Writer 1979: Writing for the People

Compared to adult literature, children's literature sounds a bit less sophisticated.

But in reality, if you can truly make a name for yourself in this field, your economic income and fame are no less than those of adult literature.

Like Yang Hongying, Shen Shixi, Zheng Yuanjie...

These famous children's literature authors will be frequent visitors to the list of richest authors in the future!

Of course, Xu Lu didn't immediately start fantasizing about becoming the "King of Fairy Tales." At this moment, he only hoped that he could earn some royalties to raise enough money to buy a bicycle.

Manuscript fees are the primary driving force for "creative work".

Xu Lu, who felt that this path was feasible the more he thought about it, began to think about which work to "create" and who to submit it to. Then, without realizing it, he fell into a deep sleep!

……

For the next two days, Xu Lu devoted all his time and energy, except for eating and sleeping, to "Maike".

Thanks to his efforts, he finally finished writing the article on June 15th. After reading it through and confirming that there were no errors, he put the manuscript in an envelope and then went to the Shuangdai store.

The person on duty here is Zhang Xiu, the young man who helped him deliver the readers' letters to his home a few days ago. When he saw that it was Xu Lu, he quickly and warmly greeted him.

"Writer Xu! What brings you here?"

"Xiao Zhang, I've come to mail a letter..."

Zhang Xiu took the book and noticed the mark in the upper right corner, immediately realizing that it was Xu Lu's new work.

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"Have you finished your new work?"

"I finished writing it a few days ago, and I've been revising it these past two days."

Xu Lu lied without batting an eye.

In fact, if it weren't for the need to earn money to buy a bicycle, this piece, "Wheat Harvester," wouldn't have been written so quickly.

Zhang Xiu recalled what Xu Lu had said when they met a few days ago. At the time, judging from his tone, he thought that the other party had only just started writing.

Unexpectedly, that was just his modesty; only a few days later, the article was already finished.

His diligence in creating is truly admirable and worthy of our respect!

Although he was also very curious about the other party's new work, he still maintained his boundaries and did not make any presumptuous requests.

He was just hoping that Yanhe would approve the manuscript soon and publish it so that he could have a good look at it!

After accepting the envelope, Zhang Xiu picked up another bag of letters, holding one of them separately.

"These are letters forwarded by the editorial department of Yanhe. They should be the same as before, all from readers."

This was sent separately, please don't get confused.

Normally, the editorial department forwards readers' letters to authors once a month.

However, there were just too many letters being sent to Xu Lu during this period, so the editorial department had no choice but to reduce the frequency and send the letters to Xu Lu in advance.

Having learned from his previous experience, Xu Lu remained quite calm in the face of this bag of reader letters.

The only thing that piqued his curiosity was the letter that came alone. As an orphan, he hadn't received any letters from outside for many years. Why would he receive a letter this time?

He glanced at the envelope; it was an unfamiliar address, but the name looked familiar.

Chen Zhongshi!

Is it the Chen Zhongshi he knows?

He wasn't sure, but a sense of anticipation suddenly rose in his heart.

After all, he's a future great writer who will win the Mao Dun Literature Prize!

When he got home, he first put down the stack of readers' letters, and then opened Chen Zhongshi's letter.

Comrade Xu Lu:

I apologize for the intrusion in writing this letter. I hope you will forgive any inconvenience caused.

My name is Chen Zhongshi. I currently work at the Cultural Center of Baqiao District, Anxi City, doing community cultural work, and I write novels in my spare time…”

Judging from this self-introduction, the other person must be the Chen Zhongshi he knows!

But why would the other party have my mailing address? And why would they send me a letter?

Xu Lu continued reading and found the reason.

It turned out that after reading his two articles published in Yanhe last time, he thought they were exceptionally well-written, so he specifically asked the editor of Yanhe for his address.

After the cause and effect were explained, the other party first talked about their views on the two articles and the resonance they felt, just like any other reader would write a letter!

He wrote a whole bunch of stuff, and only at the end did he raise a question.

"I have been writing for more than ten years, always rooted in the countryside. I write mostly about the people and things in the production teams around me, always revolving around specific policies and current problems. I am aware of this limitation, but when I really want to dig deeper and write into people's hearts, I can never quite find the right way."

If you happen to have some free time and take a look at this piece, and offer a few points of insight into its strengths and weaknesses, it would be of great help to me.

"I spend most of my time on Baqiao Plain and rarely go into the city. If you ever go to the eastern suburbs for fieldwork or business, feel free to come to the cultural center to find me. There aren't many delicacies or fine teas in the countryside, but a bowl of hot tea and a simple home-cooked meal are available. I can also accompany you to walk around the villages on the plain and see the current state of agriculture."

I apologize again for taking up your valuable time.

This is a self-reflection and discussion about creative issues!

Xu Lu thought to himself.

As a renowned writer in the original Chinese literary world, Xu Lu has a certain understanding of Chen Zhongshi's creative career.

The other party's most famous work is naturally "White Deer Plain", but in the early part of his creative career, that is, at this time, the articles he wrote had absolutely nothing to do with the type of "White Deer Plain".

The field he is currently deeply engaged in is called "problem novels," a genre of novels that aims to raise and explore social issues. These novels have a strong focus on reality and possess the attributes of intellectual enlightenment and critique, with characters and plots largely serving the presentation and reflection on these issues.

The book he wrote earlier, "Trust," falls into this category!

He's doing quite well in this field right now.

Don't be fooled by the fact that the other party isn't very famous yet. In the original history, around this time, as the People's Daily reprinted this article, the other party's influence would suddenly rise several levels.

It is also expected to win this year's National Excellent Short Story Award.

However, if he doesn't seek change, his creative potential will essentially be limited to this point.

Chen Zhongshi himself is well aware of this, so he has been troubled by this matter recently!

He never received formal higher education in the humanities; he was a self-taught artist who came to the field later in life. He himself once said that "artistic emptiness is an innate deficiency," so his current achievements in creation can be considered a gift.

It's really hard to know where to start making changes right now.

He also tried writing reportage, but he still couldn't break out of the original framework!

I wrote to Xu Lu this time with the attitude of trying anything as a last resort.

After clearing his mind, Xu Lu took out some paper and began to reply to the other party...