Many readers say that "watching domestic suspense mystery novels is like gambling on stones, sometimes not until the last chapter, I don't know if it is jade or scrap." The latest novel "Invisible Rose" by the emerging writer of suspense reasoning, Aoi Tian Gu, can be said to be a piece of jade.
Zijin Chen, the original author of "Undocumented Crime", "The Hidden Corner" and "The Silent Truth", recommended that "Invisible Rose" be "a pure blue flower that blooms in a hidden corner".
"Invisible Rose" is the latest production of the Reading Group Huawen Tianxia, the novel tells a bizarre murder case, after a series of torrential rains, a nameless body was found next to the mountain villa, living in the villa is two brothers and sisters, the blind sister who was listed as an important suspect has been silent after being arrested, and her brother's whereabouts have become a mystery. The police quickly found three diaries, and the facts drawn from them were chilling, and just when the investigators felt that they were close to the truth, the fourth diary suddenly arrived, and all the previous findings were overturned one by one, and the facts of the case became confusing again.
"Invisible Rose" author Kui Tian Gu, the winner of the most popular works award in the Chinese original novel list, is also the runner-up of the Tianya Forum National Novel Essay Contest, good at logic and structural traps, the work does not spill plasma but twists to almost weird, there is an infinite reversal of the plot of the fun, has authored "Moonlight Forest", "Golden Wheat Field", "Informer", "Bus 317", "Mug in the Subway", "Kirishima Miracle" and so on.
Aoi Tian Gu's job is financial supervision, and there have been many labels such as contracted photographers and fitness experts, but writing suspense novels is a hobby he has loved since he was a student, Aoi Tian Gu said: "Suspense novels are essentially a declaration of war against silence and lies, which has a healing effect on me." ”
Originally wanted to write about darkness, it turned out to be a warm and affectionate "suspense" novel
Reporter: Where did the inspiration for the writing of "Invisible Rose" come from? Did it go well, and what are the challenges and difficulties of Invisible Rose compared to your previous works? Your original name was "Him in your Heart", why did you change it to "Invisible Rose"?
Aoi Tian Gu: The earliest inspiration should have come from a ten-year-old Spanish film called Julia's Eyes, about the horror encounters of a blind woman in a solitary home. At that time, I thought, if all the horror is not a fact, but stems from the suspicion of the invisible girl, from the illusion of the heart, what will be the direction of the story? Many years later, this idea began to diverge by chance, and finally the book was born.
The whole book was written for about 9 months, and I have always been very slow to write things, and I have changed them repeatedly, so I can't say that it is smooth. The biggest challenge is that I originally wanted to write this story as surreal and dark, but then it evolved into a realistic style and a warm direction, which is more difficult and divisive to justify it.
The original title of the book is "Him in the Heart", which is more at the core of the story, because it is the heroine's spiritual illusion. Before publication, I had an in-depth discussion with my book company friends, and finally renamed it "Invisible Rose", on the one hand, the quality of suspense is more distinct, on the other hand, the title of the book is actually very interesting - it takes advantage of the richness of the Chinese language, is a pun on the meaning of the text stem.
Reporter: "Invisible Rose" is your fifth novel, and you have written many novellas, I would like to ask you what is the biggest difference between writing a long story and a novella or even a short story?
Aoi Tian Gu: Overall, I write more novels. One reason is that for suspense novels, the core trick is the lifeline, and the good trick is too hard to come by, and sometimes reluctant to put it in a small story. In addition, in terms of narrative arrangement, novels are also more flexible.
In fact, one of the more important factors is the market factor. Relatively speaking, the market demand for novels is slightly higher. However, this does not prevent me from loving novellas and short stories. Short, pithy articles are always elegant and alive.
Reporter: There is a big point of interest in this novel, and it is also a difficult point of reading, that is, the intricate timeline between the four diaries. At the beginning of the creation, what kind of method did you use to sort out the time?
Aoi Tian Gu: I write very slowly, thinking while writing, so I have enough time to familiarize myself with the whole story. For example, it took me 4 months to write 4 diaries. In addition, this also involves the technical problems of suspense novel creation. Of course, at a certain stage, I will also use a table to list the timeline, mainly to maintain consistency and avoid low-level errors.
Reporter: There are many reversals in the novel, are these all designed by you in the beginning?
Aoi Tian Gu: Some readers think that I am a reversal of the design in one go, but in fact, this is a misunderstanding. I'm an author who doesn't write an outline before I write it, or can't write an outline, although the basic settings and reversal points will be conceived. But once I write, the characters in my story are bound to grow naturally.
Reversal is an unavoidable routine in suspense mystery novels, and we are most afraid of hearing the reader's comments than "looking at the beginning and guessing the end". As for whether to use too much force is a subjective issue, especially involving aesthetic judgment, in the final analysis, it needs to be judged by the creator himself. I used to love photography, there was a period when I invested no less time than writing, and I paid attention to the post-processing of photos. At that time, I often had the problem of what should be done in the later stage to be suitable, and later found out what is "enough", when to shout stop, but also have to listen to the inner voice.
