1980 My Literary Era.

Chapter 370 Overflowing the Boundary of Literature

"He, I'm afraid that Lu Yao won't be able to bear the blow after receiving so many bad reviews all at once. I will screen through the letters from readers myself, and send the letters that are positive, pertinent, or constructive criticism to Lu Yao. That part stays."

After Yao Shuzhi finished speaking, the editorial department fell into silence.

Zou Changyi, who had just arrived for a short time, said: "It's too much work, so much trust in him, how can he be overwhelmed, it's hard work!"

Zhang Zhonge said: "Changyi, you have not been here for a long time, and you have never had contact with a writer like Lu Yao. He is the kind of person who is proud and arrogant, and he has a very good face. For the novel "Ordinary World" Said that he had suffered a lot, and he placed high hopes on this novel.

He only handed over the manuscript of the first part to Weimin a few months ago, and returned to Shaanxi to write the second part without stopping.If all these letters from readers are sent to him, it should be a very heavy blow to him, and it is likely to affect his enthusiasm for creation. "

Zou Changyi's face showed a bit of understanding when he heard the words, and he said, "But, this is not the way to do it now, is it? After all, Lu Yao is not isolated from the world. There is no way for us to prevent the readers around him, including the comments from the critics. !"

Before Zhang Zhonge could speak, Tong Zhonggui rushed to say, "I think this is exactly what Teacher Lin intended."

Everyone looked at him in unison, puzzled.

"Blind praise is not good medicine, Teacher Lin did not do this to isolate Lu Yao from the influence of external evaluation.

He should have done so to prevent a tsunami of bad reviews from flooding in a short period of time, destroying Lu Yao's confidence in writing as a writer.

Now he only cuts off part of the bad reviews, so that the positive reviews outnumber the bad ones, which can actually arouse Lu Yao's creative fighting spirit. After all, most of the content of "Ordinary World" has not yet been created! "

After listening to Tong Zhonggui's words, everyone showed thoughtfulness on their faces. After thinking about it carefully, his words seemed to make a lot of sense.

Liu Yin teased: "Xiao Tong can do it! Now I really won the true biography of Editor-in-Chief Lin!"

Tong Zhonggui was a little shy, "I guessed all this myself."

Zhang Zhonge sighed: "For the sake of the people, for the sake of the writers under his hands, it is really well-intentioned!"

Everyone couldn't help but nodded. Regardless of the quality of "Ordinary World" itself, at least Lin Weimin's intentions are really admirable.

In the guest house on the third floor, in Mo Yan's room.

Mo Yan is at his desk writing hard, and he is still writing the script of "Red Sorghum".

Once he enters the state of writing, he is very efficient. It stands to reason that a movie script can be tens of thousands of words in length at best, and he can finish writing it in a few days with his efficiency.

But Mo Yan doesn’t have any experience in drama creation, so he can only write scripts by himself, and then show the written things to Lin Weimin, and he will point out the problems, and Mo Yan can make revisions.

This continuous process of writing, rewriting, writing, and rewriting not only made Mo Yan aware of the difficulty of drama creation, but also deepened Mo Yan's feelings and understanding of the story of "Red Sorghum".

The abundance of emotions makes Mo Yan's creative motivation stronger. He is immersed in his own world almost every day, and he doesn't hear anything outside the window. He doesn't notice Yu Hua who is lying on the bed beside him.

At this time, he was holding a book and scratching his head.

Mo Yan, who was immersed in the creative world, felt something strange on his shoulder, came back to his senses, and saw a hand.

Yu Hua held him by the shoulder and handed over a copy of "Contemporary", "Read this novel!"

Mo Yan frowned, "Look for yourself, didn't you see that I was creating?"

"It's not too late. After you finish the novel, let's communicate."

Mo Yan reluctantly took over "Contemporary", which was published in January. He had bought it before, but he has been obsessed with writing these days, so he hasn't had time to read it yet.

"Lu Yao's novel? I remember Teacher Lin spoke highly of it before!"

"Look, look first before you talk!"

Hearing what Yu Hua said, Mo Yan held "Contemporary" in his hand and began to read it.

Two days later, Yu Hua entangled Mo Yan again.

"how is it going?"

"You speak first!" Mo Yan said.

Yu Hua pouted, "You are boring!"

