1980 My literary era

Entering November, "Shanxi Writers Issue", the sixth issue of "Contemporary" this year, has aroused great repercussions in the domestic literary world and readers.

It is already very difficult for publications these days to produce one or two decent young authors a year.

But "Contemporary" is different. It can always pick out piles of talented young people from the nooks and crannies that no one can see, and like Bole, push them to the literary world and the broad readers.

After the launch of this special issue, the writers and works published in the publication have certainly received great attention and praise.

At the same time, more and more readers and critics are praising "Contemporary" for its courage to innovate.

The praise of "Contemporary" from readers and critics has greatly benefited the entire editorial department, and even the press has praised "Contemporary" for this.

In recent years, as the sales and influence of "Contemporary" have continued to expand, the status of the "Contemporary" editorial department within the society has also increased.

Lin Weimin sometimes guessed that apart from Lao Meng's qualifications, the most important thing was probably to make "Contemporary" so impressive that he stood out from the crowd in the society.

The completion of the last issue of this year does not mean that the work of the editorial department has come to an end.

On the contrary, everyone is busier than before.

Because everyone is not only busy with the content of the first issue in 1985, but also with the selected novel series arranged by Lin Weimin.

As the end of the year approaches, we get busier and busier, which makes everyone resentful. This is because of the monthly bonus.

Compared with everyone else, Lin Weimin is not relaxed either. To be precise, he should be busier.

In addition to reviewing and organizing manuscripts in the editorial department, as well as the administrative affairs of the society and the editorial department, the most important thing is that he has now started writing his new work. All his spare time every day is spent on collecting information and writing. Almost like Hao Shou Qiong Jing, he consulted various historical materials and documents.

He and Lao Meng returned to their old ways, but he still had to maintain a serious and responsible attitude when creating.

He had watched the TV series more than once before traveling through time, and he roughly remembered the plot. However, if he wanted to fully portray the style and power of that era, it would not be possible without a large amount of historical data to support it.

The last time he was in this state was when he was writing "Horse Trapper".

Weekend afternoon, National Library.

Lin Weimin raised his head with difficulty from a pile of history books and ancient books. He had lowered his head all day. When he suddenly raised his head, his cervical vertebrae let out bursts of whine.

These days, it’s so hard to check information.

Lin Weimin misses the ease of sitting in front of a computer and being able to access countless information with just a few clicks of his fingers.

"Teacher Lin, please drink some water." Tong Zhonggui pushed the water glass in front of Lin Weimin.

Lin Weimin had been guiding him since he entered the Chinese Literature Society. According to the saying of this era, he had to call Lin Weimin "master".

In the Chinese Literature Society, everyone generally calls them “teachers”. Although Tong Zhonggui called everyone "teacher" in the Chinese Literature Society, he called Lin Weimin "teacher" with a unique sense of gratitude.

Lin Weimin took a sip of water and asked, "How is your novel going?"

Recently, Tong Zhonggui is trying to write his first novella.

Not long ago, Lin Weimin started writing a new book. Knowing that he needed to consult a large amount of information, Tong Zhonggui volunteered to help.

Tong Zhonggui was very curious about how a great writer like Mr. Lin created a novel. Being able to have such personal contact not only satisfied his curiosity, but also was a valuable learning experience.

"I just wrote a few thousand words and I feel like I can't go on anymore." Tong Zhonggui said bitterly.

Lin Weimin sipped his tea and said, "Why do you feel like you can't write anymore? Tell me."

"My novel is about a family's escape due to a famine. There are many fragments in my mind, but when I connect them together, they feel a bit fragmented and cannot be connected at all. It feels too scattered."

After Tong Zhonggui finished speaking, he looked at Lin Weimin with some expectation. He believed that Teacher Lin would be able to solve his problem.

Lin Weimin pondered for a moment and said: "What we call 'inspiration' is usually presented in a sentence or a picture. Therefore, it is normal for many of the ideas in your mind to be fragmented.

There are two fundamental reasons why it is difficult to connect them in series.

One, you think too little. If you want to create the image of a mother, then you can't just consider that she is a mother. She was also young, a young girl, or even a girl. You need to understand her growth context and environment in order to determine the character of this character and how she may react when encountering things.

The same goes for laying out the plot, you have a picture in your head. For example, when two people fight, you must have thought of the causes and consequences of the fight, but what about going a little further?

In addition to the starting point of the conflict, their respective experiences and personalities will affect your creation.

The richer the details, the more vivid your content will be. "

When Tong Zhonggui was talking to Lin Weimin, he bowed a little unconsciously, with a respectful attitude.

After hearing these words, he couldn't help but feel sad.

"The second problem is to know the trade-offs. You have to think clearly that a work can only have one theme. All details must serve the theme and cannot go off topic, let alone be complicated or even top-heavy.

For example, you said you have too many pictures in your mind. Then you have to ask yourself, are these scenes necessary and necessary to serve the main line?

