Back to 80: My literary life

Chapter 99 Changes in Editorial Department Personnel

Soon, a big fight broke out in Editor He's office. At first, the two of them were still discussing matters, arguing about the content of the novel "Donkey Gets Water", but gradually escalated later.

"Old He, you are so stubborn! You don't want such novels? Look at what novels are published in Yanhe magazine now? I can't even stand them!"

"That's none of your business! Dong Mo! Don't forget your identity. You are the leader of the poetry group, not the novel group! Don't overdo it!"

"you you"

Dong Mo was so angry that he couldn't speak. Fang Minghua and several people rushed in and pulled Dong Mo away.

Seeing that Dong Mo was still angry when he returned to his office, Fang Minghua poured him a glass of water and said: "Editor Dong, it's just a novel, it's not worth your making such a big fuss. Chairman Wang Meng said, if "Yanhe" If you don't accept it, you can submit it to "Yanjing Literature"."

Dong Mo sighed and said: "Xiao Fang, this is not a problem with a novel. Stanley Ho is so stubborn and conservative. If this continues, what will happen to Yanhe magazine? You know, novels account for the majority of the magazine. ."

Fang Minghua was also speechless.

The three deputy editors of "Yanhe" magazine have great power. If they don't like the work, it won't work even if the editor agrees, and vice versa. This actually acts as a mutual restriction.

Of course, there are advantages and disadvantages. Editor-in-chief He's conservatism led to the rejection of many submissions. The decline in magazine sales is not unrelated to this.

This was not something Fang Minghua could solve, nor was it something he considered. He comforted Hui Dong Mo, left the building, immediately rode to the Bell Tower Post Office, and sent the novel by registered mail!
  President Huang, don’t blame me.

It’s because they don’t want it.

The reply from "Yenjing Literature" was very fast. Just over a week later, Fang Minghua received a reply saying that the manuscript had been adopted and would be published in the October issue, and a remittance slip for 512 yuan was also included. Payment is based on 10 yuan per thousand words, the highest standard in the industry.

Fang Minghua thought this incident was over and he was planning a new novel. Unexpectedly, the ripples caused had just begun.

It's already October, and the weather is getting cooler. Fang Minghua's dormitory is extremely lively tonight. It turns out that the Qunmu Literary Club is holding an event tonight.

It was originally placed at Jia Pingwa's house, but her daughter-in-law and children were at home, and the house was small and inconvenient. Everyone else was the same, except Fang Minghua, who was single and had a dormitory at work, so she placed it here.

Fang Minghua didn't have any objections, and even bought peanuts and melon seeds. This was not a serious seminar, so everyone chatted while eating melon seeds.

This money was not paid by Fang Minghua. According to the original club regulations, everyone paid an honor fee or shame fee of one yuan every quarter, which was used for this.

But the content of the conversation was quite serious.

"Everyone, we have all seen that the book "The Sun Also Rises" written by Xiao Fang some time ago caused great controversy in the literary world, mainly because of this writing technique. Today we will let Xiao Fang talk about consciousness. flow."

Jia Pingwa made the opening remarks.

"Of course I don't mean that everyone must use this method of writing. I mean to open everyone's eyes and change their thinking. I estimate that in the future, various writing methods and schools will emerge in endlessly in the literary world."

"Isn't that right?" Li Tianfang took over: "The article "The Donkey Gets Water" that Xiao Fang published in "Yanjing Literature" two days ago was not criticized for using the magical realism popular in Latin American literature."

"Hey, Sister Li, I heard that Xiao Fang's novel was rejected by Editor He, and Editor Dong even had a quarrel with her over it." It was Lu Yao who spoke.

"Hey, you don't know, the quarrel was so fierce that day, we just dragged Editor Dong away."

Li Tianfang was also the editor of the editorial department of "Yanhe" and was present at the time.

Regarding the quarrels between editors, especially the gossip between editors-in-chief, everyone present pricked up their ears, and even Chen Zhongshi became interested.

"Hey, don't go off topic." Jia Pingwa stopped everyone's gossip in time.

Fang Minghua naturally didn't want to say anything. To be honest, he didn't want to mention this matter, so he just let it go.

Seeing what Jia Pingwa said, Fang Minghua started talking about stream-of-consciousness novels.

Basically, it is based on the article published by Shuo Fang. Of course, since everyone present is a writer, there is no need to go into such detail about some popular science things. "As Jia Ge said, in the future the literary world can be said to be full of flowers. Reform and opening up will not only impact the lives of ordinary people, but also impact the thoughts of domestic literary writers. In the next period of time, some writing genres and techniques of European and American writers will Dominate the literary world.”

Everyone listened carefully.

This kind of formal chat only lasted for more than an hour, and the rest was just casual chat. Fortunately, there was no mahjong game tonight.

At almost ten o'clock in the evening, the party ended and everyone left one after another. Lu Yao lived in the Writers Association next door, so he was the last to leave. He also helped Fang Minghua clean up the room and said before leaving:
  "Xiao Fang, I heard that there are changes in the personnel of the magazine's editorial department?"

"Change? How to change?"

"I just heard that Stanley Ho is no longer the deputy editor and novel team leader." Lu Yao said.

"According to age, I remember that Editor He will retire next year, right? Why don't you quit?"

"Look at the sharp decline in sales of Yanhe magazine. As the deputy editor-in-chief of novels, she must be responsible. The most important thing is that she had a quarrel with President Huang a few days ago."

"Fighting with President Huang?"

"You do not know?"

"I really don't know. To be honest, I rarely go to the front building recently." Fang Minghua told the truth.

"Not because of the continued decline in sales in October, President Huang called a meeting with several major leaders of the editorial department. At the meeting, he criticized the novel team, saying that the published articles were of low quality and unattractive, and Editor He couldn't sit still. , and we started arguing with President Huang on the spot.”

"Really, what's the result?"

"At that time, Editor He got angry and said that he disliked the editing work of the novel team. As the team leader, I resigned, including the deputy editor!" Lu Yao said.

"Editor He was just saying angry words, right?" Fang Minghua said with a smile.

"Yes, but President Huang took it seriously. He agreed to Editor He's resignation on the spot and immediately reported it to the Writers' Association. I heard that the Writers' Association also approved it."

What the hell!

"Is President Huang just waiting for Editor He to say this?" Fang Minghua asked.

"Haha, that's about it. Don't look at President Huang smiling and laughing all day long, but he's still haunted."

Also, the top leader of the magazine has been in this position for decades. How can he do it without some skills?
  "Then who will be the deputy editor?"

"I heard it's Li Tianfang, who is also the leader of the novel team."

Oh.
  "Sister Li is relatively more open-minded," Fang Minghua said.

Lu Yao nodded after hearing this.

"Li Tianfang is open-minded, but to be honest, he is not very accurate when reading articles." Lu Yao said.

this?

"But this matter has nothing to do with us. Brother Lu, you are a professional writer of the Writers Association. As for me, I still stay in the Security Department. When submitting articles, if suitable, I can submit to Sister Li."

"Haha, Xiao Fang, it doesn't have much influence on me, but not you."

"I?"

"I heard that President Huang wants you to join the novel team of the editorial department as an editor to assist Li Tianfang." Lu Yao said slowly.

ah?!
  　Thanks to book friend 20180216205546145 for the reward, and thanks to Lonely Dog and others for their monthly votes.
  　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)