Then he pondered and said: "If you let me say it, I think this novel is a good work. But his shortcomings are also obvious..."

"What's the downside?"

"There is a conflict with the reading habits of current readers."

Mo Yan was noncommittal when he heard the words, Yu Hua asked him, "What's your opinion?"

"A work has shortcomings, we can't say it is bad. "Ordinary World" is very long-winded in narrative, slow-paced, and the plot is nothing new, these are its shortcomings.

But if you think about it, the novels we write are called "pioneering novels", do they conform to the general readers' impression of mainstream novels? "

Yu Hua nodded, feeling that what Mo Yan said made sense.

Mo Yan went on to say: "So, in my opinion as an author of 'pioneering novels', "Ordinary World" is a very good novel. I am looking forward to its follow-up. According to Lu Yao's first novel With the boldness shown in it, this novel has the potential to be a rare masterpiece!"

Yu Hua clapped his hands and said, "It seems that we agree very much."

"Since you are so optimistic about it, why are you dragging me to see it?" Mo Yan asked quietly.

Yu Hua touched his nose in embarrassment, "Hey, let's confirm each other, confirm it."

Mo Yan was already familiar with his temperament, so he didn't care about it, and said, "I can write my script this time, right?"

"You are busy, you are busy!"

"Don't take some gossip to heart. Novels are written to be evaluated by others."

"Those critics rely on this to make a living. Whether their evaluation of your novel is good or bad does not affect its own good or bad, and it is difficult to influence those readers who like this novel."

"Have you read the letters sent to you by the editorial department?"

"That's right. Your novels are for readers, not critics.

Many readers have some opinions on this novel, but many of them like this novel.Even "Dream of Red Mansions", there are people who don't like it, how can you demand that everyone like your novel? "

"Listen to me, don't pay attention to those comments from the outside world, calm down and finish writing the novel."

"One of the most important problems with the negative reviews your novel has received is that the story has not fully unfolded. This is like a woman wearing a veil. Wearing a veil will certainly arouse some people's interest, but it will definitely It arouses some people's resentment and dislikes your appetite. Are you right?"

"Okay. Let's do this first, and we will contact you later if you have any questions."

Lin Weimin hung up the phone, which was opened by Lu Yao.

It has been a while since the first volume of "The Ordinary World" was published. Although Lin Weimin has cut off some of the negative comments, most of the feedback from the critics and readers has continued to Lu Yao.

He has high hopes for this novel, and he is naturally very concerned about gains and losses.

Now the mainstream critics don't have a good opinion of this novel. Lu Yao is in the Shaanxi Literature Association, including the feedback from many colleagues around him. This has dealt a heavy blow to his self-confidence, so he called Lin Weimin. Telephone.

What Lin Weimin was afraid of was such a situation, so he could only comfort him and give him confidence.

The author is just like a woman, you have to coax her, pay her attention, and spend some money from time to time.

Being an editor is not easy!

Lin Weimin was thinking, and Tong Zhonggui walked into his office.

"what's up?"

Tong Zhonggui came to the office to make an opinion: "Mr. Lin, should we hold a work seminar for "Ordinary World"?"

Lin Weimin frowned, "Why do you have such an idea?"

Listening to his tone, Tong Zhonggui felt a little uneasy, but he still said: "I also thought of your "Da Ming Dynasty 1566", which received such high praise from the above, and the reputation of this novel among the literary circles and readers is also very good. Good."

Lin Weimin stared at Tong Zhonggui, looking at him a little hairy, he didn't know what he said was wrong, he was debating whether to continue explaining, when he saw Lin Weimin pointing to the sofa.

"Come on, sit for a while, let's chat."

Tong Zhonggui was even more nervous, and sat on the sofa awkwardly, not daring to look into Lin Weimin's eyes.

"Little Tong, what do you think the spread of a literary work depends on?"

With just one sentence, Tong Zhonggui realized the problem with what he said just now, and he hurriedly explained: "Mr. Lin, I..."

Lin Weimin patted him on the shoulder and said in a harmonious voice, "I know your kindness."

"However, such things as work discussion meetings are more often icing on the cake. When a work is not well-received in the mainstream literary or critical circles, doing such things will only be counterproductive.

Of course, we can use Chunqiu's style of writing, or simply do a deception to make the public think that this novel has been recognized by the mainstream.

