How to hook the reader

如何吸引读者

Cognitive Secret
We think in story, which allows us to envision the future.
Story Secret
From the very first sentence, the reader must want to know what happens next.

认知奥秘
我们在故事中思考，这让我们能预见未来
故事奥秘
从第一句话开始，读者就得想要知道接下来会发生什么

How to zero in on your point

如何突出要点

Cognitive Secret:
When the brain focuses its full attention on something, it filters out all unnecessary information.
Story Secret:
To hold the brain's attention, everything in a story must be there on a need-to-know basis.

认知奥秘
当大脑将注意力完全集中于某种东西时，它会过滤掉所有不必要的信息
故事奥秘
要抓住大脑的注意力，故事里的所有东西都必须有存在的必要

I'll feel what he's feeling

我会感同身受

Cognitive Secret
Emotion determines the meaning of everything - if we're not feeling, we're not conscious.
Story Secret
All story is emotion based - if we'are not feeling, we're not reading.

认知奥秘
情感决定了一切事物的意义－没有感觉就没有意识
故事奥秘
所有故事都以情感为基础，没有感觉就不是阅读

What does your protagonist really want?

主人公究竟想要什么

Cognitive Secret:
Everything we do is goal directed, and our biggest goal is figuring out everyone else's agenda, the better to achieve our own.
Story Secret:
A protagonist without a clear goal has nothing to figure out and nowhere to go.

认知奥秘
我们所做的一切都以目标为导向，而我们最大的目标就是弄清楚他人的动机，从而更好地实现我们自己的目标
故事奥秘
缺少明确目标的主人公没有需要解决的问题，故事也就无从发展

Digging up your protagonist's inner issue

挖掘主人公的深层次问题

Cognitive Secret
We see the world not as it is, but as we believe it to be.
Story Secret:
You must know precisely when, and why, your protagonist's worldview was knocked out of alignment.

认知奥秘
看们看到的世界不是它实际的模样，而是我们所认为的模样
故事奥秘
你必须确切地知道，主人公的世界观何时，为何发生了变化

The story is in the specifics

故事要有具体内容

Cognitive Secret:
We don't think in the abstract; we think in specific images.
Story Secret:
Anything conceptual, abstract, or general must be made tangible in the protagonist's specific struggle.

认知奥秘
我们不依靠抽象思维，我们通过具体的形象来思考
故事奥秘
任何概念性的，抽象的或者一般化的东西都必须在主人公身上有形地呈现

Courting, conflict, the agent of change

冲突，变化的推动者

Cognitive Secret
The brain is wired to stubbornly resist change, even good change
Story Secret
Story is about change, which results only from unavoidable conflict.

认知奥秘
大脑本能地顽固抵制变化，即使是好的变化
故事奥秘
故事是关于变化的，而变化只会源自不可避免的冲突

Cause and effect

原因和结果

Cognitive Secret
From birth, our brain's primary goal is to make causal connections - if this, then that
Story Secret
A story follows a cause-and-effect trajectory from start to finish.

认知奥秘
从出生开始，我们大脑的基本目标就是构建因果联系－如果这样，就会那样
故事奥秘
故事从开始到结束都遵循＂原因与结果＂的轨迹

What can go wrong, must go wrong - and then some

最起码凡是可能出错的地方一定要出错

Cognitive Secret
The brain use stories to simulate how we might navigate difficult situations in the future.
Story Secret
A story's job is to put the protagonist through test that, even in her wildest dreams, she doesn't think she can pass.

认知奥秘：
大脑利用故事来模拟我们将来可能如何应对困难
故事奥秘：
故事的任务是让主人公经历测试，即使在他最疯狂的梦境里也不会认为自己能通过的测试

The road from setup to payoff

铺垫与呼应

Cognitive Secret
Since the brain abhors randomness, it's always converting raw data into meaningful patterns, the better to anticipate what might happen next.
Story Secret
Readers are always on the lookout for patterns; to your reader, everything is either a setup, a payoff, or the road between.

认知奥秘：
大脑厌恶随意性的行为，它总是把原始数据转化成有意义的模式，以便更好地预测将来可能发生的事情

故事奥秘：
读者总在寻找模式．对你的读者而言，故事中的一切要么是铺垫，要么是呼应，要么是正从铺垫走向呼应

Meanwhile, back at the ranch

与此同时,回到当初

Cognitive Secret:
The brain summons past memories to evaluate what's happening in the moment in order to make sense of it.

Story Secret:
Foreshadowing, flashbacks, and subplots must instantly give readers insight into what's happening in the main story line, even if the meaning shifts as the story unfolds.

认知奥秘
大脑会整合过去的记忆, 来评估当前发生的事情, 从而赋予它意义

故事奥秘
伏笔,倒叙,次要情节必须立即让读者深入了解故事的主线正在发生的事情, 即使其意义会随着故事的展开而发生改变

检查要点:

• 在主人公与故事问题做斗争的过程中, 是不是所有的次要情节都会对他造成外在或内在的影响?
• 当你进入一个次要情节或倒叙的时候，读者能不能感觉到它必须出现在那个时刻的原因？
• 回到主要情节的时候, 读者是否会从那一刻起以新的眼光来看待事情?
• 在主人公作出某件不合常理的事情时，你有没有在这之前埋下伏笔？
• 你有没有给过读者足够的信息来理解现在的情况，所以某个人物的言行不会让他怀疑自己是否错过了某件事情？

The writer's brain on story

探究作者的大脑

Cognitive Secret
It takes long-term, conscious effort to hone a skill before the brain assign it to the cognitive unsonscious
Story Secret
There is no writing, there's only rewriting

认知奥秘
一项技艺要经过长期有意识的磨练之后，大脑才会将其归入到认知无意识
故事奥秘
没有写稿，只有反复改写