Chapter 35 15. Young Writers (1)

It was only after I started writing that I read "People's Literature" and "Literary News" and began to pay attention to our so-called literary situation.Before that, I had the impression that most of the writing was not good-looking, and that a young man with a hairy head would have a kind of ambition or ambition when he picked up a pen. Although this is naive, it is not surprising: if I think what I write is modern With the extension of the achievements in the literary world, maybe it is better for me not to write, and continue to actively be my league cadre, the future may be much more limitless.

In 1954, the Literary and Art Newspaper began to criticize the "one-book doctrine." I couldn't understand it at all. Apart from book after book, is there anything else more important and sacred than the writer's task?One book is not good, two books, three books or zero books, no books is better? Among all the criticisms against Ding Ling, none is more absurd and unpopular than criticizing "one book doctrine".I, an outsider at the time, thought so. Criticisms of Lu Ling's "Battle on the Lowlands" appeared, and the criticism was sublime and brilliant.I remember that Comrade Song Zhi wrote such a high-level text.And when I first read this novel, I felt that it was written with euphemism and affection. It was a more moving one among the Chinese novels I read in those years, and it was higher than many other ones.For example, a famous old writer’s work was published in a newspaper. It described a young man in the countryside going to get married. The bride and her relatives and friends were in a hurry, and finally held the wedding ceremony after being late for a long time and with no clothes left.Although the meaning of such a novel is good, it is really difficult to compliment it.This work was strongly advocated by the editor's note in the newspaper.

And the struggle to criticize the "Hu Feng counter-revolutionary clique" that started in 1955 made me even more confused.Chairman Mao's note is really well written, hits the nail on the head, every word roars, not only deafening, but also earth-shattering - also dizzy.This incident triggered an anti-revolutionary movement in various agencies. In our small unit, the cook was pulled out, and he said something about Soong Ching Ling.Some days, instead of cooking, let him sweep the floor.An old acquaintance from Hebei High School, who was also a member of an underground outlying organization, was even more delighted to be scolded.I was secretly surprised and felt terrible.I think it's overdone, but it's a brilliant move.I want to learn from it and improve.

However, "Little Douer" which I published in 1954 was very revolutionary, and it was about anti-revolutionary themes (I didn't realize until after it was published that I was in the light of anti-revolutionary themes).After finishing the first draft of "Long Live Youth", I started to write something short.After finishing writing, the manuscript was sent to People's Literature without postage stamps.At that time, it was stipulated that the postage of manuscripts was free of charge.In the manuscript, I have a large lyric at the end, Antonov's way.I think the focus of the novel is not to report bad guys, but to highlight the contrast between light and darkness and the sharp changes faced by young people in New China.I heard a story about a child who was crippled by polio. She was often beaten by her mother, but when she was beaten after liberation, she cried: "Chairman Mao is not allowed to beat people!" This disabled girl Relying on the Communist Party, Chairman Mao!Her story made me cry.

The lyrical tail of my "Little Douer" was completely deleted by Ge Luo, the deputy editor-in-chief of "People's Literature" magazine (the so-called "royal" publication with the most authority and status in the country at that time).I was very distressed, so I wrote a letter to protest.Editor-in-Chief Ge interviewed me and pointed out that my writing was messy and vulgar.This was the first setback for my "sour mantou-sentimental" (sentimental) doctrine. My original essay was sent to "New Observation". The editor's rejection letter said that my writing was very emotional, but too loose.After receiving the rejected manuscript, I made up a story in 20 minutes, stringed together the same content, sent it out, and immediately published it in "Literary Learning" and was praised.I have always been embarrassed to make up stories, and I always feel that writing novels in the way of making up stories is close to deceiving people with small tricks.I finally admitted later that writing a novel is inseparable from making a story.

Alas, writing a novel should not be too vulgar, it is too vulgar like selling dog meat buns.Don’t be too high-minded and narcissistic: if you are too high-spirited, you shouldn’t get involved in novels at all. This is a kind of novel that has been popular in restaurants and teahouses since ancient times, and is loved by chariots and pulp traders. style. Previously, after all kinds of hardships, in the last few weeks, I felt like I had a serious illness. I was dizzy, my eyes were full of stars, I couldn’t sleep or eat, my limbs were weak, and I was not sure. I finished the first draft of "Long Live Youth".Afraid of losing the manuscript, I copied a considerable part of the manuscript into a large notebook, and bought a lot of 500-character vertical manuscript paper, and copied it on the manuscript paper.In addition to myself, I also entrusted my sister Wang Ming and a colleague, Comrade Zhu Wenhui, to help me transcribe.The transcription was also finished, and by the winter of 1954, a full year since I started writing, I had a thick manuscript.

Literature is such a thing. Anyone who is proud, especially the frustrated, the unemployed, the poor who pretend to be underappreciated, the narcissist, the sleepwalker, the enthusiastic, the sense of mission, or the delusional, has a personal relationship with editors and publishers You can try them all, and you can show your skills in a small way. Moreover, in the era of planned economy, writing was almost the only thing that could not be planned and arranged. You could write as you wanted, and you could get things done when you finished writing. How could there be any writers in that era Many also.

At the same time, once you are engaged in that thing called practice work (a sour and modest term), no matter how much you have learned, what position and education you have, how noble personality you have, how much experience you have, how much experience you have. Talent inspiration, whimsy and sacrifice heroism...you are still not enough, you are only half a bottle of vinegar at best.