Chapter 49 another world

——It’s still about martial arts one Many of my good friends are like me. They have lived with a pen for many years, so they all feel that this kind of life is extremely painful. As long as they pick up a pen, they will feel like a big head. I am the only exception, I feel differently. It is also very happy to pick up a pen sometimes. The wine is hot, the good girl is sitting, and suddenly a huge bill arrives, everyone will lose their color, a certain one strokes the pen, and the matter is over, all the family and friends rush away, the bill has been paid at least tonight, how can it not be Are you happy?

As for making money by signing, signing a contract and signing a receipt, the check will come as soon as you sign it, without any effort. In this case, even if you don't want to be happy, it is very difficult. But if you see the manuscript spread out in front of you, you will not be happy even if you want to. At present, you can only write the manuscript.Especially when writing long-form serials, even if you miss a day of writing, you will feel as if you have committed a crime in your heart, even if others don’t say anything about you.Pan Lei once told me that once the newspaper was destroyed and he couldn't write it, this famous writer and director who has been in the film and literature circles of Hong Kong and Taiwan couldn't help but burst into tears.

——What a lovely attitude this is, what a lovely heart this person has. For a while, I wrote like a tortoise, and it was useless to crawl all over the ground every day. Ni Kuang asked me: "Why can't you write a manuscript recently?" "Because I'm in a bad mood." I said "Why are you in a bad mood?" "Because I can't write a manuscript." This joke is by no means a joke. Only those who have written for a living for thirty years can understand the pain involved. two But writing essays is different. For me, writing essays is like another world, an elegant and leisurely world, full of rich life experiences and fun.

In fact, I am not qualified to write essays at all. A few days ago, I was fortunate to sit with Mr. Tang Lusun and Mr. Xia Yuanyu. Conversation, I understand the difficulty of essays better. If you don't have that kind of rich knowledge and experience, if you don't have that kind of broad-mindedness and incisive insights, if you don't have that kind of compassionate sense of humor, if you want to write essays at all, you will be a slave girl, and you will be boring yourself. Unfortunately, I just love to write. Writing essays is at least not like writing long-form serials. You always feel as if there is a whip whipping you behind.

Fortunately, I still have a little self-knowledge, so most of what I write is about things I know better. I dare to write about friendship, because I left home when I was young and had no relatives or reasons, so I have already learned a little about the value of friendship. I dare to write "A person in the rivers and lakes can't help himself", because I deeply understand the bitterness and helpless pain of a person in the rivers and lakes. I dare to write about eating because I am delicious. I dare to write about drinking, because although I haven't reached the artistic conception of "the drunken country road is stable and frequent, and other places are unbearable", I often have "five-flowered horses, thousands of gold, and the children will be exchanged for fine wines. It's the kind of heroism that sells the eternal sorrow".

Sometimes, of course, I also write a little about martial arts novels. After writing martial arts novels for so many years, it is inevitable that I will feel a little bit emotional in my heart. This feeling was the deepest in the first two drafts I wrote of this type of essay. That was written many years ago. At that time, martial arts novels had not been recognized as novels at all. At that time, martial arts novels were just a small volume, with poor printing, rough paper, careless editing and proofreading, and the content was considered by most people to be "extremely vulgar".That was more than ten years ago. At that time, I was still a young and courageous young death squad, with blood surging in my chest from time to time, and I dared to charge at any time.

Now, I will rewrite that short article that is neither good nor good, so that everyone can compare and see whether the status of martial arts novels now has a fairer evaluation than it did back then. three Sixteen years ago, when it was first made into a movie (directed by Xu Zenghong, starring Xing Hui, etc.), I had the following thoughts: Writing a script and writing a novel are the same in basic principles, but different in technique. A novel can use words to express ideas, but the expression of a script can only be limited to words, actions and pictures, and there are bound to be many restrictions.

A script of a certain standard should also be quite "readable". Therefore, the scripts of Bernard Shaw, Ibsen, Shakespeare, etc., are not only famous plays, but also masterpieces. But under normal circumstances, there are "novels" first, and then there are "scripts". There are many movies adapted from novels, and this is a successful example. In addition, there are, Dushan Enmity", "Ship of Fools", as well as "Clouds and Mud", "Iron Hands Ruthless", etc. But it is a very special example. There is a script first, and the novel came out after the filming started, but it is obviously adapted from a "novel". Because this story has been brewing in my heart for a long time, I want to What was written was originally a "novel", not a "script".A novel and a screenplay are not identical, but the idea is the same.

The biggest common problem with writing martial arts novels is: too much nonsense, too many details, too many characters, and too many plots.Under such circumstances, adapting a martial arts novel into a movie script becomes a thankless task. No one can change it into "a" movie, and no one can write "The One-Armed Swordsman" as "a" movie. A very successful novel. Just because there is a script first, so when writing this novel, it is inevitable to be more or less affected, so I believe this novel will not have too many side details, too much nonsense, but whether to return to it because of this What about reducing the fun of "martial arts novels"?I dare not deny it, nor dare I predict it.

I just want to make a try. I dare not hope that this attempt will be successful, but in any case, "success" always comes from "trying". Four One day I was watching a rehearsal for a Taiwan TV company. Most of the rehearsals were my friends, and most of my friends were excellent actors. One of them is not only an excellent actor, but also an excellent screenwriter and an excellent director. He once directed an excellent and unconventional film and won applause at many film festivals. What kind of person, of course, is very intelligent and well-educated in literature, he suddenly said to me: "I have never read martial arts novels, when will you send me a set of the one you think is the most proud, and let me read what is written in martial arts novels. What exactly is it?"

