"Have you ever paid attention to the writing of young people? For example, the male collaboration group in the 1990s, and the female writer group in the 1990s. They rose to prominence in an era when algorithms were becoming increasingly mainstream, and created many amazing works, but
They maintain the sensitivity, frankness and sharpness of literature, and maintain the original passion and creativity of literature. Many great writers have lost their original writing impulse and courage to innovate after becoming famous. What do you think of this?
What’s your opinion?”
"Why have you lost your original creative impulse and the courage to innovate? This is a question that most writers will consider. I don't think that youth and passion are necessarily the advantages of creation. Once you become famous, you will be conservative.
It has become a rule. Whether you are talking about the group of writers after the 2090s or the writers and authors of our generation, including the predecessors earlier, they have never faced a group dilemma, only personal dilemmas. This dilemma is specific
To put it simply, after you have completed a relatively important work, how do you write a second one? Others have no requirements for your first work. You are a wild child. Wild children are naked and usually run around full of life.
Come out and let people appreciate its wild beauty, and everyone will be more tolerant of this child. But after appreciating it, you have to put on clothes. After you put on clothes, you have changed. You have to teach him the rules, and then he becomes decent.
, you have to create more clothes for him to wear, and this is when the difficulty comes. On the one hand, the appreciator still requires you to be original, and on the other hand, you find that you can't take off your clothes, don't want to take them off, and you can't go back after taking them off.
In the past, this has always been a problem for the writer, and another problem may be the problem of the appreciator himself." Li Ainian took out a diary from his pocket and said: "Actually, it boils down to one word, it is difficult for everyone to agree, so I
My current creations will be divided into two types, one is for display to everyone, and the other is reserved for myself. This diary is my private field."
Su Che took the diary and opened the title page to see a photo. It was also a "sinner of the era". He was the commander-in-chief of the epidemic in the disaster area in 2062. His name was Tian Wenmian. He was a "scholar" who looked very weak, but this was
The scholar issued the most severe blockade order to completely block the transmission routes of infected people. Of course... after the epidemic ended, he stood in the dock and was eventually sentenced to thirteen years in prison.
The official description of this person has always been vague, and the public's evaluation of him is also mixed. Some people think that he is a decisive general who kills decisively. If it weren't for him, more people would definitely die!
But some people say he is a devil. If he had been more lenient, he could have saved more innocent people.
In short, there has never been a relatively pertinent and satisfactory evaluation of Tian Wenmian.
Writers have also tacitly avoided this character, especially in this "algorithm" era. Going to great lengths to write a "sinner" is obviously not "algorithmic" enough.
However, there is a short story with Tian Wenmian as the protagonist hidden in the diary of old man Li Ainian.
The story is very short, only more than 4,000 words. It tells the story of a day in the future when ignorant miners opened the door to hell. When the panicked miners fled, the mine owner detonated the tunnel and buried it underground. One of the miners'
The son called a rescue team to save his father, but during the rescue process more people were infected. At this time, the protagonist, as the rescue captain, decisively ordered the mining area to be blocked again, leading to the death of the entire rescue team and the trapped miners.
At the end, the door to hell was blocked again, but the protagonist and the miner's son, and all the phone call recordings between the miner and his son were made public, making the protagonist who was supposed to be a hero a "sinner", and his decisiveness was evaluated as
"Inhumane", his handling method was evaluated as "not perfect". In short, no one remembers that it was the protagonist's decisiveness that saved hundreds of thousands of residents in the nearby town and prevented the disaster from further expanding.
There is such a dialogue in the article that is the most impressive.
The protagonist ordered: "Get him back! No one is allowed to leave the scene!"
"You're crazy! You have no right to do this!" the miner's son.
"This is an order!"
"But we are human beings. My father is not infected and he is still alive!"
"I don't have time to argue with you here, this is an order! If you still remember that you are a soldier, you must obey the order!"
"Order? Then why did you forget that we are humans too?!"
…
"So...what do you think this problem is specifically?" The interview continued, and Su Che returned the diary to Mr. Li. He did not make any comments on this short story.
"Each era has its own 'dogma', such as what is excellent literature and what are the most precious qualities of a writer. What is distressing is that we all inevitably live in dogma and rarely engage in such reverse thinking.
, such as the attitude towards innovation, few people think about whether those fearless innovations are just a reckless waste of resources? Do some traditions have to be maintained and developed? Do some retreats even have advanced meaning? So no matter what the background
For writers, truly free writing is writing that can get rid of all 'dogma' and is a kind of strong self-confidence.
writing."
