The original title: "Plain writing" is difficult because the threshold is low

Beijing Daily reporter Lu Yanxia

Because the drama My Altay is popular, the writer Li Juan has become popular recently. Twenty years ago, Li Juan was still a wild girl. She never gave up after she embarked on the road of writing. Today, 20 years later, "plain writing" is showing a more prosperous scene. Recently, spade's new book "I'm Driving a Taxi in Shanghai", Wang Jibing's new book "Low Flying", Chen Nianxi's new book "The Gorge River Flows West" have been published successively. Hu Anyan's new book "Living in the Low" is about to be published, and Wang Liuyun's new book "The Wind Blows the Moonlight" is also expected to be published within the year.

Plain people's writing presents a new atmosphere

The new works of "plain people" writers are endless, and they continue to explore writing, presenting a new atmosphere of plain people writing.

Last year, Hu Anyan launched "I Deliver Express in Beijing", which became popular. In January this year, he launched "I Become Later Than the World", and the latest collection of essays "Living in the Low Place" will be released in July. This new book tells the influence of childhood growth experience and original family relationship on the formation of Hu Anyan's character, which forms the spiritual foundation and realistic source of "Why I Write".

In fact, like Hu Anyan, many ordinary writers have had a long writing experience, and their works have been published continuously after years of obscurity. Hu Anyan said, "Since I started writing in October 2009, I have entered the 15th year.

From writing about oneself to writing about others, the writing path of ordinary writers began to become broad. Wang Jibing, the "delivery poet", interviewed more than 100 delivery boys and listened to their ups and downs. Since the publication of his third poetry collection, Low Flying, he has been interviewed by hundreds of media.

From leaving his hometown to returning to his hometown, Chen Nianxi, the "miner poet", achieved a new leap in writing. In 2020, Chen Nianxi, who has been wandering for 20 years, returned to his hometown Xiahe Village, Luanzhuang Town, Danfeng County, Shaanxi Province, to present the history and popularity of the Xiahe River with 27 short stories. "The Xiahe River Flows to the West", a collection of essays, was recently published, and the score of Douban has reached 8.8 points. This new book is also Chen Nianxi's sixth work.

No matter what changes have taken place in the content and form of writing, for writers, the rich accumulation of life has brought them inexhaustible writing resources, which is also a valuable asset shared by ordinary writers. "I worked as a magazine editor, opened a milk powder store, and worked as a temporary worker in the township government. I had some superficial social experience, and my curiosity drove me to a broader world." After arriving in Shanghai, the author of "I Drive a Taxi in Shanghai", spade, wrote while driving a taxi. Couples eloped, people from Guangdong looking for big stalls everywhere, children taking a taxi alone, etc, In his writing, there is a humorous and sincere presentation.

"The writing of ordinary people, especially at the beginning, is mainly about their own personal experience, which is the same as that of most writers who first wrote about themselves." Tu Tu, the chief editor of Yuefu Culture, said that the forthcoming "A Bao" of Yuefu Culture was just the autobiography of an illiterate woman, who could only bear the fate of being written into novels before. Now, she has written her own destiny.

Sincerity and love resonate most

"In recent years, I think the biggest difference is that the media, publishing institutions, cultural groups and so on are all involved in the promotion and distribution of plain writing." Xiang Jing, a professor of the Chinese Department of East China Normal University, has studied the phenomenon of plain writing since 2019, and she clearly feels that plain writing has received more attention than ever before.

In this regard, Tu Tu also believes that the writing of a simple person is not a new phenomenon, but the publishing of a simple person is a new trend in recent years. "This is a result of the diversification of the evaluation system, and more ordinary people are presented."

