A Brief Discussion on Literary Creation

     Hello everyone, my name is Wenxin, I'm twenty years old, and I come from the beautiful Pu'er, Yunnan. I'm a literature enthusiast and someone who loves writing. I'm not a poet, much less a writer, but I love literature and writing. Today, I'd like to share some of my experiences with you.

    In first grade, my grades were terrible; I failed tests and was often bullied and mocked by my classmates. From then on, I decided to study hard so that others would respect me. In second grade, I loved reading, and my grades improved dramatically. I even scored 99.5 in Chinese, for a simple reason: I misspelled a capital letter in pinyin. My enthusiasm for learning didn't wane. After finishing my own books, I would look through my older brother's. Because I didn't put his books back, he once forgot his textbook and was scolded by the teacher. After that, my brother never let me look through his bag again. I

    started writing compositions in third grade. Because I read so much, I didn't find writing compositions difficult when others did. Writing student compositions has always been one of my strengths. My articles have been read aloud by teachers many times as model essays. I don't know when it started, but I developed a deep love for literature, geography, history… Gradually, I fell in love with writing, enjoying expressing my emotions through my writing. This brought joy to my otherwise introverted self.

    I wrote when I was sad, and I wrote when I was happy, until one day, I realized I couldn't live without words. Words are a person's soul, representing the author's inner world. We find joy in the process of reconstructing words, letting our emotions flow freely in the ocean of language. Some people, when wronged, want to cry their hearts out. But those of us who love to write always like to record what's hidden in our hearts—this is the source of our creativity. Words are like a camera capturing every wonderful moment, allowing us to revisit those bygone days, uncovering those old stories, and letting those fragments of our hearts live on forever in the world of words.

    I don't like or enjoy reading those melodramatic articles online. I much prefer articles that are unique and don't follow the crowd.

    I usually only write when inspiration strikes. If I don't write down an inspiration, I feel uneasy, and if I wait until later to write, the feeling is lost. So we must strike while the iron is hot. Literary creation is like cooking and eating delicious food; the more you eat, the more you want to eat, the more you want to do it. One day you'll find that life is missing that ingredient, and it lacks color. It's like a volcanic eruption; when the temperature reaches a certain point, lava will gush out. It's like bamboo shoots after the rain, breaking through the soil—this is the combination of inspiration and passion for creation. Those sentimental articles, relying solely on imagination without experience, will not achieve this effect, let alone resonate with readers. There's a saying in literary circles: "Sadness and anger produce poets," which probably means the same thing.

    Literature is popular now, but why isn't it easily remembered? Because it lacks original thought; it's just blindly following others. What's the difference between leaders and pioneers and us? It's that they have their own thoughts, their own personality, and their own distinctive characteristics. Tang and Song poetry are memorable because they have their own era's characteristics. What made Li Bai famous? Romanticism. Why did Du Fu become the Sage of Poetry? Realism. Su Shi's boldness, Li Qingzhao's gentleness, and Qu Yuan's patriotism—these are their individual characteristics. In contemporary literature, when people mention Misty Poetry, they think of Gu Cheng, Shu Ting, and Jiang He. When they think of prose, they think of Zhu Ziqing—these are also characteristics. Therefore, when we write, we must have our own unique style to create good works.

    Why have modern writers of classical poetry failed to surpass their predecessors? Because we haven't created the characteristics of our own era. For example, "When shall we trim the candle by the west window?"—that's ancient times, no longer applicable. If we were to write about candles now, it seems inconsiderate. Who among you still uses candles? We should keep up with the times and write about our own era. Let things that no longer exist remain in the museum of history. Do you want to stay in fantasy forever?

    My highest requirement for literary creation is to observe with eyes, listen with ears, and perceive everything in life with heart. It's said that art originates from life but transcends it, but I only want to be on par with life, or at least grasp its superficial aspects. I hope to use the simplest language to depict a simple world, allowing people to perceive the little things in life. I want those who understand to think deeply, and those who don't to grasp the basics—that's the kind of writing I desire.

    Literature doesn't need to be profound; simply daring to express one's true thoughts and write down what one sees is already remarkable. If your writing is too profound and difficult to understand, wouldn't it force readers to spend more time pondering, and sometimes they still wouldn't understand? It's better to write in a simple and easy-to-understand way, effortlessly conveying what you want to say, allowing readers to immediately grasp the author's intention, saving them time and fostering resonance. It benefits both parties—a win-win situation. Let those who understand delve deeper, and let those who don't grasp the basics gain some understanding. Take my pen name, Wenxin, for example—it symbolizes the fragrance of words, giving everyone a warm feeling. My other pen name is Gouyan Canchuan (Dog's Words Remnants). Why Gouyan Canchuan? Do you remember the short essay "The Dog's Autobiography"? That's the origin of the name. Later, I realized that some things couldn't be expressed directly, so I settled on the pen name "Dog's Words Remnants." That's my current QQ username, which is why you'll see two different styles of writing on my profile. Between "Dog's Words Remnants" and "Wenxin," I prefer "Dog's Words Remnants"—it's more individualistic, distinctive, concise, and immediately conveys the attitude it expresses. I encourage everyone to live in the present and live a fulfilling life.

