Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 191 What we want are outsiders!

After Xing Siyuan's "family dinner" ended, except for Zhang Chao, everyone else was a little dazed, still immersed in his "personality theory".

It is not new to rely on the high degree of unity between "personality" and works to promote the sale of works. In recent years, Han Han and Xiao Si have largely taken this route.

But the personalities of these two people are actually basically "real" - Han Han is indeed quite rebellious, and Xiao Si is indeed vain.

Xing Siyuan is different. Apart from her extravagant lifestyle, she is basically a naive young lady who is well protected by her father, so she has no ulterior motives towards others. She flies around on a whim not to show off to anyone, but simply because she is too rich and lives like this.

This kind of personality is fine for daily life, but in the book market, it will only make people hate it. So she can't be "silly and sweet", but should be aloof, mysterious, relaxed, and luxurious...

Moreover, when the book "Crazy Spoiled Beautiful Bride: My Boyfriend Is Not Easy to Mess With" was first released, people were not allowed to associate the two identities of blogger and author together, but the two should be combined into one when the novel caused a certain controversy.

At the same time, we must try to keep Xing Siyuan's true identity a mystery for as long as possible...

In fact, there are also examples of marketing the mystery of the writer's true identity in China. That is the novel "The Distant Savior" which was recently made into a TV series called "The Way of Heaven".

Wang Zhiwen, who was originally supposed to play the male lead Ding Yuanying, was accidentally signed for "The Cliff" in advance after Zhang Chao was reborn, and ended up exchanging roles with Zhang Jiayi, the original male lead of "The Cliff".

The author of the novel uses the pen name "Dou Dou" and her real identity has always been in doubt. Not even a real photo of her can be found on the Internet.

According to rumors, "Dou Dou"'s real name is Li Xue. He has a high school education and was born into an oil field family. After his three works "Betrayal", "The Faraway Savior" and "The Red Dust in the Sky" became popular, he interrupted his creative career and "retired from the world".

According to the only interview she gave, the reason why she was able to write a lot of content in her works that far exceeded her life and work experience was mainly because she was influenced by a friend named "Li Hongying".

This "Li Hongying" settled in Europe in 1990 and has since continued to send Doudou a large amount of reference materials. Every time she returns to China, she tells her about some social experiences and living conditions that are unfamiliar to her.

Zhang Chao always thought that both "Dou Dou" and "Li Hongying" were probably pseudonyms of some mature writer. It was not surprising that an oilfield worker with a high school education could write novels, but it was strange that he only wrote three novels and then stopped.

You should know that one of the basic conditions for becoming a writer is a strong desire to express oneself. In most cases, this desire to express oneself will continue to strengthen due to positive feedback after the work becomes a bestseller, and it is extremely difficult to fully satisfy it.

Even Salinger, who was rumored to have written only one work in his life, The Catcher in the Rye, actually had a writing career that lasted for more than 20 years before and after he became famous, from the early 1940s to the early 1960s, including many short stories and two collections of novellas.

He even suddenly published a novel, "Hapworth 1999, 16", in 1924.

Zhang Chao wants to maintain Xing Siyuan's sense of mystery, and to some extent he is also unsure how long her creative career, which relies on the rise and fall of a group of people, can last. At present, it should not be a problem for her to finish the first novel, but it is hard to say whether there will be a second or third one.

In case she doesn't want to write anymore, as long as this sense of mystery is maintained, she can have a dignified exit.

In the following days, Zhang Chao's life entered a rare period of peace. He was finally able to concentrate on writing his thesis and novel. The next work of "Midnight Tide" has been arranged, and he just needs to wait for the flowers to bloom.

Time flies and it is May. Just after the Labor Day holiday, Zhang Chao received a call from Wang Shouguo, the Shanxi Office in Beijing: "Student Zhang, I have reported your plan to the provincial leaders. When the leaders heard the name 'Sanjin Fengliu', they were very interested.

But you need to come up with a more practical plan, otherwise the funding will not be approved. " Zhang Chao dealt with it for a while and then hung up the phone. He looked at the "Crime Police Glory" which was already half written on the computer, went over the previous ideas, printed out the unfinished novel, and drove straight to Yanshida.

When he came to Yanshi University, he naturally went to see his homeroom teacher Yu Hua. When Yu Hua saw the thick stack of papers in his hand, the curve of his mouth could not be suppressed at all.

After carefully reading Zhang Chao's manuscript, Yu Hua pondered for a long time before saying, "I haven't used this complicated method much in recent years, so I don't have any good suggestions for you in this regard.

But at the core of the novel, I think there are still some parts worth discussing. We talked about it before, Captain Cheng is looking for the fugitive, but also for himself. So, what is he looking for in himself?

The spiritual world of a normal person is highly unified, but when encountering major changes, this unified world will be shattered. Some fragments can be recovered, digested, and reshaped through introspection, reflection, patience, and submission.

But some fragments were picked up occasionally during his search, intentionally or unintentionally. These were fragments of his spirit, but could they really be put back together? Or, was he really willing to put them back together? ..."

Zhang Chao listened to Yu Hua's story and suddenly asked, "You mean - 'Ship of Theseus'?"

Yu Hua said: "It's a bit like that, but not entirely. However, we can use this paradox to explore it. A crew member of the 'Ship of Theseus' accidentally picked up an important part that was replaced. What should he do?
Zen Buddhism also has similar thoughts: when one torch is used to light the next torch, is the fire still the original fire? "

……

The two of them discussed more and more deeply. At first, Yu Hua talked more, and later Zhang Chao talked nonstop. It was not until the evening that the two of them finished.

The cleverness of Yu Hua's education of Zhang Chao lies in that it only arouses thinking, but does not make any conclusions, leaving it to Zhang Chao to explore and decide on his own. This will not interfere with Zhang Chao's independent thinking as a writer, but will also help Zhang Chao to open up a more subtle and profound realm in his novels.

Seeing that it was getting dark, Zhang Chao said, "Teacher Yu, if you have nothing else to do tonight, I'll treat you to dinner."

Yu Hua thought about it and decided that he had no plans for the evening, so he agreed.

Zhang Chao knew that Yu Hua was from Zhejiang, so he chose a rare Jiangsu and Zhejiang restaurant in Yanjing and ordered several famous Jiangsu and Zhejiang dishes in addition to "West Lake Vinegar Fish". While they were eating, Zhang Chao briefly told the story of "Three Jins Romance".

Yu Hua praised: "Your idea is good. The relationship between writers and regions is mutually beneficial. Shanxi's literary world has indeed been silent for too long. If this can help promote the younger generation of authors to the public, it will be a great achievement."

Zhang Chao smiled and said, "If you want to achieve 'immeasurable merit', you still need the east wind. The works of the writers I just mentioned are all good, but they do lack national fame. I am afraid I cannot lead them all by myself."

Yu Hua asked doubtfully: "You mean..."

Zhang Chao said: "I can't lead it alone, but with you and other teachers, it will be a great trend, unstoppable."

Yu Hua was even more confused and said, "I'm from Zhejiang..."

Zhang Chaole said: "If this series of books wants to be successful, it needs people from other places!"

(End of this chapter)