After listening to these words, Su Che suddenly felt like his mind had been liberated. He had always believed that exploring ideas within the framework of the system was the right path, but now he suddenly felt that it might be a sad thing. At any time,
All should need a larger and broader ideological space. Although usually in the eyes of managers, thoughts have universal guiding significance for behavior. Normal people will never do certain things unconsciously, so thoughts must be correctly guided.
This is of course no problem, and Su Che will not conclude that there is a problem with this correct guidance just because he heard Li Ainian's words. However, there should be a balance between the guidance of thoughts and the writer's own thinking beyond dogma.
Not contradictory.
The only conflict is whether to share it.
Mr. Li just mentioned, "Are those bold innovations just a reckless waste of resources?"
Such a sentence may become a discordant note in reality, because just like many years ago when the "Flintstone Project" was launched and the first central axis was officially built, many people had raised similar "objection" voices.
Today, when resources are increasingly scarce, promoting human progress through indifferent algorithms has made many people feel uncomfortable. So, is it a waste to build such a huge sampling base that is neither open to the public nor its internal operating principles and purposes?
What about “waste of resources”?
Su Che didn't know, because he didn't even have anyone with whom to discuss this issue, and he didn't even find a direction or way to discuss this issue.
However, Su Che vaguely felt in his heart what was really lacking in this era.
These precious and precious realizations may not be fully shared and awakened as he originally expected. Perhaps what really needs to be awakened is himself.
"I'm not sure about the current direction of the domestic writer environment, but a few years ago there were many literary young people abroad who were calling for surpassing Mr. Li, but now very few people say so. The idol writers of the past are now cleansed of their lead.
Hua, have you returned to the original quiet state?"
"I feel that the person who should surpass me most is myself. Frankly speaking, I am a writer who lives in misunderstandings. Even I misunderstand myself. I am very cold about this idol group you mentioned. This time, it always makes me feel like
The virtual, bizarre sense of stage and lighting, in fact, these things have never appeared in my life, but they made me look like an actor for a long time. It was difficult to see myself clearly, so I felt very unfair.
My expectations for the outside world have been constant for many years. As long as there are so many people who like to read my novels, it is enough. I don’t want other things. The prosperity outside the door is not my prosperity. I live an indoor life and have always been very happy.
Be quiet, it was quiet in the past, but it is even quieter now." Mr. Li always smiled during the interview, but here his tone and expression became more serious.
Su Che could vaguely understand that feeling. Perhaps everyone misunderstood Mr. Li from the beginning, and misunderstood his true purpose of speaking out like that... He didn't do it for fame, he just shouted, but was "scorned" by everyone
”.
"I read your recently published new book "Beacon on the Snow". You said that this is a book that breaks with the past. Are you no longer satisfied with your past?"
""Beacon Fire on the Snow" is a novel that took me eleven years to complete, and it has never been published. I waited until it was completed before asking my friends in Russia to publish it. I do have the motivation to use this novel to bring out the old and bring out the new.
, but motivation is motivation, and motivation cannot explain the quality of writing, and the breakup is not necessarily so tragic or praiseworthy. I just give myself some motivation to write, and try to get around it as much as possible. As for whether it is good or bad, you have to read it before you say.
" Mr. Li returned the right of evaluation to Su Che.
To be honest, "Beacon on the Snow" is really the most impressive novel that Su Che has read in the past few years.
The prototype of the story is actually a heroic figure like the old man Awangdecuo who still persevered in the heavy snowstorm. What impressed him most was the opening sentence.
"The beacon on the snow is swaying in the strong wind, the flames are close together, and they are like a broken flag pressed by the wind. It is so desirable and so frightening. It seems that it will be extinguished in the next second.
But it won’t, it won’t, as soon as the wind stops, it will burn brightly again!”
This passage still makes people sigh in retrospect. Su Che can even vaguely see the back of the young Ngawang Decuo leading the Monument Team in the ice and snow as soon as he closes his eyes. Compared with the vast snowfield,
The bright red color is not only the clothes, but also the persistence and belief.
"So, what is your current literary ideal?"
"My past is composed of a series of writing events. I am generally satisfied with the short stories I wrote in the past, but I am generally not satisfied with the medium-length novels. Some of them even have the idea of rewriting. My current literary ideals are nothing to say.
My ideal is to write my best novel while I can still clearly understand and think, and to select a volume of my short stories. The three volumes are relatively ideal. Another ideal is that no one will say that I am
As an iconic writer, I actually regret that I agreed to remake the novel into a movie."