Reporter: In "Invisible Rose", the image of the younger sister Chen Ruoli is very complicated, is there a prototype for such a complex character image in real life? Do the brother and Lin Yishuang also have a real-life prototype?
Aoi Tian Gu: I think this is actually the result of the natural growth of the characters. Personally, I'm particularly disliked for facial personas and stressful behavioral motivations.
I prefer the character of Chen Ruoli, who has a complex heart and contradictory behavior. But I still want to say that Chen Ruoli is just an ordinary person. In contrast, I personally prefer Lin Yishuang because his spirit of excessive empathy and self-sacrifice is not ordinary. People are sometimes extremely complex, sometimes extremely simple. One word of love is enough to sweep everything away.
As for the question of archetypes, I'm not sure if these characters have archetypes in reality. But according to Murphy's Law, as long as the likelihood of such a person existing is not zero, it will definitely exist.
Reporter: Have you ever thought of giving this story another ending?
Aoi Tian Gu: Yes. I now revisit the setting of the earliest writing of The Invisible Rose and find that it is a different story entirely. Originally, I envisioned a diary-style story, simple and crude, and much darker; I did not expect that the core would later become a warm "suspense" novel. Sometimes a kind of self-reflection of fiction creators is that too much light and too much darkness will fall into clichés and lies.
Sometimes I feel like a superhero, two people set up day and night
Reporter: What kind of opportunity made you start writing literature? Why did you choose the genre of suspense novels?
Aoi Tian Gu: There are many carriers of creation, some people love to use words, some people love to use pictures, some people love to use carving knives, so the so-called "literary creation" for me is no choice.
As for why I chose to write a suspense novel, the reason is the same. The upper limit of my literary talent determined that I could not engage in serious literature; and the hard constraints on the speed of codewords also prevented me from devoting myself to online literature. I do love suspense novels from the bottom of my heart, and suspense novels are essentially a declaration of war on silence and lies, which has a healing effect on me.
Reporter: You said that "suspense novels are essentially a declaration of war on silence and lies, which have a healing effect on me", please tell me more.
Aoi Tian Gu: In previous interviews, I have said that suspense novels naturally have the quality of revealing puzzles, and are a challenge to blackness and unknowability. The creators of suspense novels are essentially optimists, because even if they often portray some twisted and ugly or even hopeless things, their inner attitude is negative and hostile. And they don't lie. For the vast number of "social animals", including me, silence and lies are more or less an everyday state, so I tinker with suspense novels in the dark of night, which is a kind of self-treatment.
Reporter: What was the first suspense novel you read?
Aoi Tian Gu: I liked to scribble when I was very young, and the first time I came into contact with the field of suspense reasoning was to read "Kaneda Ichi Shonen Incident Book" when I was in junior high school. I quickly fell in love with it, read both manga and novels of that type, and began to learn to write on my own from that time. Until now, I feel that this genre is the best for me.
Reporter: Your job is financial supervision, and you used to be a contracted photographer, how has your work and other hobbies helped your writing? Are there any specific stories you can share? Conversely, what impact does writing a suspense novel have on your work and life?
Aoi Tian Gu: Frankly, my job is also to write, but it doesn't matter if I write. But in my novels, I sometimes hide one or two memes related to my own work, which only some of my colleagues can understand, and then they will slap the table and laugh.
Photography I have been putting down for many years, I think aesthetics are the same, photography training helped me to form some personal aesthetic views. When creating, you must perceive how to be beautiful and know how to write.
As for the impact of writing novels on my work and life, that's very big. The first is a completely divide-and-conquer life, and sometimes I feel like a superhero, day and night. The second is to make me sleep a lot less.
Reporter: When writing, do you encounter times when you can't write or go too deep into the play, and what do you do when this happens? How long do you write each day, give yourself a task, and how many words do you have to complete each day?
Aoi Tian Gu: The most tragic situation is continuous insomnia. Usually at this time, I can only stumble, and it will be good to finish. Some people will give themselves a vacation or something, but for me it may only increase anxiety, and I can't see the passage of time the most.
At the moment it's hard for me to write every day, squeezing out about 20 hours a week. It's a shame to say the word count, so I try to write 300 words an hour, but most of the time I can't finish it.
Reporter: What do you think you should have as a suspense novel writer? What characteristics should a good suspense novel have?
Aoi Tian Gu: I think the most important thing is to insist, to insist on writing, and also to insist on some cognition. The second is aesthetic ability, if the reader feels that something that looks good is not good, it will be quite fatal. The biggest feature of excellent novels, including suspense novels, must be good-looking, whether it is story or ideological, it is included in the word "good-looking".
In addition, suspense novels are a process of setting puzzles and solving puzzles, good puzzles and good solutions are very important, and the most advanced suspense works must be both good, two in one. At present, some suspense works will give up good solutions for good puzzles, circle readers first, and then say, I hope I don't do such things.