But is this approach necessary? "

The way Lin Weimin stared at Tong Zhonggui made him a little guilty, "It's not necessary!"

"Yes, it's not necessary." Lin Weimin nodded and continued: "We must always insist that our literary and artistic works are written for the broadest masses of the people. Whether it is the literary circles or the critics, they have a temporary opinion on a work. Evaluations certainly have a short-term impact. But in the end, it must be the broad masses of the people who can give works the most fair and influential evaluations.”

Lin Weimin stopped here, with a bit of emotion on his face, as if he hesitated to speak.

Tong Zhonggui hesitated, and finally asked what he had been holding back in his heart for a long time.

"Mr. Lin, do you really think "The Ordinary World" is a good novel?"

After saying this, Tong Zhonggui was full of annoyance.

How could I ask such a question?
For a long time, Tong Zhonggui has always been thirsty for all the teachings of Teacher Lin; for any opinions of Teacher Lin, Tong Zhonggui readily accepts; for all the decisions of Teacher Lin, Tong Zhonggui firmly supports them.

However, today, facing Mr. Lin who exists like a god in his heart, Tong Zhonggui still couldn't hold back his most instinctive conscience for literature itself, and asked questions in his heart.

Is "Ordinary World" really a good novel?
Tong Zhonggui's question made Lin Weimin fall into silence. He lit a cigarette, got up and stood in front of the window, thinking for a long time.

Looking at his back, Tong Zhonggui blamed himself even more.

Mr. Lin decided to publish "The Ordinary World" out of the publicity of an editor. He recognized Lu Yao's creative ability, and also recognized that "The Ordinary World" had the qualifications to publish. One of the ways to live and function.

But now, he saw the invisible pressure on Mr. Lin behind these normal conditions.

The author's eager expectations, the influence of the publication, the readers' comments, the evaluation of the critics...

All the conflicts are concentrated on Mr. Lin, and all the pressure is also concentrated on Mr. Lin.

All of this seems to be no lighter than the pressure Lu Yao, the author of the novel, has to bear!
Thinking of this, Tong Zhonggui felt even more regretful, and he even had the urge to get up and flee the office.

At this moment, Lin Weimin finally turned his head and looked straight into Tong Zhonggui's eyes.

"You have all read the novel "Ordinary World", and it has many shortcomings.

The writing is long-winded like a running account, lengthy and messy, the narrative has no skill at all, and the creative techniques are old-fashioned.There are many characters, but few can be vividly portrayed.Some characters even have split personalities.There are so many arguments or lyricisms at every turn, there are so many of them in the book..."

Tong Zhonggui was taken aback by Lin Weimin's sudden criticism of "The Ordinary World". He was amazed at his ruthlessness and his deep understanding of this work. There are many things that Tong Zhonggui hadn't considered.

"Do you know what this reminds me of?" Lin Weimin asked.

Before Tong Zhonggui had time to think, Lin Weimin asked and answered by himself.

"I thought of Brother Zilong's "Joe's Inauguration of the Factory Director", its literary weaknesses are very clear and undeniable.

But it happened to be the pioneering work of Chinese reform literature, which to some extent boosted the opening of our country's reform and opening up.

From "Joe's Inauguration as Factory Manager", I thought of a question.That is, what kind of judging criteria should be applied to our literary works?
The people, only the evaluation of the people is the golden key to judge a work!
A good literary work often has attributes that are not only literature itself, but also overflow the boundaries of literature and produce broader and far-reaching social significance.

I am well aware that the novel "Ordinary World" has many shortcomings, but its advantages are equally distinct.

It presents us with a social picture of the difficult transformation of our era, bearing the historical changes of our generation and the entire society, and also carrying our spiritual pursuit.

The deep and dignified emotions it contains can impress thousands of readers, and take root in the hearts of these readers solidly, unearthing a powerful inner strength.

Let those young people in this rapidly changing era be able to see the brilliance of life when they are physically and mentally exhausted and full of confusion, and illuminate the hearts of young people of our generation like a beacon. "

Lin Weimin's impassioned words made Tong Zhonggui's blood boil.

Yes, in the past, everyone only paid attention to the shortcomings of the novel "Ordinary World" when reviewing manuscripts.

But it seems that its merits have never been really examined.

(End of this chapter)