Daily Productive Sharing 1043 - Never Wait to Write.
One helpful tip per day:)
In an effort to understand the daily life of ordinary Beijing residents, a foreigner named Michael Meyer, lived in a hutong for two to three years. He eventually wrote The Last Days of Old Beijing. In an interview, he shared his thoughts on writing, reading, and China:
- Compared to the superficial experience of travel, this kind of living forces an outsider to delve deep into local daily life, to understand what locals value and desire.
- Similar to Kevin Kelly, his initial writing began with correspondence with his family—these letters not only detailed daily life with timestamps but also prompted him to explore further through questions posed by his family.
- After completing his Peace Corps assignment, he applied for a teaching job. When he didn't hear back, he traveled to Tibet. Just as he was preparing to return to the U.S., he received the job offer while staying at a hotel in Chengdu. He moved to Beijing, where, during his first week, he met his future wife.
- Another benefit of living abroad is the distance it creates between you and yourself, allowing you to observe your inner self, culture, and biases more sharply. Then, like fishing, you let facts and details guide your exploration step by step.
- He believes that his non-fiction writing serves as a guide for readers to journey with him, make mistakes, and learn together.
- Each of his books takes at least three years to write and goes through seven or eight drafts.
- Writers whose native language is Chinese excel at "explaining" China but are not as adept at recording daily life. This is precisely where foreign writers have an advantage.
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一个老外为了了解北京老百姓的日常生活，在胡同里一住就是两三年。最后写出了 The Last Days of Old Beijing （中译为《再会，老北京》），这个老外就是 Michael Meyer，中文名叫梅英东。在这篇访谈了，他谈了关于写作，阅读和中国的一些想法：
- 相较于旅行的浅尝辄止，这种生活迫使一个外来者深入本地的日常，去了解本地人看中什么，渴望什么；
- 和 Kevin Kelly 类似，他最初的写作始于和家人的通信 -- 这些通信不仅详细记录了日常，还有时间戳，更重要的是，家人向他提问，让他进一步去探索；
- 当他结束了 Peace Corp 的派遣，投了一份教学工作的申请。没了下文之后，他去西藏旅行了一遭。然后准备返回美国，结果在成都的旅馆收到前面的申请结果。他去北京入职，第一周就碰到了后来的夫人；
- 常驻海外的另一个好处是，让你与自己保持距离，这样你可以用更犀利的眼光来观察自己的内心，检视自己的文化和成见。然后像钓鱼一样，让事实和细节引导你一步步地探索；
- 他认为自己写这些非虚构，是引导读者与自己一起游历，一起犯错，一起学习；
- 每一本书的写作需要耗费他至少三年的时间，七八遍草稿；
- 以中文为母语的作者擅长“解释”中国，但不擅长记录日常生活。这恰好是外来写作者的优势。
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