Chapter 299 Anyway, I didn't write it
Under the eager gaze of hundreds of eyes below, Lin Weimin pointed to another male student.
This male student does not need to introduce himself. Lin Weimin knows him, both before and after the time travel, Zhao Benfu.
Before traveling through time, Lin Weimin had watched the movie A World Without Thieves, which was adapted from his short story of the same name. After traveling through time, his short story Selling a Donkey won the 1981 National Excellent Short Story Award together with Lin Weimin's Death of Yura.
"Classmate Benfu, long time no see!" Lin Weimin greeted him with a relaxed expression.
Zhao Benfu did not expect that Lin Weimin still remembered him after just meeting him once when he won the award. He stood up and felt a little flattered.
After greeting each other, Zhao Benfu asked, "Teacher Lin..., I personally like your novel "The Horse Catcher" very much. I am from Jiangsu, but I am extremely fascinated by the border desert. When I fantasize about the distant desert sea, countless flashes of ideas always burst out in my mind. But I can never catch these flashes, like quicksand. I wonder if you have encountered such a situation during the creation process? How do you avoid it?"
A few years ago, the two of them received awards on the same stage. Now they have changed the venue. Lin Weimin has become the teacher on the stage, and Zhao Benfu has become the student in the audience. Fortunately, he quickly adjusted his mentality and asked questions.
"That's a very good question. I think not only Mr. Benfu, but many of the students here must have had this problem before."
When Lin Weimin said this, many people below the podium nodded in tacit understanding, feeling the same way.
After Lin Weimin finished speaking, he pondered for a moment before continuing the conversation.
“Here, we must first figure out what we want to write, which I think is a very important issue.
I’m not sure about other students, but my main creative direction is novels, so let me talk about novels.
Without going into those vague definitions, I would like to say that novels are just about telling stories. I wonder if you can accept that?"
Lin Weimin looked at the students below the podium with a questioning look, and many of them nodded. This was a common saying and there was definitely no problem with it.
"Since we are telling stories, where do the stories come from?" Lin Weimin's question made many students think.
He did not wait for everyone's answer and continued, "If today, while you are eating, a picture suddenly appears in your mind. An old woman who is skinny, hunched over and leaning on a stick is begging for food in the snow. Did this picture come out of thin air?
If you were an ignorant child, would such a picture pop up in your mind?
Of course not.
Therefore, students, you must understand that all your inspirations and flashes of ideas are not accidental, they must be the accumulation of your life and learning.
It is precisely because of these accumulations that you have the most basic desire and logic for creation, and you have to tell others the story you know.
Just now I said that writing novels is telling stories, and many people here nodded. I think you should understand that what I call storytelling is actually a popular explanation.
When we go further and want to turn this story into a novel with real literary value, we still need some other accumulation.
For example, the accumulation of language and artistic means are indispensable.
The picture I just described is the origin of the story, which is the accumulation of our life and study. Next, we need to add some spice to it.
For example, in a snowy day, this old woman knocked on the door to beg for food, the dog in the yard was barking, and the old woman was ruthlessly driven away. At the moment when the door was closed, the man threw a piece of cake to the dog. At this point, everyone may be able to hear that this is not "the rich have wine and meat, but the people on the road are frozen to death"? "
The students in the audience laughed, as Lin Weimin's description indeed coincided with the ancient poem.
“Yes, the story is almost the same, but what we need to do is to tell the story in our own way to make it wonderful and unique.
We continue this story.
The old woman begged for food in this small town for half a day, but no one was willing to give her a piece of bread. Finally, no one in the town heard knocking on the door anymore.
When Lin Weimin said this, many people had a look of sadness on their faces. In their minds, they had already imagined the scene of the old woman freezing to death in the snow due to hunger and cold.
"In the evening, a family in the town suddenly discovered that their child was missing. The family hurriedly went out to look for him, but could not find him.
It was not until a few days of wind and snow passed that a woodcutter ran into the town in panic, saying that he had found a dead body in the woods.
The people in the town looked over and found that the old woman who had been begging for food that day had frozen to death, and next to the old woman there was a pile of firewood that had not yet been ignited.
At this point, the story has developed in the same way as everyone expected.
But at this moment, Lin Weimin said: "Suddenly, someone pointed to the thick snow pile next to the old woman and seemed to have discovered something. They dug up the snow pile and found that it was the lost child. He had frozen to death just like the old woman. The difference was that there were two teeth marks on the child's neck."
In an instant, everyone in the classroom felt a chill rising from the back of their heads, and their hair stood on end.
