Tokyo Literary Godfather

"That's true."

Fujiwara Kei looked at the student with a smile and said: "There is indeed no very complicated conspiracy design in "White Night Journey". That's because when I first conceived this book, I decided to use the cruel fate of the male and female protagonists as a novel. The main selling point of the film is, so the killing methods of the two are not packaged in a foggy way."

"There are no certain rules for writing novels. If you don't want to devise complex conspiracies in your work, of course there is no problem. However, if you want to create a socialist mystery work, tell yourself that conspiracies are not important, or treat it as a joke. If you can't think of a good trick and use the theory that 'the trick is unimportant' to excuse yourself, then you will never be able to create good works."

The student was silent for a moment, as if he wanted to say something, but he didn't say it.

"Everyone knows that mystery novels originated in the United States, and at the beginning of the birth of mystery novels, in the era of classical mystery novels, someone once proposed the Ten Commandments of mystery novels."

Kei Fujiwara picked up the marker and started writing word by word on the whiteboard behind him.

Ryuichi Kaneki is also a fan of mystery novels. He has read many mystery works, both ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign. He is a loyal fan of mystery novels. Therefore, the newly rising socialist faction represented by "White Night Walk" is somewhat dismissive. Even though the leader of the Socialist Faction is his former colleague, the relationship is not bad.

However, the socialist faction has become very popular recently, which makes him slightly worried. Maybe there will be no mystery solving process in future mystery novels? That's nonsense!

As a result, he found out today that Kei Fujiwara, the man who led the trend of socialism, actually dismissed the socialist writing rules that were regarded as the norm by many authors and readers?

But what are the "Ten Commandments of Mystery Novels" he talks about? Never heard of it...

Togada Nanako also quickly took out her ballpoint pen, opened her notebook, and memorized it carefully.

Kei Fujiwara wrote on the whiteboard word for word:

1. The criminal must be someone who appears at the beginning, but must not be someone whose thoughts the reader can follow.

2. Detectives cannot use supernatural or weird detective methods.

3. The crime scene cannot have more than one secret room or passage.

4. When committing crimes, poisons that have not yet been invented or devices that require scientific explanation for the Olympic bid cannot be used.

5. No Chinese are allowed to appear in the story.

6. Detectives cannot solve cases by chance or irresponsible intuition.

7. Detectives must not become criminals.

8. Detectives are not allowed to solve crimes based on clues that have not been hinted to readers in the novel.

9. The detective's idiot friend must tell the reader his judgment without reservation. This person's intelligence needs to be slightly below the average level of the reader.

10. If there are twins or people who look very similar in the novel, readers must be informed in advance.

In Kei Fujiwara's original world, these are the ten rules of mystery novels proposed by a classical mystery author. The Ten Commandments of Reasoning had a profound influence in the reasoning world, and were even regarded as iron rules by the authors at the time. The authors at that time were just as superstitious about the Ten Commandments as later Internet article authors believed in the "Three Golden Chapters".

But from a modern perspective, these so-called Ten Commandments are full of discrimination and short-sightedness, but they were the golden rule at the time. Until a female writer named Agatha Christie appeared and broke the so-called Ten Commandments one by one in a deliberately provocative manner. From then on, almost no one paid attention to the Ten Commandments.

In this world, at the beginning of the 20th century, when classical reasoning was prevalent, the rules of the Ten Commandments were also followed, but no celebrity summarized the Ten Commandments in his own words.

After finishing writing, Kei Fujiwara turned around and looked at the students in the audience, "This is the creative rule that writers at that time abided by in the era of classical reasoning. But from our current perspective, these rules are different one by one. madness……"

As he spoke, he picked up the eraser and erased the fifth item first.

"I won't go into detail about this one. The Yellow Peril theory was prevalent in the West at that time, and this rule was the product of discrimination."

"First, Ikema Watanabe broke this rule in "Aurora Murder".

“Rule number two is that detectives are not allowed to use supernatural powers, and Mika Miyano’s ‘When the Heads Fall’ breaks that rule.”

"Article 3..."

Every time Kei Fujiwara erases an item, he will name a famous work that has broken the rules until all ten items disappear from the blackboard.

"These so-called rules are some self-righteous remarks made by some mediocre people based on some successful works. However, complex tricks should not appear in the socialist works that are widely circulated nowadays, and they also fall into this category. Theory. If you believe this kind of statement, then in the end you will only be able to write a copy of "White Night Walk", and you will never have a work that is truly your own."

There was no sound underneath, but Ryuichi Kaneki subconsciously clenched his fists and secretly cheered for Kei Fujiwara.

You're right, Fujiwara-kun! If tricks are weakened in mystery novels, can they still be considered mystery novels? No dog would read such a novel!

"Of course, it would be equally foolish to think that mystery novels are all about complex tricks. Then again, there are no rules for writing. Whether you reveal the mystery at the beginning or hide it at the end; whether your mystery is a murder method or a murder The identity of the author, or the motive of the murder is fine. You have only one purpose, which is to attract readers and make them look forward to and curious about your works."

Jin Mulongyi: "Ahem..."

"But I also understand that for new writers, the design of tricks is the most difficult part of creating mystery novels." Kei Fujiwara looked at the crowd and said, "So let me talk about some trick design methods for your reference."

"Togata..." Kei Fujiwara suddenly looked at Nanako Togata, "You don't have to write down every word I said."

Nanako Togata was like a living man, wishing to write down every word Kei Fujiwara said. Kei Fujiwara's saliva splashed everywhere, and sparks would come out of her pen below.

"Okay..." Someone laughed next to her, and Togada Nanako's cheeks became even redder.

"But what I said next, you can properly record it, maybe it will help you." Fujiwara Keidao, "The common tricks in mystery novels are mainly divided into the following types..."

"The first is the deception about the identity of the prisoner: the prisoner or accomplice can escape suspicion by becoming a victim, or disguised as a victim, or the prisoner and the victim are the same person themselves, and achieve some purpose by hurting themselves; One person can play one role, such as the famous twins trick; one person can also play two roles, and one person can play three roles, using makeup and other means to play different people to achieve the goal..."

"The identity of the prisoner can be full of surprises. He can be a police officer or a judge, he can be the narrator of the case, he can be a child, an elderly person or even a mentally retarded person. He can even be an animal committing murder."

"The second is about the tricks at the crime scene. The most well-known is the secret room trick. When committing a crime, if the prisoner is not in the room, the following methods can be used to shape the trick."

"For example, indoor traps, or killing people through the gaps in doors and windows. By the way, silk thread is a very useful tool. You can also kill people outside the secret room and then move them to the secret room, or you can commit suicide and disguise it as homicide..."

"If the prisoner is indoors when the crime is committed, you can..."

"Then there's the trick of time..."

"The trick of poison as a murder weapon..."

"A trick to make a body or object disappear..."

"Mirror trick..."

"Visual trick..."

"Legal tricks, such as disguising it as justifiable homicide or using the principle of non-negotiation..."

"Nursery Rhyme Kills..."

"Hypnosis to kill..."

"Maze murder..."

"Exchange killing..."

Fujiwara Kei talked non-stop, describing the murder methods in various mystery works summarized by later generations. In order to let the students understand better, he even casually mentioned several murders that appeared in Conan. Technique.

Ryuichi Kaneki looked at Kei Fujiwara blankly... He didn't know what to say for a moment...

This guy was a professional killer before he became a writer, right?