6个让你写Essay瞬间轻松的技巧

easygpaser
Jul 21, 2020
6 min read

Hello！

EasyGPA学术写作课堂继续开讲啦~

上回我们分享了《Jordan Peterson’s guide on essay writing》的第一章的前两节。告诉大家为什么要写Essay。

这次我们要分享的是第一大章的后两章节。关于Essay写作前，「怎么样可以让Essay写作变得轻松起来，保持长期写作？」

和之前一样，英文原版的阅读链接可直接点击【阅读原文】跳转查看。

正文：

Jordan Peterson’s《Essay写作指南》

1.介绍

1.1什么是Essay？

1.2为什么要写论文呢？

第一二节请看：逼自己认真写论文的最强理由

1.3 技术说明

如果你是学生，或者其他需要大量写作的人士，那么工欲兴其事，必先利其器。有些准备事先做起来，会在无形中让你效率更高，过程更愉快，关键是又不费什么劲。

1、硬件上的强力支持：

你需要一个 「基本够用的电脑」（哈哈，这不用多说。）

其次，关键点来了，「准备两个显示器。」

一个屏幕上看参考资料，而在另一屏幕上写论文。（或者需要的修改的时候，两个屏幕可以分别显示自己论文的不同版本）

拥有额外的视觉空间确实很重要。这能减少写作时受到的束缚，提高效率。

那顺势，「一个打字舒服的键盘，一个好用的鼠标」，也是基本必备的。

尤其是使用笔记本电脑，笔记本自带的键盘最好少用，质量差的键盘会在长时间使用对手指有所伤害。而触摸板有多不好用，相信大家心知肚明。

找个 「膝盖能弯曲90度的舒服椅子」 坐下，这样可以使双脚自然舒展的踩在地面上。

这些可不是小事情。你可能需要花费大量时间进行写作，因此必须设置一个不会干扰到自己的工作区，否则就有一个很好的理由来避免执行任务和完成作业。

❝ 小E补充：如果没有多的显示器，用电脑分屏也能做到相似的效果： win10分屏：将打开的程序往屏幕角落里拖拽即可分屏（注意窗口不要最大化）按下win+←/→快捷键可将其缩至屏幕一半 Mac分屏：首先准备两个界面，长按其中一个的绿色按钮拖动到左右方的一个，即完成分屏。 ❞

1.4 关于时间利用的说明

2、必要时，出去买点简单的早餐。总之，必须吃点什么。

有大量可靠的研究证明，早上人们的大脑更灵醒。

「起床，吃点东西。」 充足的睡眠和进食后，您会变得更聪明，更加有活力。

想靠单靠咖啡续命会适得其反。「还是补充一些蛋白质和一些脂肪。可以试着用水果和酸奶制成冰沙。」

3、最有效率的作家至少每天都会动笔。

可以准备花上「90分钟到三个小时的时间写作」，不行的话，「15分钟也是可接受的」，特别是如果你每天都这样做的话。

不要等待有大量的空闲时间了才开始动笔。人一生中永远不存在所谓的大量的空闲时间，所以不要让成功与否取决于不存在的东西。

4、无视诱惑，保持专注

需要意识到的一点是，一旦你坐下开始写作，你的大脑便会不停抗议。它会充满各种乱七八糟的念头，想要占据的你的大脑。

你可能会想去：

看Facebook或Youtube，
或者观看或浏览在线色情内容，
或者想打扫床下的灰尘，
或者想重新整理过时的CD集合，
或者想发短信给旧情人，
或者读一本其他不相关的书，
或者想到需要的杂货，想洗衣服，想小睡或散步（因为你突然觉得自己得锻炼锻炼身体）
或打电话给朋友或父母