At this point in the story, Lin Weimin paused and gave everyone a few seconds to react.
He smiled and said, "I think everyone has understood this story. On the contrary, let's summarize it. What is the core of this story? Who can tell me?"
A thoughtful look appeared on everyone's face again.
Someone said: "This is the alienation of people caused by hunger."
Someone said: "The people in the town didn't give the old woman food, so she ate the children. This is the cycle of nature, retribution will come."
Others thought even further, "This must have been a great famine, a natural disaster or a man-made disaster."
Lin Weimin nodded and said, "Yes, everyone has a point. Now let me tell you what was in my mind when I mentioned this old woman."
Curious looks appeared on everyone's faces.
"I was thinking of the great famine that occurred in southern Hebei in 1942. Now I ask everyone, what do you think is the core of this story?"
Almost without thinking, everyone answered: "Natural disaster and man-made disaster."
"Yes, natural disasters and man-made disasters. With this core, when we look back at our story, there are so many things we can add. Don't you agree?"
Lin Weimin used only a short story to vividly present the difficult and abstract content in front of them, which made the students under the podium feel admiration.
Lin Weimin looked at Zhao Benfu again and said, "Mr. Benfu, what I have said is my personal experience, for your reference."
"Thank you, Teacher Lin!"
Zhao Benfu called Lin Weimin "Teacher Lin" very naturally. Lin Weimin's story was not very profound, but the twist was chilling, which immediately added a lot of color to the originally clichéd and mediocre story.
This was just something he came up with on the spur of the moment in order to explain to himself the basis and techniques of novel writing, and Zhao Benfu was deeply impressed by it.
After answering this question, I prepared to ask questions again, and more people raised their hands.
Lin Weimin once again pointed to a male student with scowls. He stood up and asked, "Teacher Lin, did you write the novel "The Story of Stealing Officials"? Everyone is saying that the characters in this novel were written by you to allude to those literary predecessors."
Lin Weimin took a deep look at the man with the scowl and said, "Your question is not well-intentioned!"
The other students all had curious and interesting expressions on their faces. There were so many comments and analyses on "The Story of Stealing an Official" that no one knew how many versions had been circulated during this period of time. Naturally, everyone was very interested in this matter.
After a moment's silence, Lin Weimin said, "We writers are a group that loves to complain, and we even make a living by complaining. Some people like to write about the dark side of society and human nature when they are creating, and I am no exception. As long as it is in line with the facts, we will respect it. Similarly, when a work is published, the criticism or praise of readers and critics must be respected. But..."
At this point, Lin Weimin's eyes became sharp and his tone became serious.
“Respect is respect, we allow you the right to comment freely, but we never give you the right to ignore the facts in the name of literary criticism, nor do we give you the right to launch a literary inquisition and convict people for their words.
Comrades, please remember that we have made mistakes on this issue more than once.
The people of Qin had no time to mourn themselves, but later generations mourned them; if later generations mourned them but did not learn from them, they would also cause later generations to mourn later generations. "
After Lin Weimin said this, he looked quietly at the people below the podium. The entire classroom fell silent.
Everyone still remembers the wave of criticism triggered by "The Lover" a few months ago. We have also read enough about the causes and consequences of the incident in various newspapers and magazines, and naturally know the grievances and criticisms that Lin Weimin suffered in it.
Putting themselves in their shoes, most people present did not think they could escape unscathed from such a turmoil, let alone sit back and relax like Lin Weimin did, without saying a word.
So, is it excessive to write a work afterwards to allude to those who have scolded you?
Too much bullshit!
We are all engaged in literature. If we don’t do this, can we go and challenge others to a duel?
Everyone has almost tacitly accepted in their hearts that this work was written by Lin Weimin.
Besides, Mr. Lin’s “The Story of Stealing an Official” is really well written!
"When a county magistrate takes office, he must come up with clever excuses to win over the gentry and get them to pay taxes and donations. Only after they pay can the people follow suit. After getting the money, the gentry's money is returned in full, and the people's money is divided into 30% and 70%."
"Making money, doing business, it's not shabby."
"Aren't you bullying honest people?"
…
From time to time, some classic scenes and dialogues from novels float through everyone's minds. They have a kind of magical charm that makes people unable to help but think about them and they keep drilling into their minds.
At this time, Lin Weimin's face showed a hint of mockery.
"As for who wrote the novel, is it that important? It wasn't written by me anyway!"
The students all had knowing smiles on their faces.
(End of this chapter)
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