The previous article explored Jin Yong's writing technique of advancing the plot through confrontational conflict. In this article, we will continue to explore how Jin Yong specifically introduced contradictions and conflicts.
After describing one contradiction and conflict, you can slowly describe another contradiction and conflict. Such a description, the contradictions and conflicts are relatively clear and independent.
Similarly, one conflict can be introduced into another. Such a depiction, similar to a chain of trains, shows that this contradiction is directly affected by other contradictory factors. Contradictions and conflicts are not independent, but are intrinsically linked. These many internally linked contradictions and conflicts together constitute the contradictions and conflicts of the entire story chapter.
The method of introducing contradictions and conflicts that Jin Yong often uses is the latter, that is, introducing other contradictions and conflicts in one contradiction and conflict, so that the whole plot can seem to be interlocked. In general, Jin Yong is very good at describing a contradiction and suddenly inserting new contradictory factors to stimulate new contradictions and conflicts. This technical characteristic of writing is particularly prominent in the chapter "Black Wind and Double Brake".
01 Jin Yong is very good at suddenly inserting new contradictions
In the fourth chapter, when Jin Yong describes contradictions and conflicts, there are several typical places.
【The first sudden】
The next day at breakfast, Tuo Lei and Guo Jing went out hand in hand to play, the letter went on foot, and gradually drifted away from the camp, when suddenly a white rabbit ran from the feet of the two people. Tuo Lei took out a small bow and arrow, and with a loud bang, it hit the white rabbit's belly. He was young and weak, although he shot, but not fatal, the white rabbit ran with the arrow, the two shouted and shouted, pulled out their feet and chased after him.
The white rabbit ran for a while, and finally fell, and the two cheered in unison, and were about to rush up to pick it up, when suddenly seven or eight children ran out of the woods next to them. A child of about eleven or twelve years old had a quick eye, grabbed the white rabbit, pulled out a small arrow and threw it to the ground, glared at Tuo Lei and Guo Jing, hugged the rabbit and turned around.
【The Second Sudden】
Du Shi's companions chased after the general, and the two sides punched and kicked, and fought. Du Shi got up and angrily joined the battle group. Du Shi was older and more numerous, and in a few moments he threw Tuo Lei and Guo Jing to the ground. Du Shi couldn't help but punch Guo Jing in the back and shouted, "If you surrender, spare you!" Guo Jing tried to struggle hard, but he couldn't move when he held it down. Over there, Tuolei also gave the two children a joint crush on the ground to beat them.
Just as the stalemate was in a stalemate, suddenly Ma Ling sounded behind the dunes, and a small group of people came on horseback. When a short and fat man rode a yellow horse, he saw the children fighting with each other and smiled: "Okay, do you want to fight?" ”
【The Third Sudden】
The seven people were discouraged, and Han Baoju suddenly "mehed" and pointed to the grass, "What is that?" "Under the moonlight, I saw three piles of white things in the grass, and the appearance was very strange.
When the all-blonde walked over to look, he saw three piles of dead man's skulls, but they were neatly folded. He laughed and said, "It must have been done by those naughty children, who ranked the dead heads here... Ah, what? ...... Second brother, come on! ”
The three scenes described above all use sudden transformations to insert new contradictory factors and stimulate new contradictions and conflicts. Because of the interlocking contradictions and conflicts, the reader will feel that the attention has been pulled by the author, which has played a good dramatic layout effect.
02 Why insert a new contradiction?
For the plot to develop, new contradictory factors must emerge. Only by pulling toward new contradictions and conflicts can we pull the existing contradictions and conflicts to a new height and push the novel to the stage of a new plot. In a substantive sense, new forces, new characters, new contradictions, new conflicts and struggles, they all work together to promote the evolution of the plot.
Just imagine, if you always talk about a contradiction and conflict, and then there are no new factors in the relatively long space, no new contradictions and conflicts, how tired the reader will be to read. Therefore, if the novel is to develop, it needs to insert new contradictions. This is easy to understand, but why insert new contradictions in a sudden way?
The sudden insertion of new contradictions, this is mainly considered from the aspect of stimulating the novelty of reading. First of all, this sudden emergence of new contradictions is in line with reality. People who have rich life experience will understand that many times unexpected things will occur, so that the development of many things is unexpected. In the middle of this, there are many new factors that suddenly appear. This manifests itself in fiction writing, where new contradictory factors are suddenly inserted to complete the unexpected reading experience.
