1980 My literary era

The pothos on the window sill of the office is a little wilted, similar to the condition of the editors in the office who are busy working.

In late August, the weather in Yanjing was still hot, which made people feel panicky.

Tong Zhonggui was sitting at Lin Weimin's desk, listening to Teacher Lin's teachings with a serious expression.

"With the above sentence, this paragraph is actually very redundant. Putting it up will only make it cumbersome, so just delete it. Sometimes, it's not that the more you write, the better, one sentence may be enough... "

Tong Zhonggui nodded frequently as he listened, feeling that he had benefited a lot.

During the summer vacation, he came to the editorial office of "Contemporary" almost every day, busy behind Lin Weimin. He did a lot of chores, dirty work, and tiring work, but he also gained a lot.

With the unique condition of working in the editorial department of "Contemporary", he has been trying to write novels during this period. With the words and deeds of many editors, Tong Zhonggui feels that he is making rapid progress.

After Lin Weimin finished speaking, Tong Zhonggui refilled his tea cup with some hot water.

Then he took out a manuscript with a slightly shy look on his face.

"Teacher Lin, this is a manuscript I wrote recently. Could you please take a look at it for me when you have time?"

Lin Weimin smiled and said: "Hey, Xiao Tong is pretty good. He has a work so soon."

"I just covered my head and wrote blindly, and there is no structure."

Lin Weimin took over Su Tong's manuscript. It was a short story called "Memories of the Mulberry Garden". It was not long, and it took Lin Weimin a short time to read it.

Tong Zhonggui's expression was full of expectation and anxiety, "Teacher Lin, what do you think?"

Lin Weimin tapped his fingers on the manuscript paper, which increased Tong Zhonggui's anxiety.

After waiting for a long time, Lin Weimin said: "Well written!"

Tong Zhonggui's face suddenly showed a bit of joy. He has been with Teacher Lin for so long. Although he is always approachable, he has always been very rigorous in reviewing manuscripts.

Among the manuscripts he came into contact with, being able to get a "good" evaluation basically meant that it had the hope of being published in "Contemporary".

"Can it be published in "Contemporary"?" Tong Zhonggui asked with some expectation in his heart.

"Go to "Contemporary"..."

The few seconds that Lin Weimin hesitated were extremely long for Tong Zhonggui.

"If you change it carefully, it should be almost the same."

Tong Zhonggui said excitedly: "Thank you, Teacher Lin, thank you, Teacher Lin..."

Lin Weimin waved his hand and said: "Hey, hey, listen to what I say clearly. It must be based on passing the exam."

"I know, I know, I will definitely change it!" Tong Zhonggui said hurriedly.

Liu Yin next to him smiled and said: "Xiao Tong, don't be too happy. It's not a good thing to revise the manuscript under your teacher Lin!"

Other colleagues in the office couldn't help but smile, and Tong Zhonggui also laughed.

He had been in the editorial department for several days, and naturally he knew some of Mr. Lin's "special hobbies".

Teacher Lin likes to drag the authors he likes most to the guest house on the third floor of the back building of the Chinese Literature Society and lock them in a small dark room to revise their manuscripts.

This seemingly inhumane method is actually what Tong Zhonggui dreams of.

He felt that not only him, but any young man with a literary dream in his heart could not refuse Teacher Lin's little black room, right?

"My reputation is ruined by you just a little bit!" Lin Weimin joked.

Yao Shuzhi held a piece of biscuit in her mouth and said, "Do you want us to ruin your reputation?"

She just found out she was pregnant a few days ago, and her appetite immediately increased.

"Eat less. If you keep eating like this, your family, Zheng Guo, will cry to death!"

"I want you to take care of it!" Yao Shuzhi gave Lin Weimin a big roll of his eyes.

The atmosphere in the office was relaxed, and the chatter and laughter among colleagues made the afternoon sleepiness disappear, and the expressions on everyone's faces became vivid.

Lin Weimin inexplicably thought of the article "Half Hour for Lunch" written by Shi Tiesheng. How consistent it was with the scene in front of him!

Dang Dang Dang!

There was a knock on the door, and everyone looked over.

For the time being, people with flat heads, round faces, crew-neck shirts, and shorts can be called flat-headed guys.

"I thought you didn't dare to come!" Lin Weimin joked.

"What's wrong with me coming?"

Wang Shuo walked into the office with a splayed figure, showing a sense of arrogance, and looked at Lin Weimin with a bit of disdain.

"Look at your virtue. Is the manuscript finished?"

Wang Shuo did not answer him directly.

With a "pop" sound, a large manuscript of 500 words fell on the table.

Just like when this manuscript appeared half a month ago.

But this time, the offensive and defensive momentum is different!

"Look, my editor-in-chief Lin!"

Wang Shuo's tone made people's teeth hurt. Lin Weimin wondered how this guy grew up, feeling like a fist pit.

