Exciting 1979!

Chapter 33: "Story Club" Visitors (asking for monthly tickets!)

After leaving the Second Traditional Chinese Medicine Factory, Wei Ming took the bus. After leaving the TV station, it was rush hour and the bus was very crowded, so he had to stand the whole time.

I kind of miss the Toad driver.

After returning, Wei Ming immediately devoted himself to new creation, and put the revision of the manuscript aside for a while.

Wei Ming, who was writing furiously, went downstairs to have a meal. He deliberately avoided the peak hour, ate the leftovers by himself and then went back to the room to continue.

As I was writing, someone knocked on the door.

"Who?"

"I."

It’s Professor Qu.

When the door opened, it wasn't just Professor Qu, there was also a well-mannered young man next to her.

Professor Qu introduced: "Xiao Wei, this is Comrade He Chengwei, the deputy editor-in-chief of Story Club."

"Oh, Editor-in-Chief He, you are already the editor-in-chief at such a young age?" Wei Ming shook hands with the other party.

He Chengwei is 29 years old now, but he is already the de facto helmsman of "Story Club", but he is too young and only holds a deputy position. Later, relying on the brilliant performance of "Story Club", he also served as the president of Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House, a powerful figure.

Wei Ming invited the two of them in, and He Chengwei explained his purpose, saying that he was there to deliver his manuscript fee.

"Such Love" is about 15 words. He Chengwei took out an envelope with yuan in it. According to the highest standard of yuan per thousand words, he was still nodded.

However, it is very unusual that the manuscript fee is paid before it is published, and the vice president delivers it personally to the door.

Afterwards, He Chengwei truthfully told what happened today.

"The meeting we held today was a storytelling and reading meeting. Storytellers from all over the country brought new stories, but our editors and several experts were not very satisfied."

Professor Qu added: "They were all clichés, and then I thought of your story and asked a storyteller to tell it."

Needless to say, this story won applause from the audience. After all, even among all the stories published in "Story Club" over the years, this one is worth telling.

Everyone agreed that this was the best and most mature story today, and it was also very inspiring for their creative ideas.

He Chengwei learned from Professor Qu that the author of this story is a future star in the literary world. Like Professor Qu, he is from Peking University and is a young writer invited by Harvest to revise the manuscript.

At the age of 18, he was able to publish a novel in "Harvest", and he is from Peking University. His future achievements are limitless, and he will definitely be a figure in the literary world!
Such a person is willing to contribute to their "Story Club". This is clearly a sign of humility and his sentiments are touching!

So He Chengwei immediately took out 15 yuan and wanted to deliver it to Wei Ming personally. If he gave more, it would be against the rules.

By the way, he also wanted to hear what Wei Ming thought about the development of "Story Club".

An author who can write such a good story must know what readers want.

"What do you want? You want a good story." Wei Ming said some nonsense and then further elaborated on his point of view.

"We all grew up listening to stories when we were young. Most of us still remember them today and will probably continue to tell them to our descendants. The advantage of stories is that they can be passed down orally, giving them a more lasting vitality. This is more down-to-earth than novels." This is the first time He Chengwei has heard the term "down-to-earth", and it sounds very vivid.

Wei Ming: "So the stories needed for Story Club must inherit the strengths of folk tales, adopt a form that the Chinese people love and enjoy, use plain language to portray characters, have a clear and concise structure, and have a complete and coherent story. It is best if the plot develops in a single line, and try to use short sentences."

He Chengwei recalled Wei Ming's "Such Love", which really perfectly met the points he mentioned, especially the "try to use short sentences" point. The reading experience is much more comfortable than those literary works that almost want to be a whole page without paragraphs.

"As for the subject matter, I also have some suggestions of my own, that is, diversity. Take "Such Love" as an example. I'm afraid that the recent issues of "Story Club" do not have stories that specifically focus on love."

He Chengwei nodded. It was true. The editors were worried that things about love would be condemned, but Wei Ming's article itself was to criticize and ridicule some wrong views on love and marriage, so it was very appropriate.

Wei Mingdao said: "If we want to capture the most users, it would be best if each issue could include romance, family, officialdom, suspense, jokes, horror, and foreign stories. Even if readers don't like all of the stories, they will feel that they have made a good purchase because of the rich content. In addition, we can also increase the repurchase rate of readers and cultivate subscription habits by staggered serialization of some novellas."

This is also the stable style that "Story Club" gradually formed later. With so many stories, there is always one that suits you.

After hearing this, He Chengwei was suddenly enlightened. It was a brilliant idea. It was truly a brilliant idea!
He chatted with Wei Ming for more than an hour and felt that he benefited a lot. He also sincerely invited Wei Ming to join their discussion tomorrow.

Wei Ming declined. He pointed to his desk and said, "I suddenly had an idea for a novel and I'm at the critical juncture of writing it."

"Oh, I'm so sorry to bother you this time. That's all for today. Thank you very much, Comrade Wei Ming, for your advice. Could you please leave your contact number in Yanjing so that we can communicate more conveniently."

"Of course." Wei Ming left the phone number of Peking University South Gate.

He Chengwei added, "We will arrange for your article "Such Love" to be published in the upcoming November issue. You are also welcome to continue to submit articles. We are willing to pay the highest level of remuneration."

It is difficult for Wei Ming to get top royalties from publications such as "Harvest" and "Yenching Literature and Art", but submitting to "Story Club" is a dimensionality reduction attack. He Chengwei is also willing to pay a large sum of money to set an example for other story creators.

"Okay," Wei Ming agreed, "but I hope I can use a pen name for my works in Story Club."

"Ah?" He Chengwei wanted to wait for Wei Ming to become famous in the literary world and then use his name to promote the magazine, but you decided to change your pen name.

Wei Ming was afraid that he might misunderstand, so he added: "This is my creative habit. I use different names for works of different styles."

Professor Qu said, "That's right. You may not know that Xiao Wei is also a children's literature writer. He wrote those fairy tales under another pen name, Wei Something."

"Oh, sir, you are so talented!"

He Chengwei admired him even more. He could write serious literature, children's literature, and even interesting stories that the common people could read. Was there anything he couldn't do?
As for the new pen name, Wei Ming thought for a while and said, "Let's call it Wei Kuangren."

He Chengwei thought: He is indeed a young man with great potential, even his pen name is so crazy.

Wei Ming explained: "I like Lu Xun very much, especially Diary of a Madman."

"That's it."

Wei Ming also liked Lao She, especially "Camel Xiangzi". Between Wei Kuangren and Wei Xiang, he decisively chose the former.

After sending Chief Editor He out, Professor Qu asked Wei Ming: "You have a strong desire to create. What are you writing about now?"

Wei Ming smiled and said, "A short story."

~
(End of this chapter)