I smile. I can only smile because I understand what he means. He doesn't think martial arts novels are worth reading, so he wants to read them now, just because I'm his friend, and I'm a little curious. He believes that the readers of martial arts novels will never be people of his class, and they will never be senior intellectuals with novel ideas. He said he wanted to read it, but in his heart he had already denied the value of martial arts novels. And he has never read martial arts novels at all, and he has no idea what martial arts novels are about. I don't blame him, not because he is my friend, so I don't blame him, but because martial arts novels do give people a deep-rooted concept, making people think that they know what it is even if they don't read it. He is not alone in this conception; many people have said the same thing to me.The attitude and psychology when speaking are almost the same. Because martial arts novels have indeed fallen into a fixed form. The forms of martial arts novels can be roughly divided into several types: A young man with ambition and "extraordinary talent", how to learn martial arts hard, how to be proud and stand out after learning. Of course, this journey includes countless fabulous coincidences and adventures. Of course, it also includes a period of hatred, a period of love, and finally revenge and revenge. How does an honest chivalrous man use his wisdom and martial arts to break a large-scale evil force in the Jianghu? "Rongshu" masquerades as all kinds of people, and even their close relatives, friends, parents and wives can't tell the authenticity. So this kind of story doesn't have to be bizarre, exciting, and eclectic. This form is not bad, but it is a pity that too much is written, and it has become a cliché and a formula. If someone writes the story more mysteriously, it will be considered "new", and the story will change more. , it will be considered a "change", but in fact it has not broken through this form at all. "New" and "change" do not mean this. It is about the psychological process of how a teenager seduces other people's wives. "International Airport" is about how a person re-recognizes himself in extreme danger. "Little Women" is about youth and joy.What is written is courage and value, as well as the preciousness of life. "Between Mice and Men" is about the pride and humbleness of human nature... These great writers, because of their keen observation and rich imagination, powerfully portrayed human nature and expressed their themes, so that readers can not only be moved by the joys and sorrows of the characters in their books, but also understand the world. People and things, see deeper and farther. The way they behave is often stunning. Such a story, such a style of writing, can also be used in martial arts novels. Why has no one written it? Who stipulates how martial arts novels must be written in order to be considered authentic martial arts novels? Martial arts novels are the same as other novels, as long as you can attract readers and make readers be moved by your characters and stories, you are considered successful. One day I met a girl I liked very much. He didn't read many books, but he wasn't stupid. When she knew that I was a "writer", her eyes lit up immediately, and she immediately asked me: "What kind of novel are you writing?" I lie, but I never lie in front of the person I like, because there is no one in the world whose memory is so good that I can always remember my lies. If I like her, I will inevitably have to get along with her often. Lies will be exposed. So I said, "I'm writing martial arts novels." After she heard this, the excited and caring light in her eyes disappeared immediately. I didn't even dare to look at her, because I had already guessed what kind of expression she would have. After a long time, she told me with some humility: "I never read martial arts novels." It wasn't until I got to know her very well that I dared to ask her, "Why don't you watch it?" Her answer surprised me. "I don't understand," she said. Martial arts novels are originally popular, so why do people not understand them? I thought for a long time before I figured it out. What she can't understand are the "self-contained" dialogues in martial arts novels, the complicated and difficult move names, and the four-character, "archaic" descriptions. She is very strange, why can't Wuxia's novels be written in a simpler and clearer way?Why not write the dialogue in a more lifelike and humane way. I can only explain: "Because we are writing about ancient events and ancient characters." She immediately asked: "How do you know what people in ancient times spoke like? Have you ever heard them speak?" I was stunned, I couldn't answer! She also said: "Do you think that the dialogues in Pingju opera and ancient novels are the way ancient people speak? Even if it is true, you don't have to write like that, because the biggest purpose of your novels is to let people read them. If others don’t understand it, don’t read it, if others don’t read it, what do you write?” Her speaking skills are not brilliant, but she is very direct. What she said might not be entirely true, but at least there was some truth to it. Writing a novel is of course for others to read, and the more people who read it, the better. Of course some people read martial arts novels, but the readers of martial arts novels are almost the same as martial arts novels themselves. If we want to win more readers, we must try to get people who don't read martial arts novels to also read martial arts novels, and try to change their concept of martial arts novels. So we have to be new and change! To be new, to change, to try, to absorb. Many people think that the most prosperous place for novels today is not in Europe and the United States, but in Japan. Because the Japanese novel not only maintains its own long tradition, but also absorbs it. It absorbed Chinese classical literature, and also absorbed a lot of Western thought. Japanese authors were able to integrate the essence of foreign literary works to create a new national style of literature, why can't the authors of martial arts novels. Someone said: "Since Tai Shigong's "Biography of the Ranger", there have been martial arts novels in China." Since martial arts novels also have their own long tradition, if we can absorb the essence of other literary works as much as possible, one day we will be able to create a new style of martial arts novels, an independent style, so that martial arts novels can also be included in literature. Occupy a place in the field so that others cannot deny its value. Let people who don't read martial arts novels also read martial arts novels. This is our greatest wish. Although our strength is not enough now, we should at least go on this road, break free from all shackles and go on this road. It's a bit late for us to start now, but it's not too late. Fives Now my hope is still the same as before. I just hope that everyone can agree that there are only two kinds of novels—one is good and the other is bad. Good novels are good to read, and bad novels are hard to read.