作者英文原文如下：

Learning to write sound, interesting, sometimes elegant prose is the work of a lifetime. The only way I know to do it is to read a vast deal of the best writing available, prose and poetry, with keen attention, and find a way to make use of this reading in one’s writing. The first step is to become a slow reader. No good writer is a fast reader, at least not of work with the standing of literature.

参考译文：

学会写通顺、有趣、有时优美的散文是一生的工作。我所知道的唯一方法就是以敏锐的注意力大量阅读最好的作品，包括散文和诗歌，并找到一种方法在写作中利用这些阅读。第一步是成为一个慢速阅读者。没有一个好的作家是一个快速读者，至少不是文学作品的快速读者。

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