Dialogue with the famous | Yueguan: I am a "restless" online writer

Yue Guan, whose real name is Wei Lijun, is a native of Pingyuan County, Dezhou City, Shandong Province. He is a member of the Chinese Writers Association, vice chairman of the Liaoning Provincial Writers Association, and a member of the Tenth National Committee of the China Writers Association. Representative works "Back to the Ming Dynasty as a Prince", "Great Song Beidou Division", "Qin Ruins", "Night Heavenly Son", "Getaway", "Jinyi Night Walk", "Qingping", "Step by Step Lotus". (Courtesy of the author)

——————————

Author: Zhang Fuli, Network Literature Center of China Writers Association

From the court nobles to the beggars and pawns, the characters who appear in the works of Yueguan are always so vivid and vivid; the storyline has many clues, but the main line is clear, Yueguan is like a "storyteller", who cleverly spreads fireworks in the world and tells you the winding story... Online literature grows freely from grassroots to spontaneous, and the moon passes leisurely. "The emergence of paid subscriptions and paid reading has greatly promoted the development of online literature, which has developed from a grass garden and a garden to a grassland and a mountain range. I had the privilege of witnessing the whole process of it, and I also participated in the whole process of its competition and struggle. In an interview with China Youth Daily and China Youth Network at the invitation, Yue Guan said so.

"Creating is a very fulfilling and meaningful thing. But creation is a long, boring process that requires a clear understanding of the self and transcendence of the self. For young friends who are interested in creating, YueGuan has three "force" suggestions: perseverance, endurance and ability -

Perseverance: Creation should be persistent, especially long-form creation, must be included in their own planning, perseverance, can not "three days of fishing, two days of drying nets", so it is easy to consume their own talent, it is difficult to invest real feelings in the work.

Endurance: The birth of a work requires your long-term efforts, before becoming famous, in your creative process, you must be able to withstand loneliness, not disappointed by a momentary silence, for your own creative goals, or not moved by external objects, with a firm will, well complete it.

Ability: Creation requires a considerable degree of creative ability, it is not innate, we need to draw more nutrition from the works of previous generations of writers, humbly learn the advantages and strengths of the same generation of writers, and strive to improve their own creative level. Whether it is before creation, or has been in the process of creation, or has achieved great success, it should be known that there is no first in the literature, and always maintain an open mind.

Yue Guan believes that "being able to do these three things is a big step forward from becoming a successful writer." ”

The reason for the original creation was simply because I loved literature, liked to create, and wanted to show others the stories I liked

On April 16, 2006, Yueguan opened his own author account on the starting point Chinese network and began to create online novels.

Since he was a child, he liked the moon pass of literature, when he was a child, he rented a little book on the street for a penny to read, borrowed books from neighbors, and when he was in the third grade of primary school, he held the borrowed "Three Heroes and Five Righteousness", "Li Zicheng", "The Spark of Stars Can Burn the Plains", "Journey to the West", "Yang Jiajian" and other tomes, and watched with relish. "Later, I began to borrow books from the (Huanggu District of Shenyang City) District Library, and because the speed of new book updates in the library was limited at that time, after a large number of novels were read by me with hunger, I also borrowed a large number of scripts and read them as novels." Yue Guan said that this is also an important reason why he was able to write a script later, "from the beginning to the change of the script, there is no delay in hindering."

When he was in middle school, Yueguan once co-authored a martial arts novel in the style of Gulong with his classmates, "because the teacher was worried about affecting our studies, he confiscated it." After going to work, I always felt that it was difficult to create, and there was little hope of publishing, so I gave up the idea of creation.

"At that time, I only recognized paper books. In 2004, a friend saw that I loved to read, and told me that there was a novel serial on the Internet, and my attitude at that time was dismissive, and those that were not printed on paper were also called novels. My attitude at that time was that I didn't understand it at all, instinctively despised it, and didn't think so. Yue Guan said.

Yue Guan said that he did not expect to become an online writer later. Yue Guan said that in early 2006, he began to read a lot of online novels on the forum, and found that "the original online novels are not only so many novels with good writing, good characters, and vivid and wonderful stories, but also this mode of publication is so open and free."

