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Chapter 425 0415 [Niche Can Also Become Mainstream]

"Today, I've invited a senior reporter from Southern Metropolis Daily to give you a detailed explanation of what nonfiction literature is."

Chen Guiliang's last words stunned everyone.

what's going on? ? ?
Has Chen Guiliang reconciled with the Southern Clique?

A young man wearing glasses walked onto the stage: "Hello, editors, writers, and friends from the media. I am Ji Xuguang, a reporter from the In-Depth News Department of Southern Metropolis Daily..."

This guy is a complicated story.

He was born in 1980, so he can be considered a member of the post-80s generation.

This year he's already made a name for himself, creating several major headlines. He's poised to become even more impressive in the future: the journalist wanted case, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, the Los Angeles slave case…

He would become an unparalleled reporter at Southern Metropolis Daily, and then suddenly leave the Southern Media Group.

Because he internally reported on the leaders of the Southern Media Group, they used his reports to blackmail companies. Moreover, after successfully blackmailing them, they ordered him not to report any more negative news about the companies. After he reported on the leaders, the Southern Metropolis Daily also withheld his royalties and suppressed his articles without any reason.

This guy seemed to genuinely believe in that kind of thing. Later, he immigrated to the US and completely became a traitor. He distorted the truth, spoke ill of China, and fawned over the US without any scruples.

Years later, the pandemic arrived.

Ji Xuguang's American Dream was shattered, and he wrote a book called "America is Toxic," which deeply analyzes and exposes America's problems.

He added, “We have constructed one meaning after another, such as America being the most advanced, America being the most law-abiding country… We constantly maintain logical consistency and deceive ourselves. In reality, we know very little about the essence of the American Dream… TV series like ‘A Native of Beijing in New York’ also need to repent. It has given people serious misguidance. We cannot lose faith in our own national culture.”

This guy lived in the US for seven years, left behind a book called "America is Toxic," and slunk back to China.

Looking at his life experience, he can be considered a typical example of a certain type of person.

Chen Guiliang invited him to explain nonfiction writing, which was somewhat of a wicked joke.

The veteran writers in the audience listened with great interest. But some people didn't take it seriously, equating nonfiction literature with documentary literature.

Grassroots writing, which emerged in the early 90s, exploded in recent years and has now become the mainstream of the literary world.

But anything that becomes mainstream will inevitably become a mixed bag of good and bad.

Writing about the lives of ordinary people can bring writers both fame and fortune, so everyone flocks to write like this. With so many people writing, normal writing can no longer provide a way to break free, so the more outrageous and far-fetched the stories, the more attention they attract.

The original intention of creating works to give voice to the underprivileged has begun to detach itself from the underprivileged, treating them merely as writing tools.

The criticism has been constant since last year.

Yu Hua took a deep drag on his cigarette and asked Ma Yuan beside him, "Do you think this thing has any potential?"

“We can give it a try,” Ma Yuan said.

Cheng Cun pointed to Ji Xuguang, who was giving a presentation: "According to this person, many of your essays and writing notes actually fall under the category of non-fiction writing."

Yu Hua laughed and said, "I didn't even know this existed today. I didn't even know I had written non-fiction literature."

Nonfiction literature has been developing in the United States for decades, encompassing an increasingly broad range of topics, even including personal essays and interviews. However, these essays and interviews must be based on facts, and they don't necessarily have to describe specific events; they can also depict people, phenomena, and ideas, among other things.

Wang Anyi said, "This thing, like the grassroots writing of the past few years, is likely to become a literary trend in the next few years. We'll just have to see how big a trend ByteDance and People's Literature can create."

There are trends in writing too; even traditional writers follow the latest trends.

Writing about the lower classes has reached its limit; continuing would be nothing more than parroting others and pandering to the crowd. Writers are eager to find the next "hot trend."

Wang Anyi's essay collection "Searching for the Magic City" is a very typical example of non-fiction literature. She could write more at any time, or turn the essays into a medium-length or long novel.

The young writers present were equally divided between those who paid attention and those who ignored it.

Han Han and Guo Xiaosi were completely unaffected by this.

Zhang Yueran, the beautiful author famous for her youth novels, was listening intently. She has great literary ambitions and doesn't want to be labeled as a writer of youth literature; she's currently considering how to transition her career.

Two or three years later, she felt very lost and went back to her hometown to live for a while.

She went home and interacted with relatives, friends, and neighbors, observing and reflecting on people's daily interactions and listening to the older generation recount those old stories.

In her own words, "During this time, I learned how to tell stories."

From then on, she began a real transformation, and her works were no longer published in "Sprout" but in magazines like "Harvest".

Xiao Fan said to Jiang Feng, "You can do this non-fiction writing."

Jiang Feng laughed and said, "My novel is purely fictional."

Xiao Fan said, “But I think non-fiction writing is more suitable for you. There are many things to write about in Northeast China, especially the wave of layoffs back then. How are the laid-off workers from back then doing now? What are their lives and thoughts like? You can develop your writing by switching between fiction and non-fiction. Also, you have to abandon your overly complicated narrative techniques.”

Jiang Feng seemed to be deep in thought; he was somewhat tempted.

After Ji Xuguang finished speaking, Jiang Feng said, "I plan to go back to Northeast China for two years to reconnect with my old neighbors and friends."

