上了許多年的語文課,寫了不少考試作文,但每次提起筆想要刻畫人物的時候……理想很豐滿,現實很骨感。怎樣才能寫出栩栩如生、有血有肉的人物呢,相信今天這篇干貨分享會帶給你一些啟發。
訓練自己:不要用“想”動詞
美國名編劇、小說家恰克·帕拉尼克(Chuck Palahniuk,《搏擊俱樂部》小說原作者)曾在2013年發表了一篇傳授寫作經驗的文章。
在文中他提到了一個秘訣,即把文章中的各種“想”動詞(“Thought” Verbs)去掉,代之以具體細節。
“去展示,而不是告知(show, don't tell)。”
什么是“想”動詞?以下列舉一些:
覺得(Think)
知道(Know)
懂得(Understand)
意識到(Realize)
相信(Believe)
想要(Want)
想起(Remember)
想象(Imagine)
想要(Desire)
思忖(Wonder)
愛(Love)
恨(Hate)
好的描寫讓讀者感受到人物之所“想”,而不是簡單告知你人物的想法。
我們可以用一個場景作為例子:
“Waiting for the bus, Mark started to worry about how long the trip would take.”
馬克一邊等車,一邊開始擔心起這趟旅行要多長時間。
上面這句話就是一個簡單的陳述,至于馬克為什么要擔心,有多擔心,你可能很難感同身受。
這就是我們需要將“擔心”這個想動詞分解的地方:
The schedule said the bus would come by at noon, but Mark’s watch said it was already 11:57. You could see all the way down the road, as far as the Mall, and not see a bus. No doubt, the driver was parked at the turn-around, the far end of the line, taking a nap. The driver was kicked back, asleep, and Mark was going to be late. Or worse, the driver was drinking, and he’d pull up drunk and charge Mark seventy-five cents for death in a fiery traffic accident…
時間表上寫公交車中午前就能到,但馬克看手表時已經11:57了。一眼望到路的盡頭,能看到購物中心,但一輛公交車也沒有。毫無疑問,司機停在了這條路那一頭的中轉站,正在打瞌睡,而馬克就快要遲到了;蛟S更糟糕的是,司機在喝酒,然后他會醉醺醺地停下車,收馬克75分錢,卻將他的性命斷送在慘烈的交通事故中。
經過這樣的描寫,讀者能知道馬克的更多細節:巴士還沒真的遲到,馬克就已經開始擔心了;他對司機很不信任;他還有點生氣,已經開始想象最糟糕的場景:這次旅途將會要了他的命。幾句描寫,就能大致勾勒出馬克的性格特點。
帕拉尼克在文章中說道:
Instead of characters knowing anything, you must now present the details that allow the reader to know them.
不能僅僅說人物“知道”,你要給出足夠的細節,讓讀者也“知道”。
Instead of a character wanting something, you must now describe the thing so that the reader wants it.
如果人物“想要”什么東西,你就要描述這件東西,讓讀者也想要得到它。
寫作者需要做的就是將表達想法的動詞圈出來,將其重新藏在動作和言語等豐富多樣的細節之中,自然地表現出來。
“想”動詞還有很多,除了上面列舉的,連“是(is)”和“有(have)”等等都可納入這個范疇,那么該如何通過細節來引起讀者的興趣和共情,想人物之“想”呢?
讓我們一起來看看帕拉尼克給出的例子吧。
Wonder 思忖
✖ Kenny wondered if Monica didn't like him going out at night…
肯尼在想,也許莫妮卡不喜歡他晚上出去玩……
✔ The mornings after Kenny had stayed out, beyond the last bus, until he'd had to bum a ride or pay for a cab and got home to find Monica faking sleep, faking because she never slept that quiet, those mornings, she'd only put her own cup of coffee in the microwave. Never his.
有時候肯尼玩到凌晨,錯過了最后一班公交車而不得不靠搭順風車或打的回家,回到家就看到莫妮卡在裝睡,因為她真睡著時不會這么安靜。每次他晚歸后的次日早晨,莫妮卡就只加熱她自己的那杯咖啡,絕不幫他熱咖啡。
Know 知道
✖ Adam knew Gwen liked him.
亞當知道格溫喜歡他。
✔ Between classes, Gwen had always leaned on his locker when he'd go to open it. She'd roll her eyes and shove off with one foot, leaving a black-heel mark on the painted metal, but she also left the smell of her perfume. The combination lock would still be warm from her ass. And the next break, Gwen would be leaned there, again.
