Lu Xun's Basic Readings of Prose - Poetry and Prose

Author: Wang Dehou
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-09-01
Features: Should Not Be Written This Way
Youth who aspire to creative writing probably always think about the question, "How should one write?"
The market is filled with books like "How to Write Novels" and "Novel Writing Methods," all targeting such young people. However, it seems ineffective—authors who learn from these books have yet to emerge. Some young people try to ask famous authors, but their answers are rarely published, and the results are easy to imagine: they miss the mark. This is understandable because there are no secrets to creative writing that can be whispered and taught in a single sentence. If there were, those with the secret could indeed advertise, charge fees, and open a three-day course to turn students into literary masters. In a country as large as China, there might be such opportunities, but in reality, it is a scam.
Among the easily imagined answers, one must be "read the works of great writers." This may not satisfy literary youth, as it is too broad and vague—but it is practical. For any great writer with established acclaim, their works as a whole demonstrate "how one should write." However, readers find it difficult to discern this, and thus fail to grasp it. For learners, it is essential to understand "what not to write" before they can appreciate "what to write."
How, then, can one know what not to write? In Chapter 6 of "Gogol Studies" by V. G. Cherkesov, the question is answered:
"One must learn from the completed works of great writers how one should write. Therefore, what not to write can perhaps best be learned from the same works in their unfinished drafts. Here, it is as if the artist is teaching us directly with real examples. Just as he points to each line and tells us directly—‘Look—this should be cut. This needs to be shortened. This needs to be rewritten because it is unnatural. Here, some embellishment is needed to make the image clearer.’"
This is indeed a highly beneficial learning method, yet China lacks such teaching materials. In recent years, some handwritten manuscripts have been published, but they are mostly scholarly works or diaries. Perhaps this is because of the long-standing admiration for "writing in one sitting" or "without revising"—most of them are clean and show no traces of careful editing. If one looks abroad, even with a deep understanding of the language, it is impossible to collect early editions or revised versions of famous works.
Children of literary families are familiar with writing tools, carpenters' children play with chisels and hammers, and soldiers' children grow up with swords and spears. Without such an environment and legacy, it is an innate misfortune for Chinese literary youth.
In desperation, I came up with a solution: news reports and clumsy novels—these events could be turned into literary works, but the reports and novels themselves are not literature. This is a sample of "what not to write." However, there is no way to compare it with "what to write."
April 23rd.