作上達到如此優秀的。我想知道他是否曾經有過覺得故事講不下去了，完全是在浪費時間了的時候。我媽媽已經解釋了一些在他並不確切地知道他的故事將會寫到哪裡的情況下，他是如何寫作的，他是如何邊寫邊創作故事情節的，但我還是想聽他親自講講他是怎麼把這些不同的場景揉合在一個故事中的。如果他是在寫作的過程中想到這些主意，並把這些主意寫進去的話，那當他開始寫的時候，故事的輪廓已經規劃出來多少了呢？又有多少是後加進來的呢？我有這麼多的問題想問他！

總之，我真的很高興於見到舒斯特曼先生。我媽媽告訴我她有他的郵箱，所以我希望我能夠以某種方式和他交流。他是一個真正的天才，了不起的人，我希望自己能從他身上學到很多東西。

【小哭介紹背景】我很高興於Susan的ELA老師威爾基女士竟然是舒斯特曼一本書的編輯，因此可以連續幾年將舒斯特曼先生請到學校來給學生們做報告！Susan早就告訴過我威爾基女士最喜歡的作者之一就是舒斯特曼，也講過威爾基女士對寫作中的低級錯誤簡直是零容忍度的態度，而這與舒斯特曼講他會在寫了幾稿之後才敢把東西拿出來給人看的“第一稿”的概念，基本上是類似的。真的是“物以類聚，人以群分”。在這一點上，我從來沒有對Susan提出過真正的要求。這也源于波士頓那邊的寫作教練的觀念，寫作就是寫作，你不能讓孩子因為一些什麼語法、拼寫、書法或結構不合理而喪失了寫作的興趣！堅持寫是最重要的事情！

我現在體會這兩個老師的不同理念，大概是源於所面對學生的年紀！在很小的時候，培養興趣是第一位的！同時也要和他們當時的語法與詞彙課的進度相配。當學生們已經快升高中時，他們已經學過了語法，詞彙量也很大了，這時低級錯誤就是不能容忍的了。學生們這時必須得認真地對待寫作中的語法及拼寫錯這類不應該犯的錯誤了。這讓我想起了我在博士論文草稿中，第一頁就犯了一個低級錯誤（打錯字），當時導師的導師（師爺）就在上面留下了一句“不可饒恕的錯誤！”。那時想着老先生可真嚴厲啊，這麼點事犯得上用“不可饒恕”這個詞兒嗎？其實誰都看得出來是筆誤嘛。不過看來大師都是這麼訓練弟子的，估計大師們也都是被這樣訓練出來的。

當我得到威爾基女士的邀請去在報告會正式開始前與舒斯特曼先生會面時，我同Susan一樣即興奮又緊張。我一是緊張於自己的英文不夠好怕交流起來吃力，二是緊張於自己沒有真正地閱讀舒斯特曼的書，這如果被發現了會顯得不夠重視人家。不過一想有幾乎讀遍了他所有寫給孩子們的書的Susan在旁邊幫忙，心裡還算有點依靠。走前我落實了幾遍，確保Susan準備了足夠的問題去提問，我要保證這半個小時能夠得到最大化的效果。可惜的是作家遲到了，我想讓Susan和作家近距離交流的指望泡湯了。好在我是大人，多少還是能夠抓住一點機會的，我在報告會之前和舒斯特曼先生交流了幾分鐘，拿到了作家的郵箱，也介紹了我和Susan寫的關於他和他的書的文章，並當場奉上。於是舒斯特曼先生說希望把我們的寫作掛在他的網站上。大概，這也是我和Susan能夠做到的最好了。舒斯特曼先生說他年底前會去深圳，要去位於東莞的國際學校講演。我不知道是哪一間。因為珠三角國際學校那麼多！但是我真的希望能夠有機會進一步了解清楚，那樣至少可以給我在廣州的朋友們通個風報個信啥的哈：）

Susan說她在會場上只問了兩個問題，因為學生們提高的熱情一直都很高昂，直到最後一直都有人在舉手提問。我是沒有留在會場，但是我很喜歡Susan所描述的會場情況。而這個作家所受歡迎程度確實也可見一斑！

如果舒斯特曼不遲到的話，報告會之前還會有一個簽名售書的活動。結果最後也是不得不取消了。Susan他們團購的書，最後由老師給全部收了回去，過了周末後再發回來，上面就有了作家的簽名了：）這些事情本來是計劃在現場進行的。如果大作家沒遲到，如果我和Susan與他的單獨交流也沒被取消，可以想像，Susan得有多麼地興奮！就算是只剩下如Susan文中所述的這些，也已經讓她非常地激動了！

不過，Susan說她從未見過名人，這一點讓我覺得這孩子的記性真是沒法講。出國前兩個月，我專門帶她到揚州參加兩天活動，主要也是為了見一見財經名人時寒冰。那兩天時伯伯一直對她愛護有加，過後在博客中還大談Susan多麼地善解人意。Susan曾有一會兒不舒服，於是旁邊的時伯伯趕緊抱起她，這時候她不顧自己難受，竟然問時伯伯“我是不是很沉啊？”讓時寒冰着實感動了半天啊！現在時伯伯還關心着Susan呢，可Susan可能早把人家忘光光了，唉。也許，那是我眼裡的名人，而舒斯特曼才是Susan眼裡的名人吧。