課間,亞當去開儲物柜時,總發現格溫倚在那兒。她會翻個白眼,蹬一腳噴漆金屬柜門走開,留下一個黑色的鞋跟印,同時也留下了她的香水味道。組合鎖上還留著她臀部的溫度。下個課間,格溫又會倚在那兒。
Is/Have 是/有
✖ Ann's eyes are blue. / Ann has blue eyes.
安娜的眼睛是藍色的。/ 安娜有著藍色的眼睛。
✔ Ann coughed and waved one hand past her face, clearing the cigarette smoke from her eyes, blue eyes, before she smiled…
安娜咳了一下,抬起手在臉前扇了扇,將香煙煙霧從眼睛前趕走,那是一雙藍色的眸子,然后她微笑起來……
帕拉尼克強調,想要人物生動立體,沒有什么捷徑好走,唯有通過可感知的細節一點點塑造。以下幾句是他的經驗之談,值得一看:
► Your story will always be stronger if you just show the physical actions and details of your characters and allow your reader to do the thinking and knowing. And loving and hating.
你的故事如果這樣寫會更加有力:只展示人物的動作和細節,讓讀者去思考和了解,去愛、去恨。
► Instead of bland “is” and “has” statements, try burying your details of what a character has or is, in actions or gestures. At its most basic, this is showing your story instead of telling it.
比起用平淡的“是”或“有”,盡量將人物“是”或“有”的特質藏在動作或姿態等細節之中。最基本的是,去展示你的故事,而不是告知別人。
► Better yet, get your character with another character, fast. Get them together and get the action started. Let their actions and words show their thoughts. You — stay out of their heads.
想更好一點的話,讓你的人物遇到另一個人物,越快越好。讓他們互動起來。讓他們用行動和語言展示他們的想法。而你——遠離他們的腦海。
法國著名作家福樓拜曾說:“藝術家在他的作品中,應當像上帝在造物中一樣,銷聲匿跡,而又萬能,到處感覺得到,就是看不見他。”
大文豪福樓拜塑造了《包法利夫人》中浪漫奔放的艾瑪·包法利,詩人歌德塑造了《少年維特之煩惱》中多情善感的維特,但他們都收起了自己的道德評判,隱藏起自己的喜惡與感情,讓人物與大環境沖撞沉浮、隨著自身性格與抉擇走向他們自己選擇的悲劇命運。
艾瑪·包法利電影形象
在真正的作家筆下,人物有自己的生命,他們的故事由自己的性格與遭遇來決定,走向自己的結局,而不被作家左右。
回憶起看過的經典文學作品,哪怕情節隨著時間的流逝逐漸模糊,書中的經典人物卻始終鮮活,陪著我們長大。
J.K.羅琳在《哈利·波特與鳳凰社》中塑造新角色“瘋姑娘”盧娜·洛夫古德時,寫到她十分夸張的大笑:
She let out a scream of mirth that caused Hedwig to wake up and flap her wings indignantly and Crookshanks to leap up into the luggage rack, hissing. She laughed so hard that her magazine slipped out of her grasp, slid down her legs, and onto the floor.
她爆發出一陣尖銳的笑聲,海德薇被她吵醒了,憤怒地拍打著翅膀,克魯克山則跳上了行李架,嘶嘶出氣。盧娜笑得太瘋,連手上的雜志都抓不住了,順著腿滑落到地上。
"That was funny!"
“太搞笑了!”
Her prominent eyes swam with tears as she gasped for breath, staring at Ron.
盧娜盯著羅恩,笑岔了氣,她鼓突的眼睛里笑出了眼淚。
卡勒德·胡賽尼在《追風箏的人》中描寫青澀少年阿米爾對少女索拉雅的心動:
And when Sunday mornings came, I rose from bed, Soraya Taheri's brown-eyed face already in my head. In Baba's bus, I counted the miles until I'd see her sitting barefoot, arranging cardboard boxes of yellowed encyclopedias, her heels white against the asphalt, silver bracelets jingling around her slender wrists. I'd think of the shadow her hair cast on the ground when it slid off her back and hung down like a velvet curtain.
等到星期天早晨來臨,我從床上起來,索拉雅·塔赫里的臉龐和那雙棕色的明眸已然在我腦中。坐在爸爸的巴士里面,我暗暗數著路程,直到看見她赤足坐著,擺弄那些裝著發黃的百科全書的紙箱,她的腳踝在柏油路的映襯下分外白皙,柔美的手腕上有銀環叮當作響。一頭秀發從她背后滑落,像天鵝絨幕布那樣垂下來,我想象著她的頭發投射在地上的影子怔怔出神。
寥寥數段之間,一個個性格鮮明的人物躍然紙上,人物之間的情愫也刻畫得十分到位。
人物是小說的靈魂,而通過細節為人物注入靈魂的方法,你學會了嗎?