——等等，举不胜举，反正就是不想写论文。

大脑全是这些杂七杂八的念头，时刻企图分散你的注意力。但这些讨人厌的小东西可以用你的耐心平息。

「如果你无视这些诱惑15分钟（特别糟糕的日子需要25分钟），你会感到脑子里的噪音会渐渐安定下来，」然后你的注意力会重新回到你的写作上来。

如果日复一日地这样做，你会发现这些诱惑并没有减少，但是他们试图分散您注意力的时间会减少。

你还会发现，即使在注意力非常难集中的一天，只要坚持下去，仍然可以进行有效率的写作。

5、（如果是持续每天写作）最多三个小时是就是极限。

「特别是在你想长期保持写作习惯的情况下，不要欺骗自己可以（每天）持续不断地写6个小时。」

不要等太晚才开始写作，这样您就不必疯狂地赶进度，而要在一段持续的专注之后好好休息一下。

即使在图书馆中，三个工作小时也比十个小时的自我欺骗低效产出要好。

英语原文：

A note on technology

If you are a student, or anyone else who is going to do a lot of writing, then you should provide yourself with the right technology, especially now, when it is virtually costless to do so. Obviously, you need a computer. It doesn’t have to be that good, although a digital hard drive is a good investment for speed. Less obviously, you need two screens, one set up beside the other. They don’t have to be bigger than 19” diagonal. Even 17” monitors will do well. High resolution is better. You need the two screens so that you can present your reference material on one screen, and your essay (or even two versions of your essay, side by side) on the other.

Having this extra visual real estate really matters. It will make you less cramped and more efficient. A good keyboard (such as the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic keyboard) is also an excellent investment. Standard keyboards will hurt your hands if you use them continually, and the less said about a notebook keyboard the better. Use a good mouse, as well, and not a touchpad, which requires too much finicky movement for someone who is really working. Set up the keyboards so you are looking directly at their centers when you are sitting up straight. Use a decent chair, and sit so that your feet can rest comfortably on the floor when your knees are bent 90 degrees. These are not trivial issues. You may spend hours working on your writing, so you have to set up a workspace that will not annoy you, or you will have just one more good reason to avoid your tasks and assignments.

A note on use of time

People’s brains function better in the morning. Get up. Eat something. You are much smarter and more resilient after you have slept properly and ate. There is plenty of solid research demonstrating this. Coffee alone is counter-productive. Have some protein and some fat. Make a smoothie with fruit and real yogurt. Go out and buy a cheap breakfast, if necessary. Eat by whatever means necessary. Prepare to spend between 90 minutes and three hours writing. However, even 15 minutes can be useful, particularly if you do it every day.

Do not wait for a big chunk of free time to start. You will never get big chunks of free time ever in your life, so don’t make your success dependent on their non-existent. The most effective writers write every day, at least a bit.

Realize that when you first sit down to write, your mind will rebel. It is full of other ideas, all of which will fight to dominate. You could be looking at Facebook, or Youtube, or watching or reading online porn, or cleaning the dust bunnies from under your bed, or rearranging your obsolete CD collection, or texting an old flame, or reading a book for another course, or getting the groceries you need, or doing the laundry, or having a nap, or going for a walk (because you need the exercise), or phoning a friend or a parent – the list is endless. Each part of your mind that is concerned with such things will make its wants known, and attempt to distract you. Such pesky demons can be squelched, however, with patience. If you refuse to be tempted for fifteen minutes (25 on a really bad day) you will find that the clamor in your mind will settle down and you will be able to concentrate on writing. If you do this day after day, you will find that the power of such temptations do not reduce, but the duration of their attempts to distract you will decrease. You will also find that even on a day where concentration is very difficult, you will still be able to do some productive writing if you stick it out.

Don’t kid yourself into thinking you will write for six hours, either. Three is a maximum, especially if you want to sustain it day after day. Don’t wait too late to start your writing, so you don’t have to cram insanely, but give yourself a break after a good period of sustained concentration. Three productive hours are way better than ten hours of self-deceptive non-productivity, even in the library.

点击【阅读原文】阅读 Jordan Peterson’s《Essay写作指南》全文

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