Lin Weimin picked up the scattered manuscript papers on the table, "If it's not at the level of publication..."

The warning in the words is self-evident.

Wang Shuo was not afraid at all and held his head high, "If you can't publish it, that's your problem with Contemporary!"

"Look, I'm driving you crazy!"

Lin Weimin chuckled to himself, stopped talking to Wang Shuo, and turned over the manuscript.

The novel is called "Stewardess" and tells the love story between "I", a retired navy man, and stewardess Amy. The story ends with stewardess Amy's death in a plane crash.

The whole novel has a touch of romanticism, which is completely different from the style of later Wang Shuo.

"Stewardess" is a novella, but Lin Weimin didn't count it. It has at least 60,000 to 70,000 words in total. After reading it for almost two hours, Lin Weimin raised his head.

At this time, Wang Shuo was sitting on a chair with his legs crossed, a cup of hot tea in his hand, his face flushed, and he was having a heated exchange with his colleagues.

"you this……"

Lin Weimin suddenly spoke up, which immediately attracted everyone's attention.

Wang Shuo still looked cynical, but the shaking calves on his knees betrayed him deeply.

"Not good!"

Lin Weimin expressed his opinion.

Wang Shuo's face flashed with disappointment, and then he immediately pretended to be calm and shouted: "What's wrong? Can you see?"

Lin Weimin made a face, "You are the editor and I am the editor?"

Teacher Lin has been the deputy editor for such a long time, and he is still somewhat dignified when he really has a serious face.

Wang Shuo didn't dare to yell anymore and muttered: "Stop doing this with me, I don't know you yet!"

Lin Weimin stared at him, "Why don't you let me talk if your writing is not good?"

Wang Shuo's momentum was completely suppressed, and he resigned himself to his fate: "You say it, you say it!"

Lin Weimin didn't waste any more nonsense. He threw the manuscript at him and said, "There's too much nonsense. Delete tens of thousands of words and bring it back!"

The chair made an overwhelmed cry, and Wang Shuoteng stood up, "I think you just want to deduct my royalties!"

Wang Shuo's expression at this time was like that of a native dog who had finally picked up a bone and fought tooth and nail to protect the food.

"I don't care about your three melons and two dates?"

The fee for a novella is at least several hundred yuan, and depending on the number of words and length, it can reach one to two thousand yuan.

To say that these royalties are three melons and two dates may seem like bragging to others, but for Teacher Lin, three melons and two dates is considered too much.

Wang Shuo glared at Lin Weimin angrily, and Lin Weimin was also unwilling to be outdone.

Tong Zhonggui on the side was still a student. He had never seen such a scene before and was trembling.

Even the colleagues in the office are a little worried. These two people won't get along, right?

Wang Shuo took an angry step forward, making everyone's hearts tighten.

"Then tell me, how to change it?"

Everyone felt relieved, and then immediately became full of contempt for Wang Shuo.

That's it?

Lin Weimin had his wits about him throughout the whole process. He knew all about this guy's virtues and had no worries at all.

"Didn't I tell you? Delete it, delete all the useless nonsense."

Wang Shuo looked at the thick stack of manuscript papers with a bit of heartache in his eyes. This was all money!

"Really delete it?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? Do you still want to publish it?"

Wang Shuo hesitated for a long time and nodded.

"think!"

"Then delete it!"

Lin Weimin said it categorically.

The expression on Wang Shuo's face was distorted, as if he was wearing a mask of pain.

Then, Lin Weimin did not compete with Wang Shuo anymore, but patiently explained to Wang Shuo the reason why he asked Wang Shuo to delete the novel.

The current length and content of "The Stewardess" actually do not match. The main plot is the love story of two young people, but there are too many things that have nothing to do with the main plot. The branches are complicated and distract from the attraction that should belong to the main plot. .

"You have to understand that words serve content. Mere words are meaningless. Look at the paragraphs I circled for you. Will deleting them have any effect?"

Wang Shuo looked at the annotations on the manuscript paper and couldn't help but feel stunned. He couldn't save his face, but he had to admit that Lin Weimin was not the editor for nothing.

"Then I'll change it!"

Seeing that this bully was finally convinced, Lin Weimin patted him on the shoulder and said, "Don't think of writing as such a simple thing. Anyone can do it regardless of whether it's a flood or a horse. The difficulty lies in your current problem. Only Only after passing this level can you be qualified to embark on the path of writing.”

Teacher Lin is professional when it comes to filling chicken soup.

When it comes to chicken soup, it doesn't matter if your chicken soup tastes good or bad, the key is that you have to be able to open your mouth.

Now, Wang Shuo's mouth was so tight that Teacher Lin couldn't even close it.

Tong Zhonggui watched Wang Shuo leave. He was so arrogant when he came, but so humble when he left.

Thinking back to what Teacher Lin said to Wang Shuo just now, it seemed as if she was speaking to him.

It seems that we, the younger generation of creators, all like to make this mistake!