Second, the novel needs to create enough novelty for the reader. Novelty is to oppose the aesthetic fatigue of reading, only in this way can the reader continue to maintain emotional investment in the novel, produce a benign reading experience, and fall in love with the novel being read.
When a reader reads a novel, to put it bluntly, it is to read a sense of freshness. The essence of freshness, or novelty, is freshness plus strange feeling. Where does the novelty come from? One of the main sources is the sudden emergence of new factors.
If it's all old factors and old behaviors that are taken for granted, what's new to talk about? Aesthetic fatigue has long been. And these new factors must not only emerge, but suddenly. Because it suddenly appears, it will further strengthen the sense of novelty. Sudden new factors, greatly unexpected by the reader, can be truly novel. If the new factors are what the reader can anticipate, they will actually become old things in the reader's mind, that is, the novelty will be greatly reduced.
The best novelty, like a roller coaster, when you think things are going to go in this direction, suddenly become like that, so that the reader's flow can't stay still, but constantly change direction, so that the reader doesn't feel dull, always encounters freshness. In this way, we can constantly lead the reader's thinking to turn, thus generating a sense of novelty.
So what should the new contradictions that need to be inserted look like? First, the new contradictory elements that need to be inserted must be reasonable. Only reasonableness can ensure that the new contradictory factors can be connected with the contradictions and conflicts that have already been presented, and can also stimulate the maximum dramatic effect.
Second, new contradictory factors can carry forward the past and the future. This is crucial. New factors should be able to catch existing contradictions and conflicts, and at the same time be able to stimulate subsequent contradictions and conflicts. This means that new factors can trigger new contradictions and conflicts, and at the same time, this new contradiction and conflict can stimulate subsequent contradictions and conflicts.
These opposing conflicts are not independent of each other, but are interlocked. The latter antagonistic conflict is an extension of the previous antagonistic conflict, or the two together constitute a greater antagonistic conflict. In short, they need to be intrinsically related, not independent. In this way, the contradictions and conflicts can constitute a tight chain, and also constitute the chain of plot logic of the novel.
Of course, Jin Yong's writing is not to suddenly appear new factors many times without interruption, but to insert new factors and new contradictions and conflicts after the existing contradictions and conflicts last for a period of time. This involves how to suddenly insert new contradictions.
03 How to insert a new contradiction?
Jin Yong tells us through the novel that we need to suddenly insert new contradictory factors, so as to ensure that there is enough novelty in the reader's heart. But how?
First, insert on the conflict highs. Observing the new contradictory factors written by Jin Yong, we will find that he often inserts new contradictory factors at the high point of existing contradictions and conflicts. Insert new contradictions, form new conflicts, let conflicts develop to some old places, that is, at the high point of conflict, and then insert new contradictions. In this way, step by step, step by step.
Second, when the existing situation has been basically determined, to insert a new contradiction. In order to ensure the stability of the plot of the novel, the description of existing contradictions and conflicts often needs to be sufficient. At this time, it means that the transaction situation needs to be basically clear, it means that there needs to be a transition, and new contradictions need to appear. At this time, it is reasonable and necessary to insert new contradictory factors.
If the original conflict has not been basically determined, the reader's thinking is still stuck in the original contradiction and conflict, and there is no flow that needs to go to the next step, at this time, if you forcibly insert a new contradiction, the reader will feel very sudden, the flow will not follow, and they will feel very shocked.
Third, insert from a novelty. If you insert a very ordinary point, it will not arouse everyone's curiosity, but need to be inserted from the novelty part. As mentioned in the third situation mentioned in the first part above, the Seven Monsters of Jiangnan were waiting for Guo Jing to come and worship the master, when they suddenly found that there were several piles of skulls and skeletons, which led to the black wind and double brakes. This is a new factor that has never appeared before, and their martial arts are strong, and it is related to the blood sea of the seven monsters of Jiangnan, Ke Zhen' evil. So, they're actually very powerful novelties.
Fourth, it surprised everyone. Everyone did not expect this situation to occur, only in this way can it cause everyone's sense of suspense. When the reader sees the sudden new contradictions, he will ask in his heart, what is going on? They will feel very material inside.
To sum up the above, at the high point of conflict, when the existing situation is basically determined, from the novel point of surprise, it is the basic method of Jin Yong to suddenly insert new contradictory factors. Using this technique, it can constantly attract the reader's attention, so that they continue to evolve with the author's brush stroke adaptation, so that it is easier to produce a benign reading experience.