《甜蜜谷》代筆人的雙角色生活

Host： And now， we turn to 1）ghostwriting. While in her 20s， Boston College English professor Amy Boesky lived a double life. She was working at a publishing company， wondering what she wanted to do with the rest of her life when she get a chance to write for the popular teen series“Sweet Valley High.” At first， Boesky thought shed write for pay for just a short time. But over the next six years， she was a struggling graduate student by day and a ghostwriter by night. Her professors knew her as Amy Boesky， but her readers knew her by her 2）pseudonym， Kate William. So this all began one night at a dinner party， as I understand it. Tell us about that.

Amy Boesky： Thats right. I had come to dinner with a friend of my fathers who was a childrens book author. She knew I was trying to publish a childrens book myself. And a friend-of-a-friend was there that evening， Francine Pascal， who had created， the previous year， what was turning out to be a 3）blockbuster， best-selling serial set of stories about the Wakefield twins， Elizabeth and Jessica， who were similar—identical in appearance， but were very different in personality. And somebody suggested that maybe I try out to write for the series. I did. I enjoyed it enormously， and I found myself getting hooked.

Host： And 4）thereby hangs a tale. Had you ever heard of the“Sweet Valley High” series before that？

Boesky： No， I hadnt. I had just finished doing an M.Phil. in 17th century British literature at Oxford. I was working as an editorial assistant and—though I grew up on the Nancy Drew mysteries， so， I， you know， Id certainly known about such ghostwritten fiction myself as a reader， I didnt know these books until—and in some sense， as I think in the process of writing them， I was also reading them with great pleasure.

Host： Now， you were studying John Dunn， am I right？ Is that right？

Boesky： I was studying， essentially， all the literature of the 17th century that was—British 17th century that was not the drama—so， yes， Dunn， Milton， etc.

Host： So you were going from very 5）highbrow to kind of 6）lowbrow， we might say. Now， did you have to—you said you had—did you have to kind of try out for the job？ How did you go about getting the job in the first place？

Boesky： I did. There was a tryout. You wrote a chapter and a—you wrote one chapter， and you wrote a chapter outline. And I discovered that the voices of these girls， not only Jessica and Elizabeth， but their friends， 7）resonated with my own， I suppose， 8）nostalgia， at that point， as a 23-year-old， for my own high school experience. And I found it enormously fun to write.

Host： So did you get to come up with the plot， the dramatic plot？ Was that what you got to do？ I mean， Im certain you had to follow a certain 9）template for part of it.

Boesky： We had. We—so ghostwriters—and I was—for the five or six years that I wrote for the series， it was mostly myself， and I was alternating with another ghostwriter. We would receive plot outlines that looked a little bit like freeverse poems. They were eight or nine pages long. And then I would devise a subplot. And I often tried to think about balancing the main plot， so something that was lighter if the main plot was 10）melodramatic， etc.

Host： Did you find that， Amy， did you find that having to write—ghostwrite according to a sort of template sometimes did help your skills， in a way？

Boesky： Well， its interesting. I think， you know， ghostwriting is much more widespread than some people realize. And，you know， theres the famous example， the Nancy Drew， the Hardy Boys， etc. You know， theres the Kate Fansler mysteries that were written by an English professor， Carolyn Heilbrun at Columbia. So its， you know， its kind of a widespread phenomenon. I think people do it for lots of different reasons. For me， it was a 11）discreet period in my 20s.

There can be a way of sharpening and 12）honing your skills as youre trying to kind of find your voice. People ghostwrite for money—that can be very helpful—and for gratification and pleasure. And I think for the period in which I was writing these books， it was all of those， absolutely.

Host： So you were writing your 13）dissertation at the same time that you were writing “Sweet Valley High” books？

Boesky： I was. And actually， it was on 14）Utopias of the 17th century. And， you know， I was thinking about that， and in some ways， theres no question that the world of Sweet Valley was this—I mean， it was a very 1980s， Reagan-era， suburban utopia. But it was a utopia of sorts. And maybe in some ways， it also helped me.

It was a kind of—I talk about it in the essay that I just wrote about this recently as being a sort of 15）antidote， a kind of 16）escape hatch from the more， kind of， 17）rigorous world of scholarship and academia in which I was living. But I think maybe it did help， in some ways， for me to theorize what these idealized places are that were so drawn to.

