It’s all because of the eye-catching blue book cover! There seems to be an irresistible attraction. The binding and design of Tianjin People’s Publishing House should really be praised.
So I originally decided to stop reading such books, but instead chose a thick writing theory book.
Fortunately, the book becomes thinner and thinner as I read it. From taking a lot of notes at the beginning, to now I only record the points that I feel most deeply. This may be the same feeling of many people who study the same field in depth.
Putting the Past into the Present: The Only Way Out for Historical Dramas
Yesterday I took the time to meet and chat with an old classmate who works in the library.
He said that he wanted to write novels and write about contemporary affairs. To this end, he was studying politics and economics, things that he had not been interested in before.
I was slightly surprised by what he said. Because when he was studying, his major was ancient literature, and after graduation, he took advantage of his job to read a lot of ancient books for many years and published many books on ancient literature. It stands to reason that even if you don't write novels, you have achieved a small amount of success. Ancient literature, I thought it must be his favorite. Unexpectedly, he made up his mind to write about modern times.
I said that after finally rewriting the first urban novella, I wanted to write a story about the Republic of China and the Anti-Japanese War period.
He was a little confused and said that only modern stories can reflect current social problems and have practical significance, although those ancient stories may be more attractive.
Even people who have been immersed in ancient and elegant texts all day long realize that they need to keep in line with the times. Actually I understand exactly what he means. However, this does not mean that ancient things cannot be written.
Just like what was written in the "Story" I just finished reading:
Looking at it, although all kinds of ancient costumes and palace battles dominate the screen, they have won the praise of countless online novels. Reader, but actually, how many things are really about ancient times? It's nothing more than covering up history and speaking from modern people's viewpoints. Those female-led love stories that suit modern tastes, those clothes and customs that suit modern aesthetics...are all blatant tampering with history. Those fantasy, ghosts and gods, not to mention the differences between ancient and modern times, have long been separated from the real world.
Readers and viewers, however, bought into it.
Just imagine, if these works were replaced with serious faces and completely faithful to history, the number of people who would like to watch them would be greatly reduced, right? Moreover, this is impossible because history cannot be reproduced exactly.
However, if ancient stories can also express modern people's thoughts and realize modern people's ideals and visions, that is, "the past serves the present", it actually doesn't matter whether they are ancient or modern.
Motivation for writing: write what you like most
There is actually a reason why I want to write a story that is not in modern times. Because the yellowing story swirling in my mind is related to some history and legends of my distant hometown, originating from hazy memories and even dreams when I was a child.
Sometimes, the type and era of novels you write are not the most important. The most important thing is to write what you like. Only what you like will make you want to write; only what you like will have the motivation to keep writing until it is completed.
Robert McKee said:
This again involves the eternal topic of the meaning and nature of writing.
Many people write not for the purpose of becoming famous or making a fortune (of course it’s not that no one thinks so, but they may not be successful), but more for the purpose of “getting stuck in their throats and not being able to speak out” and “having a block in their hearts. The pen can be flat.” To put it simply, it comes from what you feel. No one forced him or her to write, but they "had to write".
"The three hundred poems in "Poetry" are mostly the works of sages and saints out of anger." Dostoyevsky was in prison and wrote the shocking "Notes from the House of the Dead"; Cao Xueqin's experience After his family's rise and fall, he painstakingly wrote "A Dream of Red Mansions"; after Sima Qian suffered a humiliating castration, he wrote "Historical Records"... Countless great writers in history have experienced the ups and downs of life, and have surpassed the sensitivity of ordinary people. and depression, recording experiences and feelings.
Of course, for ordinary people, those misfortunes may never happen, but this does not mean that you have nothing to write about. Everyone, more or less, has something they most want to express. First figure out what it is, even if it is buried deep in your heart and difficult to see.
This is an important first step.
Because only by writing about what you love in your heart can you write truly good works.