    To those who sing praises, those who follow the crowd, I want to ask you, do you truly live in a world full of sunshine and emotion? The value of a person lies in their spirit, in having their own backbone. Don't go against your conscience, don't become the kind of person you once despised. I hope you live in a world full of sunshine and surrounded by emotion. If you're still busy today, then tomorrow, why not stop, look at the world, and take even just a minute or half an hour to read books rich in philosophy and comforting to the soul? Change your appearance, and don't let ambition consume your entire life. To those friends who write articles every day, I ask you: do you truly feel anything when you write? If you don't, then I advise you to stop writing. This world needs to celebrate positive energy, truth, goodness, and beauty, but doesn't it also contain falsehood, evil, and ugliness? Shouldn't you criticize these negative things? We need to criticize ourselves, face ourselves squarely, criticize literature, and criticize the ugliness of this era. A complete world requires tolerance, praise, opposition, and criticism. It seems that now, without criticism, we are bowing and scraping, flattering others. To escape the chaos of the world, we should also live in the present, seeing the bright lights and bustling activity, striving to reach that Shangri-La.

    The value of writing lies in its authenticity, its emotion, and its quality. Zhang Ruoxu's "A Moonlit Night on the Spring River," a single poem, surpasses all other Tang poems, demonstrating the importance of quality. Perhaps you write every day, but if you only care about quantity and not quality, is your writing meaningful? Some say, "I only write for myself; as long as I'm happy, that's enough." While this sounds reasonable, don't forget that you yourself aspire to make breakthroughs and enjoy sharing and discussing your work. If you're writing for others, they'll prioritize quality, not quantity. There are countless novels online, updated daily, but how many do you truly want to read? High-quality articles are captivating, while low-quality ones are abhorrent and poison the reader's mind. Some novels are now written by one person with an outline, then completed by several collaborators—these are called online writers, self-proclaimed word processors. Even one person's writing can be good or bad; how can several people with different ideas create a unified narrative? What will readers think? Do you want to turn them into mentally ill or give them superpowers? It's great if literary works bring us economic benefits, but let's not forget our initial purpose: not to write for the sake of writing. Literature is a refined art; don't let it become an appendage to money.

    Literary creation should be a joyful experience; if it doesn't bring us joy, it's best not to continue. We write because literature brings us joy, and we enjoy the creative process.

    Copyright is also very important. For someone who loves writing, the greatest joy is having their work appreciated by others. While being appreciated, you should also be vigilant and mindful of the intrinsic value of your work. If you discover your work has been infringed upon, don't be indifferent; you should promptly and rationally dissuade the infringer and demand they cease their infringing activities. If necessary, you can use legal means to protect your rights. Readers or enthusiasts who enjoy others' work are welcome to like anyone's work, but you must not infringe upon the rights of the original author. Respect originality and respect the author. Even when sharing, you should clearly indicate that you are sharing or reposting. I think the author certainly doesn't want their hard work, time, and dedication to be so easily taken away. Perhaps someone steals your work today and someone else's tomorrow. If we don't stop them in time, there will likely be more victims. For your own sake, to prevent the infringer from continuing their mistakes, and to prevent more people from being harmed, consider this an act of upholding justice and spreading positive energy.

    P.S.: Today I saw my work appearing on different websites, especially on a website with the same name as another author. I've seen this before, but I thought you were just posting my work under my name, so I didn't pay much attention. Only today did I realize that you wrote an article under the pen name "Wen Xin" in 2012, didn't update it in 2013, and only started updating regularly after I started writing on the essay website for a while. I checked your space, and apart from the 2012 article, which was your original work, all the rest are my original works. I hope you can respect me and my originality. If you like my work, I can give it to you. You can also copy and share it with others, citing the source. Also, since you share my work under the same pen name as me, please credit "Gouyan Canchuan Original." But please don't move my work to your space and post it as your own. I don't want my time and effort spent on this to become someone else's work the next day. Stop it. I know you can see this, and I'm posting this. What I write is meaningless to you, but it's incredibly meaningful to me. Even if what I write has no value, I can understand how I feel right now. You're a writer too, so I'm sure you can relate! Or you could just delete all my works from your social media. I'm not a celebrity, just a literature enthusiast, but I also have my own value, thoughts, and the right to my own work. I urge all authors and readers to respect originality and authors. Works online also have their own authors!