Chapter 464 463 I no longer drink. If I quit smoking, what fun will there be in life?
"Brother Lu, see you again." Fang Minghua persuaded him to stay.
"No, you are busy with your business." Lu Yao said and walked out of the office.
After sending Lu Yao away, Fang Minghua looked seriously.
It is a novella, about 80,000 words long, about the experiences of three pairs of young men and women, including Wang Jianmin, Tu Xiujuan, Lin Qing, and Yanzi, in the 1970s.
They include both educated youths from Yanjing who jumped in line, and native Qinbei children. In that special era, suppressed humanity and desire for freedom broke out in an old locust tree in a loess ravine.
Fang Minghua spent a whole day reading this novel three times before calling Bai Miao.
When Bai Miao came in, Fang Minghua picked up the manuscript and handed it to him: "This is a novel written by Lu Yao. I have read it. You can take it and have a look. When it is finished, we will discuss it."
"Lu Yao is writing a novel again? Okay, I'll work overtime when I go back tonight, and we'll talk tomorrow morning." Bai Miao said and took the manuscript.
The next morning, Bai Miao came to Fang Minghua's office early, holding the manuscript in his hand.
"Have you finished reading? Sit down."
Fang Minghua greeted and poured a cup of tea for the other party.
"How do you like it?"
"Lu Yao's novel is completely different from the novels he has written before." Bai Miao got straight to the point: "There are shadows of scar literature in it, but it is more It’s a bit like the characteristics of avant-garde novel writing to explore human nature rather than blame history.”
Fang Minghua nodded in agreement and expressed his own opinion. "But it has a very complete narrative structure and is essentially a realistic novel."
"Yes, but it is not the new realistic novel we discussed at the foot of Huashan Mountain last year. It has a certain magical color. It is obvious that Lu Yao is making some kind of attempt to find a new writing style of his own. Of course This style has not yet been finalized, so it seems a bit hodgepodge.”
“That’s true. So, do you think this novel will be published or not?” Fang Minghua asked again.
"You can publish it. If it doesn't publish it, I think Lu Yao will collapse." Bai Miao said with a smile.
Fang Minghua understood what he meant.
It has been two years since Lu Yao fell ill and was hospitalized. After recovering from the illness, except for a short story on the rule of law last spring, he has written almost nothing.
And because the novel was immature, Lu Yao voluntarily withdrew it.
There is now a saying in the literary world that Lu Yao is in good health and has a prosperous life, but his literary talent has disappeared, and there is a saying that Lu Yao has exhausted his talents.
These words reached his ears more or less, causing him a certain amount of pressure.
He really needs a novel to prove that he is not as weak in talent as rumored, and that he can still write!
"Let's do this." Fang Minghua expressed his opinion: "I will ask Lu Yao to take this novel back and revise it, improve it, and then publish it in the editor's recommendation column in February!"< br>
Editorial column?
Bai Miao glanced at Fang Minghua and didn't say much, just said: "I agree."
"Well, I'll call Lu Yao and ask him to come over."
At this time, Lu Yao was restless at home.
After getting up in the morning and driving my Santana to send my daughter to school, I didn’t want to do anything when I got home.
I wonder if you have finished reading that novel Ming Hua?
What are your thoughts after reading this?
Do you think the writing is poor?
After writing novels for so many years, I have never been as nervous as I am today.
This seems to go back to more than ten years ago, when he was still studying at Yan University and his mood when he submitted his first article to "Yanhe".
He clearly remembered that he wrote a short story called "The Red Flag of Victory".
Fortunately, the novel was finally published in Yanhe. This was his first published novel. He was 24 years old that year.
Fifteen years have passed, and it seems like a reincarnation has happened again, back to the starting point.
At this moment, the landline phone on the high and low cabinet in the living room suddenly rang, startling him.
He hurried over and picked up the phone and heard a familiar voice coming from inside.
"Brother Lu, I am Minghua. Are you free now? Come to my office and talk about this novel you wrote."
"If you are free, I will come right away. Come here."
Lu Yao hung up the phone, put on his coat, and hurried out of the house.
Ten minutes later, he appeared in Fang Minghua's office.
"Brother Lu, is it cold outside? Have a sip of hot tea." Fang Minghua enthusiastically poured the other party a cup of tea.
Lu Yao took the teacup and hugged it with both hands, looking at each other with a hint of nervousness in his eyes: "Minghua, that novel of mine?"
"Bai Miao and I have read it , Overall it’s good, I decided to publish it, but there are some parts that still need to be modified.”
Fang Minghua’s words made Lu Yao breathe a sigh of relief, and his tense body finally relaxed.
“Okay, how do you want to modify it?”
Fang Minghua was not polite and told what he had discussed with Bai Miao yesterday, and pointed out one of the passages in the novel.
"This narrative is a bit nondescript. Brother Lu, are you eager to get rid of the writing shadow of "The Ordinary World"?"
"Yes." Lu Yao did not hide it, he explained : "Although "The Ordinary World" received a good response from readers, it was not well received by critics. They said that the presentation techniques were outdated and the plot was old-fashioned. It was an extended version of "Life". I was really unconvinced at the time."
Lu Yao said, sighed, took out a pack of "narrow" cigarettes from his pocket, and lit one.
"Brother Lu, you smoked again? Didn't you quit?" Fang Minghua said in surprise.
"How can you write without smoking?" Lu Yao said with a smile: "Besides, I don't drink anymore, and if I quit smoking, what fun is there in life?"
Fang Minghua laughed and said nothing more. .
Lu Yao took a sip and continued: "In the past two years, I have hardly written. In addition to reading a lot, I also calmed down to think about this issue. I gradually felt that what others said was indeed reasonable. In this case, I I have to change my writing style, otherwise, what I write will be just another "Ordinary World" or "Life""
"You are right, writing is inherently a kind of The painful process of pursuing innovation, seeking change and transcending oneself Let’s return to this novel. I suggest you delete this paragraph, or write it from a different angle. You are very good at realistic narratives, don’t lose this good tradition.”
"Okay, I will listen to your suggestion and go back and change it."
"And this section." The two talked for more than an hour. I just finished talking about the whole novel.
"Minghua, I will go back now and make the modifications according to what we talked about, and then you can take a look." Lu Yao said first.
"Okay." Fang Minghua didn't hold back: "We will discuss it after the revision is completed. Once it is completed, I will prepare to publish your novel in the editor's recommendation in the February issue."
Editor’s recommendation?
Lu Yao was stunned for a moment, then realized: "Thank you, Minghua."
"Thank me for what?" Fang Minghua said with a smile: "A good article should be published, and it should be on the headlines."
(End of this chapter)