The forum is still ongoing.

Director Cheng of the Social Sciences Department of Peking University said, "Professor Wang Meng couldn't come this time, and he asked me to apologize to everyone. He is a strong supporter of non-fiction writing. This collaboration between ByteDance and People's Literature was facilitated by Professor Wang Meng. This collaboration between People's Literature and a website is unprecedented and a very bold experiment..."

Nowadays, copyright protection is not taken seriously. No matter which magazine serializes a work or which author publishes a novel, you can easily find pirated copies with a simple online search.

Writers and magazines can't prevent this from happening, so it's better to proactively serialize it on domestic websites.

Furthermore, Haiwainet promised to serialize the relevant articles one week after the publication of *People's Literature*. This ensured the magazine's sales while allowing both the magazine and the authors to gather fans through Haiwainet.

HaiNei.com, naturally powerless to combat online piracy, focuses primarily on attracting fans through its magazines, authors, and works. Simultaneously, it encourages magazines and authors to open Weibo accounts, extending this interaction to mobile devices. One after another, veteran writers began to speak out.

Regardless of their true feelings, they all expressed their support for President Chen and People's Literature.

Yu Hua said, "I'm not afraid to admit it, but I never even knew what nonfiction literature was before. After listening to Reporter Ji's explanation, I realized I'm quite familiar with it. All of Shi Tiesheng's works can be categorized as nonfiction. It's something that tells stories of truth and human nature..."

For some reason, Chen Guiliang couldn't help but laugh whenever Yu Hua mentioned Shi Tiesheng.

That football...

Yes, there was more than one person present at the scene.

Grandpa Cheng was also there, leaning on his cane to act as referee for them. He complemented Shi Tiesheng, who was in a wheelchair and playing goalkeeper.

……

At this very moment, non-fiction literature is already being serialized on HaiNei.com.

Or rather, it has been serialized for two months, but has not received much attention.

But just in the last few days, Haiwainet gave this novel more traffic and directly put it in the editor's recommendation section.

The novel is called "Dictionary: Southern Industrial Life".

The author, who writes under the pen name Xiao Xiangfeng, graduated from Beijing Information Engineering College in 1999 and began living in the Pearl River Delta region in 2000. He worked and wrote simultaneously, publishing novels but remaining unknown, and his poetry collections had to be self-published.

His book, "Dictionary: Southern Industrial Life," was still unfinished and had been rejected several times for serialization in magazines. In a fit of anger, he started serializing it online simultaneously on Haiwainet and Sina Blog.

HaiNei.com agreed to give him traffic on the condition that he delete the serialized content on Sina Blog.

Xiao Xiangfeng agreed.

"Old Li, your article went viral!" A friend called from real life.

Xiao Xiangfeng rushed to the computer, logged into her HaiNei.com account, and discovered that the website had launched a "non-fiction literature" section.

Two of his serialized works, "Dictionary: Southern Industrial Life," even made it onto the website's most-read list.

Each post averages over 2000 comments!
Niche?

If it's well-written, this thing can appeal to the masses!

"The author has definitely experienced this firsthand, and it's written so damn realistically. Especially the border pass, which young people probably haven't even heard of."

"Haha, I also used to set up a street stall and work as a security guard there. It feels so familiar."

"I feel like crying because of all the things I experienced when I was working."

"The author is tearing open my old wounds."

"This novel deserves the Nobel Prize in Literature!"

"..."

Xiao Xiangfeng scrolled through the comments one after another, unable to help but chuckle happily.

In reality, he was considered middle class and didn't lack money. He even self-published a collection of poems in pursuit of his literary dreams, but he never received any attention.

I never expected my novel to become famous on HaiNei.com!
Looking at his followers on HaiNei.com, he already has nearly 20 followers.

refresh.

Wow, I've gained over a dozen more followers.

Xiao Xiangfeng had no idea what nonfiction writing was. He simply wrote down what he had seen, heard, and felt during his many years in the South, working in various industries, with a particular focus on the living conditions of ordinary migrant workers.

How did this thing become so popular?

The phone rang again.

"Hello, Mr. Xiao..."

"I am Mr. Lee."

"Oh, excuse me, Mr. Li. I am Qiu Huadong, an editor at People's Literature. Would you be willing to have your work, 'Dictionary: Southern Industrial Life,' serialized in People's Literature?"

"I've already serialized it online, can it still be published in People's Literature?"

"Yes, we are working with ByteDance. Works first published in People's Literature must be published in the magazine for a week before they can be serialized on Haiwai.com. Works first published on Haiwai.com can be serialized in People's Literature at the same time. Of course, since you have already serialized more than ten chapters, Haiwai.com will need to slow down the serialization speed."

"Yes, yes."

"Thank you very much for your support. Please send us a hard copy of your manuscript. Electronic submissions are also welcome; we have already set up an email address for you."

"I will submit the paper electronically immediately."

After hanging up the phone, Xiao Xiangfeng jumped up on the spot in excitement.

For someone with literary dreams, having their work serialized in People's Literature is like a basketball enthusiast being selected for the NBA.

As long as it's serialized in People's Literature, this thing is guaranteed to cause a sensation in the mainstream literary world.

(End of this chapter)