If yes, then stay. If not, don't be stingy and drop them. If it is really a line, it will not be difficult for you to connect these pictures and ideas.

Therefore, appropriate choices must be made. Only by clarifying the most important main line and then adding branches and leaves on this basis can a qualified work be created. "

After Lin Weimin said this, he took another sip of tea, and Tong Zhonggui nodded with sincerity.

Teacher Lin's words were like opening a window in his mind. Many things that he couldn't figure out suddenly became clear. He couldn't wait to use the good words he heard in his creation.

"What you said is so good!"

"Just a little bit of experience, you can use the best. If you have a better way, you can also use your own. Everyone has their own unique way of thinking, no need to be superstitious." Lin Weimin said calmly.

Tong Zhonggui thought: Teacher Lin is good at everything, but he is too humble.

The two talked for a while, and Lin Weimin glanced at the time.

"Hey, the library is closing soon." He stood up and packed his things.

Tong Zhonggui also helped clean up. Some of the ancient books on the table could not be borrowed and could only be read here. The two of them put the remaining books into their bags and left the library.

Lin Weimin wanted to treat Tong Zhonggui to a meal, but Tong Zhonggui refused.

"You help me, I'll treat you, don't be embarrassed."

Lin Weimin drove Tong Zhonggui to Donglaishun. During the meal, Lin Weimin cared about Tong Zhonggui's life.

He currently lives in a single dormitory allocated by his work unit, a bungalow in Housun Park Hutong, with an area of ​​only ten square meters.

"I am alone and a bed is enough. But many old comrades have too many families. Five or six people are crowded into a house of 20 to 30 square meters, like a pigeon cage." Tong Zhonggui said unconsciously With a bit of emotion.

Lin Weimin also knows this situation. Not only for the Chinese Society, but also for most urban workers, real housing improvements will have to wait until after 1985 when the wave of self-built housing and commercial housing rises.

These past few years should be the most difficult days for everyone.

While chatting about the house, Tong Zhonggui envied Lin Weimin even more.

The royalties alone are an income that ordinary people cannot earn in ten lifetimes. But when it comes to welfare benefits that need to be distributed, they never fight for it and are aloof.

This kind of life without daily necessities and trivial matters is the life of a scholar that he yearns for!

The busy life continues in an orderly manner. Due to the limitation of materials, the creation speed of new novels is very different from Lin Weimin's previous creation speed, and the speed is extremely slow.

It is precisely because of this reason that I know more and more about the relevant history. Over time, it is not impossible to become half an expert.

Suddenly in December, China and Britain signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration in Yanjing, announcing to the world that Hong Kong would return to the embrace of the motherland in 1997.

For a time, the world attracted attention, and the country was in a state of excitement, with everyone rejoicing.

Under such circumstances, Lin Weimin received a call from Xiangjiang.

Liu Yichang first informed Lin Weimin about the situation of the two novels "Lover" and "Farewell My Concubine" being serialized in "Sing Tao Evening News". Communication was not smooth these days, and Lin Weimin basically received no news from Xiangjiang in China, so naturally he couldn't I know what happened after the two works were serialized.

According to Liu Yichang, "The Lover" was published before "Farewell My Concubine" and initially caused a great response among readers.

What Liu Yichang did not say was that a large part of the response to "The Lover" was due to the color of the novel. Such works have always been popular in Hong Kong.

Later, "Farewell My Concubine" was published. In the introduction, "Sing Tao Evening News" specifically emphasized the news that the novel was published in the United States and was a best-seller. I don't know if it was because of the reason why the novel bloomed inside the wall and was fragrant outside the wall. It has received rave reviews since it was serialized. .

Originally, the serialization of these two novels had ended in the first half of the year, and Sing Tao Newspaper planned to discuss publishing matters with Lin Weimin.

As a result, starting from the middle of the year, due to the negotiations between China and Britain, public opinion in Hong Kong was turbulent, and Sing Tao Newspapers could only stand still.

In the second half of the year, Liu Yichang resigned to concentrate on preparatory work for the launch of "Xiangjiang Literature", and the matter went nowhere.

Recently, "Hong Kong Literature" that Liu Yichang has been planning for nearly two years will finally be published next month, that is, January 1985. Lin Weimin's "If You Have Something to Say Well" will also be published in the first issue of "Hong Kong Literature" Meet the readers of Xiangjiang.

The volume of "Xiangjiang Literature" is about 16 hundred pages, and the published works are mainly short stories, essays, and poems. Novels can only be published in the form of serialization. Liu Yichang told Lin Weimin on the phone, "If you have something to say, please do it." "Said" will be divided into three issues and published in the magazine, followed by "Horse Trapper" and "Chasing the Murderer".

According to Liu Yichang's plan, the serialization of these three novels will occupy a large part of the space of "Hong Kong Literature" in the next year.