Chapter 115 Talking about Children's Literature

When it comes to children's literature, there really isn't much theory.I have also written a few works for children, such as "Send to Young Readers" back then, and at the beginning there was a tone of talking to children.Later, I became estranged from children—I was abroad at that time, and I didn’t even get in touch with my little brothers——the more I wrote, the more “literary” I became, and the more I wrote, the less I resembled them.At the same time, I also wrote some works about children, such as etc., and the objects were not children.This was decades ago. After liberation, I consciously wanted to write some children's literature, so I went to find the definition of children's literature, that is, what exactly is children's literature?The answer I got is the same as everyone knows: Children's literature is literary works of various genres for children to read, including fairy tales, fables, stories, poems, dramas, novels, etc., all of which are reflected through images. Life, this life must be suitable for children's age, intelligence, interests and hobbies, etc... In Chairman Mao's "Speech at the Yan'an Forum on Literature and Art", he once pointed out to us profoundly: "We are Marxists, Marxists Doctrine tells us not to start from abstract definitions when looking at problems, but to start from objectively existing facts, and to find policies, policies, and methods from analyzing these facts.”

What is the objective reality of our children today?After the "Gang of Four" that ravaged children physically and mentally was smashed, the children were also liberated.Children and teenagers get rid of the spiritual shackles of "going against the trend" and "handing in blank papers", and head towards the avenue of "study hard and make progress every day".In the process of getting rid of the shackles and embarking on the road, they have many problems of their own, their own troubles, and their own joys.There are endless facts and endless stories to tell.

Can we draw from these stories what children need and are easy to accept, and write works that are beneficial to them, so that they can wake up, feel inspired, and move towards the general task of our new era, the three major revolutionary movements, the four The great goal of modernization is advancing. The next question is how to write children's works well.To write well what children need and are easy to accept, we must love children, go deep into children's lives, get familiar with their living environment, understand their ambivalence, and write lively, vivid and touching.Life is the only source of creation. The creative method of "theme first" is the most undesirable!Sitting in front of the book desk and thinking hard, imagining the plot and characters, the beginning and the end, and finally can only write a story that is lifeless, without reality, empty and vague.Children don't like to read this kind of story.As the saying goes: "Knowing how to read is worse than writing, and listening is worse than speaking." According to my experience, children are often the best critics of children's literature, and their eyes are sharp!This example will not be cited here.

After having a life, how to write vividly, vividly and touchingly depends on the skills of children's literature authors.Skills come from hard work.To study hard, you need to read more, read more books about children's literature, and other literature or ancient and modern Chinese and foreign books other than literature. The more the better, the book is beneficial.Practicing hard means writing more. When you encounter a meaningful fact, write it down. When you hear a vivid sentence, write it down.Accumulate for a long time, get it occasionally, and when your feelings are on the verge of breaking out, you will often have very good works.

What I have said is still empty and vague. Without specific works as the basis for discussion, it is often far-fetched.In short, as long as there are children in their eyes and children in their hearts, literary and art workers who are eager for them to be the builders of a new China, not those who write children's literature because they want to be a children's literature writer, can write Really good children's literature. I am also a person with high eyesight and low abilities, but I am willing to work together with literary and art workers who love children.April 8, 1978 (This article was originally published in the June 1978 issue of "Youth Literature and Art".)