There was a time when there was concern about the marginalization of literature. Writer Glass says literature is retreating from public life. The reason why people have such a discussion has to do with the "retreat" of the novel from the story. Some writers think that "storytelling novels" are outdated, so they deliberately break up stories, or even discard them, and write them as they want, wherever they go. Their attempts cannot be said to have no exploratory value, but many of the works that follow this trend have become "invisible", and the writing is vague and vague. Even with exaggeration, grotesque, and out-of-place performance, it can't organize a complete "fatal allure" story. This kind of novel is read several times in a row, which makes people feel in a trance and don't know what is happening.
Decades have passed, and stories are not only not outdated, but are more valued, richer and more diverse. Creators use various art forms and artistic means to bring people into the realm of stories, but those who give up stories are becoming less and less. People are interested. Facts have proved that novels cannot be without stories. The charm of novels lies in stories. It is not the marginalization of novels, but the marginalization of novels that give up storytelling.
Humans are obsessed with stories, and stories nurture human beings. The birth of human beings, social changes, farming, hunting, construction, migration, conquest, rise and fall, birth, old age, sickness and death, joys and sorrows, love and hatred are all preserved in the story. So far, human beings have left many unforgettable stories for generations. Pangu created the world, Nuwa created man from earth, Hou Yi bent his bow and shot the sun. Our ancestors have set an example for us in telling good stories. Classics are stories, myths are stories, and history is stories. Human beings are always eager for stories, and the demand for stories is never satisfied. Every day on the earth, I don’t know how many stories are created and circulated. Books, newspapers, musicals, dramas, TV movies, and online novels are full of stories. Everyone spends a lot of time in stories in their lives. No wonder it is said that the art of storytelling is a major force in culture, and that a culture cannot evolve without honest and powerful stories.
What is art? Art is to indulge in the ritual of the story, release the emotions of life in the story, think about the order of life, and realize the true meaning of life, thus achieving a kind of satisfaction of knowledge, emotion and meaning. The love of stories is a deep-seated human need, and an indispensable "rigid need" in human life. Especially in the fast-changing social development, in addition to the intense work and life, people need to let go of their emotions and settle their thoughts in the stories. This is where literature and art come into play. The greatest ability of creators is to tell good stories, and the biggest dilemma is the lack of good stories. Writing forcibly without a good story is tiresome and neglected.
Consider Tolstoy's rhetoric: Live to tell stories! Screenwriter Robert McKee said that a writer is 75% focused on writing stories. Kundera divides novels into three categories—narrative, descriptive, and contemplative. Which novel does not have a story? It's nothing more than a difference in the way the story is presented and structured. Since the birth of the Four Great Classics of China, they have been adapted into hundreds of opera works. In the opera world, there are "Three Kingdoms Opera", "Water Margin Opera" and "Red Mansion Opera". The density of stories and the solid narrative in the classics are amazing. . Even if it is an alternative like "Metamorphosis", isn't it a story when the protagonist Gregor wakes up in the morning and suddenly finds himself transformed into a big beetle? The reason why this novel can become a classic is inseparable from the impact of this story. Not only narrative novels need stories, so-called contemplative novels also need to have a bloodline and a framework to frame this pile of things. This bloodline and frame is actually the story. The story is the structure of the narrative of the novel, the carrier of the idea, and provides the support for the description. Without the basket of stories, if you can't put characters, plots, and spirit in it, it wouldn't be a novel.
The popular Internet jokes in the past few years actually responded to people's needs for stories in the most economical way. With the advent of smartphones, it has become easier for people to read stories or watch news. Stories can not only incarnate novels, movies, and dramas in various forms, making people never get tired of reading them; stories also have the advantages of being vivid, vivid, and silent, making them more intriguing than news. A novelist's mission is to elevate today's news and past history into stories. The question is, how do writers find their own stories in today's flood of information? How to grasp the pulse of society?
It is true that life in the times is diverse and complex, and society is changing rapidly. Real life is always more abundant than literary creation, but no matter how rich and changing it is, it cannot replace literature, nor can it replace heart-to-heart communication. The more information is available today, the more it is necessary for creators to face themselves honestly, to perceive and capture their own heartbeats in the process of perceiving life and society, so that they can connect their hearts with their readers and with the hearts of the whole society. In the past, an old editor told me that when writing, you must never forget that there are readers standing behind you. It is not enough to be moved by yourself, but to be moved by the readers. Only then can you connect your personal perception with social nerves. When I was young, I also wrote plays. When the director asked me to write lines, I had to face the audience and know the audience’s emotions, anger, sadness, and joy, so that the audience would be immersed in it, crying and laughing with the development of the plot.
Therefore, when an experienced writer writes, he must split himself into two halves, the actor and the audience.
Everyone has the feeling of being obsessed with reading novels when they are young. The story is like a "magic" that connects the hearts of the audience with the hearts of the creators. The ancients believed that music and dance had the magical power to communicate the heaven and the earth. When Cangjie created the characters, lightning flashed and thundered. The reason why the characters became the "spiritual pen" is because through the characters, the essential power of human beings can be objectified, and the flowers of the soul can be cultivated. Real life transcends the barriers between people, cultures and cultures, and achieves resonance in the soul. Good stories travel all over the world, and good literature penetrates different groups of people through stories, forming public reading and changing social life. At the same time, there is also a strict rule in artistic creation: "massive elimination without a sound." A large number of works lack the "hard core" of the story. Although it looks very lively, there are a lot of good things in the seminar. It's over. Only by telling good stories can novels go out of the small circle and become a spiritual wealth shared by people.
There is a way to write a story. Jin Shengtan summed up his writing talent in two words: "material" and "cut". "Material" is what kind of material you are, and what is the nature of the material you have mastered; "Cutting" is tailoring, the ability to structure stories. If I say, "material" and "cut" are important, but what many writers lack is not these two kinds of preparation and ability, but a kind of "stupid" talent.
For creators, "stupidity" is sometimes a talent, and one must have the belief and persistence of "living is to tell stories", in order to keep getting out of the comfort zone of life, digging into the vast reality, always on the road of discovery, on the way to creation. Before writing the "Historical Records", Sima Qian had walked almost all the important places he wanted to write. Su Dongpo said that he lived in Huangzhou, Huizhou, and Danzhou in his lifetime, and his best works were written when he was demoted to these three places. Li Bai, Du Fu, Liu Zongyuan, Liu Yuxi, Wang Changling, and Wang Yangming were even more walkers, either avoiding wars or exile, or taking the initiative to travel all over the mountains and rivers, completing their literary world. The Belarusian writer Alexievich has interviewed hundreds of people from more than 30 countries for her writing, and the stories are deeply rooted in her writing, which has influenced many readers around the world in the form of non-fiction literature. Emerson, an American writer, said that whoever travels the world belongs to the world. It's a stupid move, but it can't be beat.
In today's low threshold for writing, experience is often wealth, differences are often advantages, and walking is a panacea to prevent soul numbness. When walking, there will be adventures, strange people, and strange things. Li Yu said, "If there are strange things, there will be strange articles." Qi is not strange, but a fresh, unique experience and experience that must be practiced. Another benefit of walking is to inspire and maintain curiosity about the world and freshness of life. In walking, keep the vitality of the soul, the story can grow in people's heart, and it can be unique with "new material" and "ingenuity", and provide readers with a unique literary experience.
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