Host： Did you think that it would work against you in some way if your dissertation committee had found out？ I mean， were you really worried about that， that were in the academic life， that they would—I dont know—that it would affect you negatively somehow if they knew？

Boesky： You know what？ Its very interesting. I wrote—in the essay I just wrote about this， I talk about the fact that my—one of my advisers was talking about ghostwriting and Shakespeare. And， at the time， I was reading theory， Foucault and Bakhtin， and kind of trying to understand what we mean by the author function. And so， you know， at a theoretical level， I think that all of this was very interesting， and I dont think theyd mind at all now. But when youre sort of in the trenches working on scholarship， I dont know how they would felt about it then.

But， you know， I think there was a guilty pleasure for me， and you talked about the kind of high-low culture aspect，and I was very， very aware of that—I mean， these books with their 18）pastel covers and their—they were so 19）resolutely light.

Host： Amy， it sounds to me like ghostwriting was a pretty good experience for you. What made you give it up， eventually？

Boesky： You know， thats why I wrote this essay， because its interesting. Theres the writing of these books， which happened a long way back for me. And then I recently wrote this essay called “The Ghost Writes Back.” And it was about that question， which was： Why were they so compelling， and why finally did I stop？ You know， for me， there was a really kind of fairly neat 20）trajectory that the span of time in which I was pursuing my doctorate， that was the time in which I was writing these books.

And I think there were a lot of ways—a lot of things ended. The 80s were ending. My doctorate program was ending. I took my first job. I was moving down to Georgetown to teach. And you know what？ Its—I suppose like this happens with many people when theyre—theres a sort of voice inside you that says， you know， its time. This has been a good experience， but its enough now.

And I think for me， it really had a lot to do with what Ive talked about as moving into writing under my own name， which is such a funny concept， in a way， but it became—and I suppose its sort of part of—for me， anyway—it was working through my 20s and sort of figuring out the kind of writing that I wanted to do. But it just became increasingly clear that， for me， that was the sort of—the path I needed to take.

主持人：我們現在來談談代筆寫作。波士頓學院英文教授埃米·伯斯基在她二十幾歲的時候過著雙角色的生活。她當時正在出版公司工作，正考慮接下來的職業生涯要干什么的時候，她得到一個為青少年流行系列《甜蜜谷》寫稿的機會。剛開始，伯斯基認為只是短期內為了報酬而寫。然而，在接下來的六年多，她白天是努力學習的研究生，晚上是代筆寫稿的作者。她的教授知道她名叫埃米·伯斯基，而她的讀者只認識她的筆名——凱特·威廉姆。據我所知，這一切源于一次晚餐的聚會。告訴我們有關情況吧。

埃米·伯斯基：沒錯。我跟我爸爸的一位朋友去吃飯，她是一本兒童書的作者，她知道我正在努力自己出版一本兒童書。那天晚上朋友的朋友——弗朗辛·帕斯卡爾也在場，他在上一年創作了關于韋克菲爾德雙胞胎——伊麗莎白和杰西卡的暢銷系列小說，結果引起了一番轟動。這對雙胞胎外表相像，但是性格迥異。當中有人建議我可以去試試為該系列寫稿。我做到了，而且非常樂在其中，我發現自己被吸引住了。

主持人：這其中大有文章，在之前你聽說過《甜蜜谷》的系列小說嗎？

伯斯基：沒聽過。我剛在牛津大學修完十七世紀英國文學的哲學碩士學位，并且是一名編輯助理。我是看《少女妙探》偵探片長大的，所以作為一名讀者，我自己當然了解這種代筆小說。我想在某種程度上，我并不了解這些書，直到我在寫稿的過程中，同時我也會帶著非常愉悅的心情去閱讀。

主持人：你當時正在研究約翰·鄧恩，我說得對嗎？對嗎？

伯斯基：基本上，我當時正在研究十七世紀的所有文學，英國十七世紀不僅僅只有戲劇，所以是的，包括約翰·鄧恩、約翰·彌爾頓等等。（譯者注：約翰·鄧恩是十七世紀英國玄學派詩人，約翰·彌爾頓是英國詩人、政論家和民主斗士。）

主持人：于是我們會說，你是從高深的學術研究到淺顯通俗的領域。你說過得到這份工作必須要通過選拔。從一開始你是怎樣得到這份工作的？

伯斯基：是的，我要通過選拔。你要寫一個篇章，要寫一個篇章的概要。于是我發現女孩們的心聲，不僅僅是伊麗莎白和杰西卡，還有她們的朋友，跟我很有共鳴。作為一個23歲的女孩，我想在那點上是在緬懷我自己的高中生活吧，而且我發現寫起來非常有趣。