我那天跟舒斯特曼先生合了一張影，Susan啥機會也沒有撈着。本來那是她的偶像，我本來是計劃幫她和作者合個影的，還想着合影時讓她把那本新書舉起來呢：）以後再說吧。我相信如果Susan能夠提出來有價值的問題，給舒斯特曼發郵件過去，是會得到回應的。問題就在於，Susan她除了有崇拜偶像的心情之外，有沒有讓偶像回應她的本事。如同在她關於交友的文章中我所論述的，只有提升自己，才能交到自己所欣賞的朋友。我希望Susan通過這個見面會，看到差距，找到榜樣，找到努力的方向。這個偶像真的是不錯，Susan那天回家就說，媽媽，人家的書寫了幾稿才會拿給別人看，可是我，從來都懶得修正自己寫作的錯誤，看來，我得改改。看看，偶像的力量是巨大的……看來，指責Susan的錯誤不如幫她找到好的榜樣管用哈。

附上英文原文：

            Meeting Neal Shusterman

I met my favorite author today! This summer, I started reading Neal Shusterman’s books, and now, I’m a huge fan of his. It’s amazing how entertaining and thoughtful his stories are, and how well I can connect to them. So, when I heard that he was coming to my school, I was super excited.

The night before he came to our school, I started to get nervous. My mom said that I would be able to talk to him from 7:30 to 8:00, but what if he doesn’t like me? My mom was also going to show him what I wrote about his works, but what if he thinks I intepreted the book wrong? What if he thought those writings are really lame? I was nervous, not because I was scared of him or because I didn’t know what to say. I was nervous because I was worried about what he would think of me. I had never met a famous person before, and I didn’t want to seem too interested and annoy him, but nor did I want to seem too uninterested and make him feel like talking to me was a waste of his time.

The following morning, my mom took me to school at 7:30, but unfortunately, Mr. Shusterman wasn’t there! It turned out that he set his alarm for 6 PM instead of 6 AM, which made him late. It was nice to know that even famous authors make silly mistakes like that too. However, it was unfortunate for us, because since he was late, he did not have that much time to talk to us. In the end, I had to get to class, and he exchanged a few words with my mom instead.

After advisory, we skipped 1^st and 2^nd period to attend Mr. Shusterman’s presention. Before, I’d always thought of him as “that dude that write these really awesome books”, not really as someone whom I would ever get to meet and talk to. I was a bit surprised by the casual way he talked to us. He told us that we can ask the questions and he’ll answer them. When he said that, my mind started spinning. I had so many questions, which one should I ask?! Somebody else asked a question that I was sort of interested in, so I decided to listen, and then ask later.

Somebody asked Mr. Shusterman where he got his ideas for “Unwind”. I’ve already heard the basic story of how he got his ideas from these three different unrelated sources (my mom showed me a video about it), but hearing him tell it himself, in detail, was different. I was amazed by how he was able to see the potential story in those news articles and piece them together. Also, I was surprised by how real the threat of unwinding is. He told us about how he read in a new article somewhere about these “feral teens” in Britain that were causing lots of trouble, and how some people were claiming that they want to kill those teenagers for the good of society. I had no idea that sort of stuff was happening in the world. (I don’t watch the news much, because they’re too depressing. Evening news always starts with “good evening”, and then proceed to tell you why it’s not.)

I had a question about how he get from an idea to a finished book. How does he know if the idea is good for a book? What’s the writing process like for him? How much of the story does he know before he starts and how much does he come up with on the spot? He answered the first part of the question well, but not the second. Mr. Shusterman said that whenever he gets an idea, he immediately write a book about it. First, he finds out if the story is worthy to be told. He wants to tell stories that are unique, story that are different from regular books. No vampire romances or fairies and dragons for him. He wants something that’s original. Also, he wants the story to be able to connect to reality in some way. He wants his readers to be able to connect with the story and find the story believable. Also, when he writes a story into a book, that story is usually screaming at him to be told. That last one is what gives him motivation to write.

I thought his answer was really good. Those were the things that made his books so likable, and I really admire him to be able to come up with stuff like that. Then, he proceeded to tell us his writing process, and about how he usually write a bunch of drafs (I think it was five… at least four… but I don’t remember very well) until he finds the story good enough to be called “my first draft”. He said he never looks back in a story and change stuff from before until he finishes writing every chapter. That’s something that I’m guilty of doing. Also, one thing I found really interesting was that he writes stuff down in a notebook first, then type it into the computer, because when he type things in, he usually make edits that would make the book better.

I found Mr. Shusterman’s answers to his questions very thoughtful and very useful. I should try using some of those methods in my own writings too. Aside from questions about how he wrote his books, there were questions about which character he liked best, how he came up with different characters, and other things that I considered interesting but not super important. Two class periods later, we had to all go upstairs for class, and I was glad that I got to meet him, but also dissapointed that I couldn’t ask all of the questions that I wanted to.

I think Mr. Shusterman is a really, really great author. He obviously knows his characters from the inside out, and he has a lot of talent too. I would never been able to think of a story like Unwind if I had read the same things he had read. I had so many more questions to ask him (mostly because he gave such good answers)! I wanted (and still want) to know how he developes his characters. Not just how he gets his ideas for them, but how he acutually flesh out their personalities and make them real. I want to know how he deal with those days when it just seems like the story is going to run into a wall and die (he must have those days, right?). I want to know how he got so good at writing. I want to know if he ever feels like the story is not going to work and that it had been a waste of time. My mom already sort of explained how he writes without really knowing where his story is going to go, creating the storyline as he goes along, but I want to hear it from himself about how he comes up with different scenes in the story. If he came up with ideas as he wrote the story and dropped those ideas in, how much of the story was outlined when he started, and how much was added on? I have so many questions to ask him!

Overall, I really enjoyed meeting Mr. Shusterman. My mom told me that she has his e-mail, so I’m hoping that I’ll be able to communicate with him in some way. He is a really talented and great person, and I’m hoping I can learn a lot from him.