Chapter 13 Writing essays should have a scientific attitude—a letter to children

Dear children: Recently, I often get letters from you, asking me how to write my composition well. I would like to take this opportunity of the 60th anniversary of the May 4th Movement to talk to children about one of the demands of the May 4th Movement - science. What I want to say is that you must have a scientific attitude when writing essays, that is, be serious and honest, and seek truth from facts. Without a scientific attitude, you will definitely not be able to write sincere and touching articles. As far as I have read the ancient and modern Chinese and foreign articles, all works with sincere feelings and realistic scenes always make me feel that the writing is emotional and reasonable, as if seeing the scene and hearing the sound.Otherwise, the impression given to readers will be counterproductive.

For example, an article describing a night scene started like this: "I walked out the door and looked up, oh, the moon is as round as a mirror, and the sky is full of stars. This bright and splendid night scene brought me endless joy... " "The moon is full like a mirror" and "the sky is full of stars", these two sentences are good sentences to describe the night scene separately, but when written together, they become "absurd words". How dare I say that?Because I used to write such absurd sentences, and later I went to the hospital to recuperate due to illness, lying on the bed and watching the moon and stars at many nights, I realized Cao Cao's poem: "The moon and stars are rare, and the black magpies fly south "How real is the description of the scenery!Because once the "moon" is "bright", the "stars" will naturally become "thin", or even invisible.What I wrote before, "The stars and the moon shine together" is a ridiculous and ignorant statement.

To give another example, there is an article describing a visit to a garden on National Day, which begins like this: "The park on National Day is so rich and colorful. The chrysanthemums and peonies on the flower bed facing you are competing for beauty, and the flowers in my heart are so beautiful." Then it will bloom..." These few words, if they describe the flower market in Guangzhou during the Spring Festival, it is still possible, but in Beijing during the National Day, it is impossible for chrysanthemums and peonies to compete for beauty in the flower beds, because peonies Not a flower that blooms in October in the north.

The description of the scene in the article is untrue, which makes readers doubt the authenticity of the author's "infinite joy" and "excited" feelings. Children, it is difficult to write an article, and it is easy to say that it is easy. The works that have been handed down from all over the world have been evaluated by thousands of readers. article.Isn't it the easiest thing for children to tell the truth?Isn't it much easier to write the real situation than to hold your head and think hard and piece together plagiarism? About the experience and lessons of how to write a good composition, all I can say is these.I wish you happiness and progress!

Your faithful friend Bing Xin April 16, 1979