The popularity of suspense dramas has greatly promoted the development of suspense novels
Reporter: In your previous interview, your overall evaluation of "Invisible Rose" was "before I deconstructed other people's stories, this time I deconstructed my own stories", can you share your "deconstructivism" with you in detail?
Aoi Tian Gu: Now that I think about "deconstructivism", it is more of a word that I made up, and the original purpose was nothing more than self-defense. Later, when I asked Du Niang, I found out that there really was such a thing as "deconstructionism".
I think the essence of "deconstructivism" is not wanton destruction, nor is it arrogantly starting a new stove, but iterative innovation.
In Invisible Roses, I especially hope that readers will see some vague shadows. They come from many stories I write; they are hidden in the brushwork, in the bridges, in the emotions, in the characters. Lego bricks are fun and intellectual because they can make all the same parts look completely different.
Reporter: Suspense fiction writers usually give the impression of being intelligent, rational, and logically reasoning, are you such a person?
Aoi Tian Gu: Actually, I am a typical liberal arts student, with a wild mind, a passion for cross-border crossings, and some romantic complexes. But I am a representative of the physics class in middle school, I studied finance in college, and I am currently engaged in a standardized type of work, which may be considered to have some professional training. When I teach my children homework, I often say: Can you talk about logic?
Reporter: "The Hidden Corner" and "The Silent Truth", the two plays adapted from Zijin Chen's works, are very popular this year, and some domestic suspense dramas have become blockbusters in recent years, do you think this will promote the development of domestic suspense novels?
Aoi Tian Gu: I think the driving force is very large, the author, the reader, the audience is a symbiotic and co-growing market. However, while solving the traffic and capacity problems through market-oriented means, practitioners need to maintain their original intentions.
Reporter: I heard that the film and television rights of "Invisible Rose" have been sold, I would like to ask you how you think about the relationship between film and television adaptations and the original novel, do you want to respect the original or modify it at will, will you ask for it yourself as a screenwriter?
Aoi Tian Gu: Sometimes I feel that what I write is difficult to film and television, and I can sell it (film and television rights) when it is listed, I don't think I am proud of it, maybe the author should concentrate on writing the story well, don't think too much.
From the perspective of the author of the novel, I definitely hope that the film and television works can be as faithful as possible to the original work, otherwise it has nothing to do with me. From the perspective of market practice, the successful cases of film and television adaptations that are loyal to the original work are also higher than those that are not loyal. If time and ability permit, I also hope to participate in some film and television production work, and it is also a kind of responsibility for my own work to give advice.
I want to ask Stephen King, what else could "The Shawshank Redemption" be written in addition to this
Reporter: In your entire creative experience, has any writer ever had a huge impact on your creation?
Aoi Tian Gu: This question is actually different. I like a lot of writers, and it's more likely that a certain work than a certain writer, which is more enlightening to me.
For example, Haruki Murakami's "South of the Border, West of the Sun", Stephen King's "The Shawshank Redemption", Asgota's "Diary of a Bad Boy", Kazuo Ishiguro's "Don't Let Me Go", Kotaro Isaka's "Precision of death", Takashi Yusuke's "From the New World", Xu Mingtao's "Once Upon a Time in Beijing", Su Yigua's "Sunspots"... You see, suspense and reasoning books are actually not many.
In addition, in terms of the expansion of story creation, some cartoonists and film directors have had more influence on me. Naoki Urasawa, Sou Isayama, Kim Min, Shunji Iwai, Kore-eda, Nolan... I'm so confused.
Reporter: If you can have an air dialogue, which suspense writer do you most want to chat with, and what question do you most want to ask him? Why?
Aoi tani: I would like to say hello and thank you to Mr. Yonzaburo Kaneshiro, Seimaru Tenki, and Fumiya Sato, which is the gift of enlightenment. I also wanted to tell Mr. Stephen King that his "The Shawshank Redemption" had benefited me a lot and asked him how else to write this story than that.
Reporter: Would you consider writing other types of fiction in the future? Usually, in addition to suspense novels, what kind of works do you like to watch?
Aoi Tian Gu: Some readers will say that what I write is more literary, but I know where the boundaries of my ability are, and I definitely can't write novels that are too realistic. At present, I should concentrate on writing suspense, and I have the opportunity to hope to be involved with science fiction, and I think that suspense and science fiction are beneficial to inspiring people's wisdom.
I have also recently watched some healing-oriented books and film and television dramas, and I have heard friends say that life suspense and healing dramas will be the next outlet.
Reporter: What are your next writing plans, what are the works in the plan, or the new works that are already being written that can be shared with you in advance?
Aoi Tian Gu: I'm writing a series at the moment. It is the characters who have shown their faces in the previous stories, who continue to be active in the new story, including the policeman named Du Xue arc. In "Invisible Rose", Du Xue arc also appeared after more than 100,000 words. In a long story that has just been completed, Du Xue arc will have the honor of running from the beginning to the end.
If I had to make a series of stories, I would also like to want not just one individual, but a team.
Text/Reporter Zhang Jia Courtesy photo/Kuitian Valley