主持人：那么一開始你要想出那些跌宕起伏的劇情嗎？那是你要做的嗎？我的意思是，我肯定你必須要遵循一定的模式去寫你那部分。

伯斯基：是的，我們這些代筆作者要這樣做。我為該系列寫了五六年，主要是我自己，還和其他代筆作者輪流寫。我們會收到看起來有點像自由體詩的劇情概要，大概八或九頁長。我會設計一個分劇情，去努力平衡主劇情。因為如果主劇情太跌宕起伏，分劇情就可以讓它緩沖一些，諸如此類。

主持人：埃米，你有沒發現在某種程度上，遵循一種模式去寫作或代筆寫作有時確實提高了你的寫作技巧？

伯斯基：嗯，很有趣。我想代筆寫作比人們意識到的更普遍。你知道的，很著名的例子有《少女妙探》、《哈迪男孩》等等。凱特·凡斯勒系列偵探小說是由哥倫比亞的英文教授卡羅琳·赫爾布倫所寫。所以你知道代筆寫作是種很普遍的現象。我想人們為了很多不同的原因代筆，對于我，這是我20幾歲中一段很謹慎的時期。

那是一種能夠磨練技巧的方式，因為你正在試圖尋找你的心聲。人們代筆無論是為了金錢，還是為了滿足感和愉悅感，這項工作都大有幫助。我認為在給這些書代筆的過程中，完全包含了所有這些因素。

主持人：那么你在寫《甜蜜谷》系列書的同時也在寫畢業論文嗎？

伯斯基：我當時是。事實上我正沉迷在十七世紀的理想世界里。我在想，在某些方面，甜蜜谷的世界毫無疑問也可以是這樣的。我的意思是，甜蜜谷的世界是二十世紀八十年代，里根年代的理想郊外生活。它們同樣是理想世界的類型。在某些方面，它也是幫了我的。

我在最近寫的一篇文章中談到，那是我從現實生活里更加嚴苛的學位和學術世界中逃離的一種解藥、一種出口。但我認為它在某些方面確實幫了我，使我能夠把這些吸引我們的理想地方理論化。

主持人：如果你的論文委員會發現了，你認為在某種程度上，這將對你不利嗎？我的意思是，你有真的擔心過，在學術生活里，他們會——我不知道會怎樣——如果他們發現了，那會對你有負面影響嗎？

伯斯基：你知道嗎？很有趣。我剛在一篇文章寫過這些，我談到一個事實：我的其中一位指導老師談到代筆寫作和莎士比亞。而那時我在讀福柯和巴赫金的理論，（譯者注：米歇爾·福柯是法國哲學家和思想系統的歷史學家。巴赫金是前蘇聯著名文藝學家、文藝理論家和批評家。）正在努力理解我們所說的作者功能的涵義。而且你知道，在理論層面上，我想這些都是非常有趣的，我認為他們一點都不介意。但如果我們同在為獎學金一起奮斗的時候，我不知道他們會有什么感覺。

但是你知道，我認為我有一種內疚的快感，當你說到高級低俗文化方面，我清晰地意識到。我的意思是，這些書有著色彩繽紛的封面，它們是如此的明亮輕快。

主持人：埃米，看來代筆對你來說是非常好的經驗，什么東西讓你最終放棄了它？

伯斯基：你知道，那就是我寫這篇文章的原因，因為那太有趣了。正是因為寫這些書，讓我對自己有一段很長的回憶。于是我最近寫了這篇文章，名叫《代筆人回歸》，文中解答了這些問題：為什么這些系列書那么引人入勝？為什么我最終放棄寫下去？對于我，那真是相當巧妙的人生軌跡，那段時間我正攻讀博士學位，也是那段時間我寫了這些書。

我想有很多方式，有很多事情要完結，二十世紀八十年代要過去，我的博士學位要完成。我找到第一份工作，搬到喬治鎮去任教。你知道嗎？我想就像發生在很多人身上一樣，你的內心有種聲音說，是時候了。這是一種很好的經歷，但現在是時候（結束）了。

而且我認為對于我，那真的跟我已經談到的轉向以我自己的名字寫作有莫大的關系，那是種很有趣的概念。在某種程度上，我想代筆已經變成我的一部分，貫穿我20幾歲的年華，讓我考慮清楚我想寫的作品類型。但它越來越清晰地讓我知道，那是我需要走的路。