"Whether readers like it or not, from their reading, collection, and likes, can be seen at a glance, which is completely 'market choice'." Moreover, the network publishing a novel of several million words does not occupy more space than a slightly clearer picture, and the publishing cost is low, which also makes its creation relatively friendly and convenient. At the same time, network publishing does not require readers to write letters to communicate with the author, daily updates, you can immediately see the reader's feelings, so that the author can communicate with readers through the network at any time, which deeply attracted me. Yue Guan believes that the first publishing channel of online novels is placed on the Internet, "compared to the casting of characters on copper dings, the engraving of words on bamboo jane, and the writing on paper, this is a new model produced by the development and progress of science and technology."

During that time, Yueguan left work every day and immersed herself in a variety of wonderful stories. It was at this time that the long-suppressed desire to create sprang up.

"I started to create with great interest. Fortunately, my first novel, "Back to the Ming Dynasty as a Prince", was extremely popular as soon as it came out, and a newcomer, as soon as the book was released, did not rank in the top ten of the monthly ticket list, and in the next few months, it was the first place in a row, thus winning the first place of the year. ”

Encouraged by this, Yueguan began the creative road of more than ten years so far. "The reason for the initial creation is simply because I love literature, like to create, and want to show others the story I like, and every time I have one more reader, I am full of joy." And it was a bonus that generated income and eventually made me a career out of it. ”

Just because a novel of a certain genre or a certain model is popular, you will repeatedly copy yourself and repeat yourself

Yue Guan said that he is a "restless" writer, "I will not repeatedly copy myself and repeat myself because a novel of a certain genre and a certain mode is popular." Yue Guan has created dozens of novels, covering various genres such as crossing history, overhead history, historical legends, urban, fantasy, immortals, science fiction, romance, etc., among which the works that have been adapted for film and television include "Night Walk in Jinyi", "Yang Ling Biography of the Prince Of The Ming Dynasty", "Night Heavenly Son", as well as the original scripts "The Great Song Beidou Division" and "The Chisel of the Hollow - Zhang Qian's Biography", and "Step by Step Lotus" is also in preparation.

Yue Guan believes that there is no need to superstitiously believe in IP, and do not completely hope for the success of a product on IP. "It doesn't have that much magic, especially now as long as you buy a web novel, no matter what it is, whether it was famous or not, it's all called IP, this is not speculating on IP, this is destroying IP." Even if it is a real novel with a wide fan base that has passed the test of the reader market and proved that it is a very attractive story, in the circle of novels, it is a big meal, but in the circle of movies and games, it is only an ingredient. There are many factors that affect its taste next, such as script adaptation, director, actor, costume, publicity, distribution platform... Any one of these links may have messed up the play, which was originally gold and would have to become iron. These links are played well, originally iron, but also into gold. ”

Yue guan believes that the choice of a work, whether it is the film party or the platform, is based on market big data and the personal vision of the person responsible for copyright, but it cannot rely too much on big data. "Therefore, big data has a lag, there is a similarity, you want to produce a work from purchase to adaptation, from production to post-production, from rehearsal to broadcast, it may be faster than three years later." A well-known IP work means that in the network reader group, a considerable proportion of readers like to watch it. And this readership ratio, nearly seems to be the proportion of the audience. Therefore, if you can respect the original work and make it well, there is a considerable probability that it will be welcomed by a large number of audiences. I think that's what IP is all about, it's 'market proven' and has a story quality assurance. ”

No matter how good a work is, it is impossible for all readers to like it, and the same is true for drama

For online literature, Yueguan believes that it is popular literature in the Internet age. "Online literature pays more attention to storytelling and is more grounded, so it is naturally welcomed by the public." In this process, because the author uses the network to enhance interaction, due to the serial nature of the work, it is also given some chapters of the novel, commentary and other popular literature characteristics, such as a faster sense of rhythm, more frequent plot ups and downs, each chapter and section, there must be some highlights, there is a 'hook' and so on. ”

Yue Guan believes that any genre will usher in the aesthetic fatigue of the audience. "The most important thing about making a play is 'good or not', if you deliberately divide the big female protagonist and the big male protagonist, in fact, you have put a layer of shackles on yourself, you want to interpret a wonderful story, there are a group of wonderful characters in it, then what kind of plot should be interpreted when it is brilliant, do not deliberately design."