Su Che nodded. Unknowingly, he and Mr. Li had been sitting in the coffee shop for more than two hours, but after watching
Looking at the notebook, he found that less than half of the interview content he was looking forward to was completed, but many questions seemed to no longer need to be asked over and over again, so he decided to streamline it.
"American new trend writer Ben Andy wrote "The Dry Well" in 2091, announcing that novels as a form have been completely exhausted. The stories people expect can be automatically generated only through AI, and there is no need for so many writers to create them.
', generations of writers have responded as their own slaves, confirming the basis for survival in this era. As a professional writer, do you have confusion similar to questioning the meaning of writing?"
"In fact, even earlier, the American postmodernist writer Barth rejected the book "Exhausted Literature" in 1963, and also announced that there was nothing left to write in the novel. But you see, by 2091, the same
It's really ironic that the argument has reappeared in a different skin. So in my opinion, whether it's Barth or Ben Andy, their remarks are a bit like talking nonsense. We
In fact, everyone has this experience, that is, at a certain moment, your thinking is particularly open and agile, and your mind is like a pond, where many bubbles can pop up. There are many bubbles, so when put together, it makes sense.
It's true, but it goes without saying that this kind of statement cannot stand the test of time. As far as I know, even Ben Andy himself published several short stories with great enthusiasm after writing "The Dry Well". How come they all dried up? Could it be that he
Do you really think that people like to input their preferences into the AI system and then automatically generate their favorite stories? Is this kind of self-deception really the type of literature that everyone likes? I don’t think so, just like an article I usually like to read.
Serialized, there are many characters I hate in the play, but it is this reality that makes this work seem richer, so I always believe that there are only exhausted writers, and there is no exhausted literature. Literature serves as a description and supplement of the real world.
, it coexists with human beings. This special supply and demand relationship may experience a certain degree of depression at a certain period. For example, many people now believe that 'algorithms' can replace people, but this does not mean that human creations will perish.
.As a writer, I have never doubted the value of writing. I am not sure whether readers necessarily need me to write, but I can be sure that I need to write. For me, the meaning of writing has evolved into the meaning of life."
Su Che nodded. Hearing such words made his signal surge and his confidence greatly increased. Although he had never doubted that literary creation had dried up before, gaining recognition from his predecessors made Su Che feel more at ease.
"I remember your saying that when you stand on two sides of the world, your blood is on the home side, but your body is on the foreign side. But I see that your hometown is the hometown in the past memories.
The foreign land you live in now is also a foreign land in the past. Do you intentionally maintain a distance from the current society and current life?"
"That statement was established in the preface of a review I published many years ago. This is actually a portrayal of most people, and there is nothing special about it. Most of the time in my past works points to the past, which is completely
According to the narrative method of my novel, I can play with the time clock in the novel however I feel comfortable. The meaning of the present also exists in the past, and vice versa. Maybe one day I will start writing future stories, science fiction stories, but
The things I pay attention to usually start from the perspective of human nature, which means that no matter where the time is, where I start from, where I go, or how far I can go, it will not affect my writing. In this sense
Basically, I do not intentionally set the distance between myself and real life. How far this distance is should be determined by the work itself and left to the readers to comprehend."
"Haha, okay, let me ask you a personal question. There are many female images in your novels, such as "Blue Seagull", "Beacon on the Snow", "Scout", etc. You are almost regarded as a contemporary writer.
You are the master who is most accustomed to writing female characters. You are obviously more favored by women than men. Is this related to your southern temperament and your essential poet temperament? Or is there some other reason? "
"I don't dare to say that I am not an expert at writing about women, but I am just used to it. Just like a painter always has his favorite tones, it is purely a personal habit for me to add more female characters to my creations.
and preferences, I don’t want this to cause any misunderstanding, but I do feel that women are more full of the flavor of novels, while men always give people a rigid and rigid feeling, which makes it difficult for me to perform. Before you, someone also asked
But why do I write about so many women, and even the overall bias in my works is that the yin is strong and the yang is weak? Sometimes I will seriously explain that only a small part of the women in my novels are written. They are just individual characters and are the core of the story.
The carrier is not something I intentionally do. Sometimes I want to ask, there are so many women in the world, and they are all novels, why not take a shortcut?"
Su Che was stunned. It took him a while to understand what Mr. Li meant. It turned out that some of his previous opinions were rigid and macho.
In fact, in the process of literary creation, "feminization" does not mean anything.
The protagonist is male or female, and most of the time the "discomfort" is not caused by the work itself, but by the conflict with its own stereotypes.
If you break away from this stereotype and look at the story, you will feel that in fact it is nothing at all.