Xiang Ping, the head of the modern literature editorial department of the writer's publishing house, is the editor in charge of Wang Jibing's new book Flight at Low Place. Talking about the feeling of meeting Wang Jibing's poems for the first time, she said: "First, I was moved by his ups and downs, and then I was infected by his sincere words. Those lines that are not pretentious and mysterious are written for the public." In Xiang Ping's view, Wang Jibing's works record the daily life of ordinary people crawling and flying, and convey the persistence and appeal of sincere love after being beaten by life. There is a kind of compassion in his bones. She said that those poems with truth, kindness and beauty as the background, which sometimes flash childlike childlike childlike interest and humor, can even activate the hidden poetry and writing desire of ordinary people.

"As a writer who began to write wholeheartedly in 2009, Hu Anyan has formed a personal style. As far as my feelings about words are concerned, they are not very different from those of 'mature writers'." Pu Zhao, editor of Purui Culture, editor in charge of "I Deliver Express in Beijing" and "Living in the Low Place", said. According to her, the sales volume of "I Deliver Express in Beijing" has reached nearly 200000, far exceeding expectations. "Character, experience, and writing ability all come together in one person, which makes this book unique."

"The works of spades are full of love for words and sincerity for life." Xiao Fenghua, president of Guangdong People's Publishing House, made such a comment on "I rent in Shanghai", which is not only the most precious quality of ordinary people's writing, but also the most resonating quality of readers.

The trend of routinization began to appear

Most of the "out of circle" works written by ordinary people are non fiction or poetry, and there are few novels at present. This is the result of Xiang Jing's in-depth observation over the past few years.

In Xiang Jing's view, most of the non fiction works written by ordinary people take personal life as the writing object, bringing about a kind of sharing equality. "Writers are not 'geniuses' with special talents, but you, me, and others around them. They write very important but neglected parts of daily life. When the world is fully recorded, it more or less satisfies readers' curiosity and concern in this field." Xiang Jing believes that writing by ordinary people is a way of writing about personal life experience, This part is just beyond the power of serious writers. "Although serious writers can also write about the bottom life, there is still a big difference between them and ordinary writers who write about their own experience, such as the quality of life and the presentation of real details." In Xiang Jing's view, this will also stimulate and enlighten the writing of serious writers.

With the popularity of Chen Nianxi, Fan Yusu, Hu Anyan, Yang Benfen, Wang Jibing, Grandma Xiuying, Zhang Xiaoman, spades, etc., some people will think that the outside world is hyping their "plain" identity, but Xiang Jing chose the attitude of enjoying success. "We are such an era today. If you don't win this attention, no one will pay attention to their writing." Xiang Jing believes that, We need to see more people's experience. Those who are engaged in dirty work should see their life experience, because they are a very important part of the world.

In recent years, there have been such promotion platforms as "Guyu Story", "The Lives of the World", "Noon Story", "Chinese Sandwich", "ONE Lab", "True Story Plan", "Surging Mirror" and so on. But in Xiang Ping's opinion, compared with the past, the threshold for writing by ordinary people is getting lower and lower, but in fact, the difficulty is getting higher and higher. "People's reading literacy and aesthetic standards are getting higher and higher. Although the identity of a simple person will objectively increase some emotional factors and reduce people's evaluation standards and expectations of the works to a certain extent, the overall passing line has been improved. "

For publishers, it is becoming increasingly clear that "plain people" are more and more a label and reading entry. As Puzhao said, "A good writer has a broader possibility. Thanks to this label, we can notice more writers who were once ignored." She has increasingly realized that the focus of finding original non fiction topics is not "a certain kind of work" or "a certain group", but only "a certain author" or "a good writer" Enough to pry her enthusiasm.

In the upsurge of plain writing, Xiang Jing kept a calm observation, and plain writing began to show a tendency of routinization. For example, there were more titles such as "Where do I do?". In Xiang Jing's view, the strangeness and novelty of individual experience will indeed dilute and disappear with the increase of the number of texts. Therefore, the sustainability of plain writing as a literary trend of thought and the sustainability of specific writers' writing still need to be tested by readers and time after its amazing opening.