For the adaptation of online texts into film and television dramas, Yue Guan believes that screenwriters should carefully read through the whole text, and cannot waver in the process of adaptation and try to cater to all aspects. "An author who has written tens of millions of words and has always won the favor of readers must have his own strengths, and if he only borrows a shell, the original party will never be satisfied in the first place." In addition, you use a piece of online literature, but ignore its cool points, completely redesigned it yourself, and you have to be limited by its story framework and basic settings, and you can't play well. ”

"We all know that no matter how good a work is, it is impossible for all readers to like it, and the same is true for drama, first of all, you must have a clear positioning of the audience group, on the basis of grasping this basic disk, and then study the appropriate amount of additional elements, and add it appropriately on the basis of not affecting the main characters of the main story, otherwise it will only be counterproductive." The positioning is not clear, and it is always staring at the stories that have been broadcast and even have nothing to do with you to force the benchmark, which is also the reason for the frequent occurrence of abusive dramas. Yue Guan said.

Mainstream literary styles have never been static, and writing without thresholds is the advantage of online literature

Yue Guan has his own views on the idea that online literature will become an important part of mainstream literature. "Literature is the reproduction and sublimation of life, with the development of society, life changes, literary forms will inevitably change, this is an objective law." Mainstream literary forms have never been static. The pre-Qin dynasty had poetry classics, the Han had endowments, the Tang had poems, the Song had words, the Yuan had miscellaneous dramas, and the Ming and Qing dynasties had novels. And Ming and Qing novels and Republic of China novels, modern novels and contemporary novels, still continue to evolve and change, although they are called novels, its content and form are always changing. Now that social development is advancing by leaps and bounds, and the development of the past two hundred years is even more rapid than that of the past two thousand years, why can't the mainstream literary form change and a new literary genre appear? Yue Guan said.

Yue Guan believes that the power of science and technology is also boosting the development of literature, history will make a choice, and the nature that really survives is the gold panned out in the great wave of history. "When people can only carve words on the tortoise shell and cast words on the bronze ding, don't you speak concisely?" What about when Bamboo Jane appeared? What about when paper comes along? If the vernacular movement is placed in the era of bamboo carved books, it is absolutely impossible to change successfully, and the technical conditions do not support it. In the Internet age, this kind of writing style that is more environmentally friendly, more convenient and less costly has emerged, and it is logical that online literature will appear. As for the uneven quality of good and bad, the mud and sand are all underneath, in fact, any era, any form of literature, there is a distinction between high and low. ”

In fact, online literature is rooted in the rich soil of excellent traditional literature and has the genes of traditional literature. Yue Guan said that she grew up reading traditional literature.

"Because of its network nature, in order to attract more readers, there are indeed some vulgar and vulgar things. And its low threshold (in fact, its threshold is quite high, but its threshold is in the door, the entry is not difficult, but you enter the door to want to ascend, want to become a nationally renowned writer, then there are more than a thousand steps waiting for you to climb it), which also causes its scrap rate is bound to be higher than the current mainstream literature. However, writing for the whole people without a threshold is its advantage and its characteristic, because so many wasteland leaves have turned into rotten mud, and the probability of it being able to produce good works of the popular population will also increase greatly. Therefore, if we strictly look at the huge underlying works that are denominators from the overall perspective of the entire network literature, then in the eyes of those who look at it in this way, it will never become mainstream literature. However, although this base is huge, but there is no influence, you do not deliberately look for, can not find these piled up works, if you can objectively understand the particularity of online literature, you will find that those influential good works are still quite a lot. ”

For how to increase the proportion of excellent works, Yueguan believes that not only the creative level of the author group needs to improve, the reading aesthetic of the reader group is improved, and the relevant management departments such as the Writers Association also need to strengthen management and guidance. "With its maturity and development, creators will also absorb more of the literary, ideological and serious nature of traditional literature, and continue to maintain their storytelling advantages, becoming a force that cannot be ignored in the mainland literary and art market." Yue Guan said.

Source: China Youth Daily client