Yuan Ziwen: Experiencing and feeling is the premise of writing

Yuan Ziwen, born in 1993 in Langfang City, Hebei Province, graduated from the Department of Sociology of Peking University, and his representative works are "May My World Always Have One-Half of You", "Embracing You Across the Sea of People", "I'm Sorry, I'm Also the First Time to Be an Adult", and "You Want to Be Well".

Yuan Ziwen has multiple identities, writer, "high school weight loss + counterattack Peking University" of the bully, the founder of cosmetics brands, actors, etc., different social roles also let his writing have more material, but also won the annual emerging writer and other awards. Recently, Yuan Ziwen accepted an exclusive interview with the reporter of China Young Writers Daily, telling about the growth experience of young writers after the 90s.

Experiencing and feeling is the premise of writing

"In terms of writing, I am not a talented type, and the tacit understanding between me and the text is cultivated." Yuan Ziwen admitted that when he grew up, he did not find anything special about his writing, but was "particularly willing to write, thinking that the text is very beautiful and has a calming magic."

Yuan Ziwen said that when he was a child, the teacher assigned the composition of "Autumn Park", he did not know how to write, the teacher asked his parents to take him to different parks, "Perhaps since then, to experience, feel has become the premise of my writing." ”

In middle school, Yuan Ziwen joined the literary club and regularly read works by famous artists every week. Yuan Ziwen said that although he could not fully understand it at that time, with the accumulation of reading, there was a tacit understanding of interconnection with words in the subtle, "like a slowly cultivated love."

Like most people, Yuan Ziwen's high school life was basically filled with the fact that he was preparing for the college entrance examination. Under the tense learning atmosphere and strict school management, writing has gradually become a light in Yuan Ziwen's life. "It ignited a love of life that I almost extinguished, and it was only when I was writing that I felt that I was a vibrant teenager."

Yuan Ziwen admits that immersing himself in writing is a way for him to find a sense of security, "just like people who are afraid of the dark have to sleep with the lights on, writing can temporarily forget the anxiety of studying, and bring me a sense of safety and comfort." ”

The light of writing not only illuminated Yuan Ziwen's dull high school years, but also illuminated more possibilities in his adult life, making him have a sigh of "I could still do this". Yuan Ziwen has not stopped writing in his hand. He admits that the wealth brought by writing is actually far less than that brought by other identities, but it makes him feel rich in his heart. "After being well known as a young writer, I have the opportunity to go to different countries and cities, to be exposed to different kinds of work, to hear the affirmations and criticisms of different readers, and then to be able to stand on different stages and play more roles in life." Yuan Ziwen said.

"I love Monet's paintings, and the style of his work during his life has changed with personal development. I think writing is the same, every different stage of life has a different state of mind, it is a flexible pursuit. Among the various choices, writing can illuminate my growth along the way, so that I can look back and continue to walk. Yuan Ziwen said.

Writer of "Dreaming for Your Peers"

Yuan Ziwen's new book "You Have to Be Good" continues the topic of youth and focuses on the focus of today's young people. In this book, there are girls next door who have been compared with their excellent brothers since they were young; there are girls who are timid because of their obesity and inferiority, and finally find their own light; there are also people who bow their heads in front of money but still choose kindness in the end.

In the eyes of teenagers who are in adolescence and are about to enter the gap between ideals and reality, Yuan Ziwen's works guard the fantasies of youth. And Yuan Ziwen is the one who "dreams for his peers". Yuan Ziwen believes that what impresses readers in his works lies in the resonance, the loneliness of adolescence, the interpersonal relationships between classmates, the original family, the love in love... The stories in his book are not special, but they focus on the memories of youth that everyone will have. "I'm coming from the same path as them, and their troubles are also my troubles, so I can understand what they're thinking and how to deliver positive energy to them." Yuan Ziwen said.

Yuan Ziwen said that he likes to constantly feel in the process of observation, integrate the accidental flash of inspiration into his thinking, internalize it as part of his thoughts, and then create. Before starting to write, Yuan Ziwen used to take the pen and write down the general context on the book, and then slowly fill in the details and unfold the story. When shaping the character, he does not deliberately design the protagonist, and does not deliberately give the character identity and character for a certain plot. In his heart, the image of the protagonist should be real and perceptible, "although I have not seen it, I feel that he should be this natural appearance." ”

Maintaining the independence of the characters is what Yuan Ziwen has always insisted on. When writing, he also deliberately keeps the protagonist of the story away from his own life and tries to get as little as possible from the shadow of the people around him. "Moving acquaintances into a work is like copying a ready-made answer, and I want my characters to think for themselves." Yuan Ziwen said.

In the process of creation, he used to immerse himself completely in the novel, allowing himself to deeply experience the joys and sorrows of the characters. "I'm not a one-size-fits-all writer, I pay more attention to revision." Yuan Ziwen said that he likes to revise articles, and there are usually as many scraps as finished manuscripts. "I don't deliberately cater to what the market needs, I just write what I want to write." Perhaps because I am more delicate and take care of the reader's feelings, I will not be completely immersed in self-expression. ”

Write with a sociological eye

Since the publication of his first book in 2013, Yuan Ziwen has written youth stories for more than 6 years, and his writing has gradually faded with his growth. Yuan Ziwen said that at first, the world in his eyes was very small and simple, and most of the stories he captured when writing were small stories of classmates and colleagues, which led to his own ideas and gave readers a pot of "chicken soup for the soul".

After entering the Sociology Department of Peking University, Yuan Ziwen began to try to look at the larger world with a sociological eye. "I remember very clearly the teacher's teaching when I entered the school: whether or not I have empathy is the first criterion for judging whether a person is a qualified Peking University sociology student." Yuan Ziwen began to understand things from the perspective of social structure and interpersonal interaction, and also tried to go to a mental hospital for internship, putting himself in the shoes of mental patients to feel the pain and pursuit of mental patients.

"The study of sociology has given me a bigger view of the world and allowed me to empathize with more people. Sociology taught me no longer to be surprised that there was so much suffering in the world, and to no longer despise the slightest sense of happiness. This expansion of thinking fed me into fiction, allowing me to step out of my own small circle and into a larger world. ”

As a result, he began to try to focus on a larger topic in his creation, and to depict the trajectory of human life in novels. In "I'm Sorry, I'm Also an Adult for the First Time", Yuan Ziwen tells about the different life choices of a pair of brothers and sisters for decades and the kinship of blood thicker than water, and explores the meaning and value judgment of people's lives.

Gradually, Yuan Ziwen is no longer obsessed with exploring the world that he has not seen, but pays attention to the current life, and he hopes more and more to have a calm dialogue with the reader, "I don't want to tell the truth now, I just want to convey some feelings." In Yuan Ziwen's current text, it is difficult to find the flowery rhetoric he used to use, and the name of the book has slowly changed from pursuing novelty and attracting attention to plain and simple.

Now, Yuan Ziwen, who has thought more, decided to break through himself and try to create a long novel. In his view, the story of the short story is more like a fast food in front of a hungry person, simple and direct, with a clear purpose, and the character characteristics are clear but inevitably thin. In contrast, the novel is more artistic and the characters are more plump and three-dimensional. Yuan Ziwen revealed that he has written some character biographies in advance, and wants to create a multi-faceted, complex and flesh-and-blood character image in the novel, "A well-paced novel will make readers feel as if they have watched a well-made movie, which is easy and pleasant to read, and there is no burden." Hopefully, this novel will be a watershed in my literary journey. ”