Chapter 25 Secondment Writing
Just as Rong Shihui was talking to Lin Weimin, there was a knock on his office door. Rong Shihui was about to get up when he saw an old comrade sticking his head in.
"Director Qin!" Long Shihui stood up and quickly introduced him to Lin Weimin, "This is Director Qin Chaoyang from our editorial department."
"Director Qin, this is Lin Weimin, the author of "The Death of Yura"."
Qin Chaoyang is over 60 years old, with gray hair and wrinkles on his face, but he speaks with full vigor, "Comrade Xiaolin is really young and promising!"
Lin Weimin stood up and shook hands respectfully, "Thank you, Director Qin. You can just call me Weimin."
Why is his name Xiao Lin? It's not his style to be a generation lower than others right when he comes on stage.
Qin Chaoyang smiled and said, "Okay, let's call him Weimin."
Rong Shihui explained, "We called Comrade Weimin here today because we wanted to talk to him about his novel..."
Qin Chaoyang said: "I have read the novel, it is very well written, do you have any questions?"
The publication of novels must go through three reviews and three proofreadings before they can be published. The final decision to publish must be made by the editorial department and the editor-in-chief. After "The Death of Euler" was handed to Qin Chaoyang, there was no time for discussion at the meeting.
"The quality of the manuscript is fine, but the style is a bit too dark, which is somewhat inconsistent with the overall style of our magazine."
"Um……"
Qin Chaoyang pondered for a moment, "The style is very unique, different from the current literary trend. But this is also the advantage of this manuscript. Scar literature has been very popular in the past two years, and readers are tired of it. Comrade Weimin is so young, and the quality of his works is also very outstanding. I think this manuscript can be used!"
Qin Chaoyang's words are insightful. Scar literature is a product of a special era. After Buzz Buzz was shattered, it took advantage of the momentum and reached its peak in a few years. Then it was washed ashore by the tide of reform literature. The most fundamental reason is that the whole society's attention turned to economic construction and material life.
Qin Chaoyang is now the deputy director and editor-in-chief of the editorial department. He cannot be said to have the final say in the selection of manuscripts, but at least he plays a decisive role.
Seeing that he expressed support for the publication of this article, Rong Shihui's worries were gone, "This is the best, the best."
On the other hand, Lin Weimin was very happy when he heard Qin Chaoyang personally confirm that he would use his manuscript. He felt that this trip was not in vain.
Qin Chaoyang was an editor who attached great importance to discovering and supporting new literary talents. While working at People's Literature in the 1950s, he discovered many later literary masters such as Jun Qing, Qu Bo, Ma Laqinfu, Wang Meng, Liu Binyan, and Xiao Ping.
Now he is half of the editorial department of Contemporary Magazine and still maintains this habit, supporting new people and new works as always.
Lin Weimin, a newcomer in his early twenties, was the one he valued the most. During the conversation, he learned that Lin Weimin had written an article that he wanted to leave for Zhongshan, which made him feel quite regretful.
"If you have a new manuscript in the future, please show it to us first. I can't guarantee that it will be published, but it would be good to give us some suggestions to improve the quality of the work."
Lin Weimin nodded, "Definitely in the future."
After chatting for more than ten minutes, Qin Chaoyang stood up and said, "Okay, you guys continue chatting. I'm leaving first."
Several people stood up to see him off. After Qin Chaoyang left, Lin Weimin glanced at the time. It was already past six in the evening.
"Teacher Rong, it's so late. You haven't eaten yet, right? Let's go out and have something to eat together."
"No, no, I still have a few manuscripts to read, you guys go ahead."
Lin Weimin sincerely invited him twice, but Long Shihui kept refusing, so Tang Yuqiu pulled Lin Weimin aside.
"He is really busy. Let's wait for the next opportunity."
Rong Shihui smiled and said, "Yes, yes, there will be a chance next time."
After saying goodbye to Rong Shihui, Lin Weimin and Tang Yuqiu came out of the back building. It was already past dinner time. There was an open space between the front building and the back building. A basketball court was built there, and six or seven men were playing basketball there.
"These are writers seconded from various places to come here to revise their manuscripts."
Tang Yuqiu saw that Lin Weimin's eyes were on the men playing basketball and explained to him.
Lin Weimin nodded, thinking that there should be some famous people among these people, but unfortunately he didn't know any of them.
When the two were about to leave the door, they saw a few people carrying a drunk man into the yard. Tang Yuqiu said, "Another guy who wants to pack up and leave."
Domestic writers suffered in the past few years, resulting in a deserted domestic literary scene in the years of reform and opening up. This is also the reason why many writers in later generations became famous during this period.
At that time, there was a lack of new works in the literary world, which could not meet the Chinese people's demand for literary reading. Many publishing houses and editorial departments could only find promising talents from the manuscripts submitted by some amateur authors.
But these promising talents have no writing experience, or very little, so someone came up with the idea of "seconding them to write".
These promising talents are seconded to publishing houses and editorial departments to write and revise manuscripts. They live and eat here and revise their works with the help of editors until they meet the requirements and quality for publication.
The National Literature Publishing House is also doing the same thing, and there are quite a few people on loan. Many of the seconded talents live in the two buildings in the institute, and they stay for several months or a year.
There are some authors who really can't revise their manuscripts. Their works are eventually rejected, and they can only drink heavily to drown their sorrows, and finally pack up and leave.
This approach did indeed cultivate a group of talents for the literary world at that time.
For example, Ma Jicai wrote a book called "The Boxer Rebellion" which was noticed by the National Literature Publishing House, and then he was seconded to the publishing house. He stayed there for two years. Not only did he revise the manuscript of "The Boxer Rebellion", but he also wrote its sister work "The Magic Lamp" during this period.
On the way back, Lin Weimin took Tang Yuqiu to a state-owned restaurant for a meal.
She had been running around for his manuscript and hadn't even had time to eat. He couldn't let her go back hungry.
While eating, Tang Yuqiu was still chatting with him about her experiences at the National Literature Publishing House. Lin Weimin felt quite emotional after listening to her.
This is truly the best era for literature. I am afraid there will never be such a good time five hundred years ago or five hundred years later.
Many people who have experienced such an era will always sigh or get angry from time to time after several years. It has only been a few years, how could literature become something that everyone hates?
Lin Weimin, who lives in this era, finally understands that it is always the times that create heroes, not heroes that create the times.
Those names and works recorded in the monuments of the times are certainly due to their own talents, but the bigger reason is that this era gave them the opportunity to shine.
I’m getting ready to recommend it, and I’ll update three times in the next few days.
(End of this chapter)
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