The manuscript sent to the editorial board of the Russian Herald today is the first half of the first part of my novel "The Devils" . The second half will also be sent within a day or two. There are three novels, each about 10 to 12 prints. There will be no more delays.
If your journal decides to publish this novel from next year, I think it is necessary to first say the main content of the novel, even if it is a summary.
The events depicted in the novel are widely known, namely the case of Necheyev's killing of Ivanov in Moscow. I must immediately explain that, apart from the newspaper reports, I know almost nothing about Necheyev, Ivanov and the whole case, and this is still the case. But even if I knew more about it, I wouldn't simply copy it into a novel. I'm just taking some material from this case.
What my imagination creates may be completely different from reality, for example, I describe Peter. Wierchwynski probably has nothing in common with Necheyev, I was just shocked by this case and used my imagination to create a typical figure with such a crime. Although it is also beneficial to represent such a character in the novel, I will not write for this character alone, and this kind of despicable freak is not worth my big ink.
What makes me wonder myself is that in fiction this character is largely just playing the role of a clown. Although the murder is important in the novel, it only sets the stage for the appearance of another protagonist: this protagonist is the real main character of the novel.
This character is Nikolai. Stavrogin, he's also a villain, sinister, terrible. But in my opinion, he is a tragic figure. Perhaps many readers do not understand what kind of person he really is after reading the novel. I mainly write about him in novels, and I have long wanted to write about such characters. I think he is typically Russian.
If this character is not portrayed successfully in the end, I will be extremely depressed and unbearable. I created this character with great enthusiasm. Of course, in real-world situations, such a typical is rare, but he does represent the character of the Russians and arises from a certain social class. I'll stop talking until the novel is finished.
I seem to have a hunch that this character must be written successfully. I will not explain it in detail here, because I am afraid that I will not be able to say an idea. Finally, I would like to point out only one point: the character of this character is revealed through many scenes and plots, not through arguments, so he should be able to stand up.
The beginning of the novel was a bit of a struggle for me. I revised it many times, and for a few weeks I even stopped writing at the beginning and wrote directly from the content that followed, which I had never done before in my previous writing activities. I always want to write the opening part more vividly.
The 5 seals sent are actually the content of the opening part, and the storyline will gradually unfold and have unexpected developments. I can guarantee that the novel will become more and more engaging. I think that the novel is still written in this way.
Novels are not all dark and have terrible personalities. But when it comes to this part, I don't know if I'm up to it. For example, I first touched on this category of figures, based on Gijon of the Zatonsk Monastery, who is my ideal character. He was a saint. I compared him to the protagonist of the novel and put them together for a while. Despite some knowledge of such characters, I was worried about whether I could write them well, because I had never tried such a thing before.
I haven't written back to you because I'm going all out to write a novel for the Russian Herald. I was very dissatisfied with what I had written, revised it many times, and finally made a vow: until I finished the book, I would not read the book, would not write letters, and would not even look elsewhere.
This is just the beginning. Although I have written a lot, but many of them have been invalidated, until now I am still carefully considering how to make a good start. Obviously it's not a very good creative state, but I always want to write it better.
It is often assumed that the artist naturally sets the tone and narrative of what is to be written. But sometimes this tone and narrative style is difficult to pinpoint and has to be repeated. In short, no other work has made me so energetic so much.
At the beginning, at the end of last year, I thought that I had matured it and completed the idea, and I was a little careless, but then something suddenly came up in my head, which was the real inspiration, and I was so immersed in it that I had to throw away what I had already done.
Later, in the summer, a new inspiration broke out: a new person appeared, he wanted to become the real protagonist of the novel, and the original protagonist, although not ordinary, was not worthy of being the protagonist, and had to retire to take on a secondary role. The new protagonist asked me to make drastic changes to the original content.
Now that I had sent the first part of the book to the editorial board of the Russian Herald, I suddenly felt a sense of dread: I was afraid that I had chosen a subject that I was not competent for. I was very worried, very painful. However, this new person did not appear randomly. I have already mentioned his role in the outline of the novel, and there are several prints in this outline, and his role is reflected through scenes and plots, not through discussion.
So I think this character is standing, or unprecedented, and I'm looking forward to it and at the same time very worried. By now, it's really time to write something more serious about the subject. Of course, failures can also occur. In any case, I have to keep writing, because it has taken me a lot of time to revise it repeatedly, and there is very little content in the actual final draft.
— Letters to Carterkov and Strahov
[This article is excerpted from the book "Dostoevsky's Self-Description" (compiled by Huang Zhongjing et al., Tianjin People's Publishing House, 2013 edition)]