Text/Yangcheng Evening News reporter Sun Lei
site of activity
"I eat tomatoes"
"Squid who loves diving"
On October 12th, China Online Literature Influence List (2022) was released and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Online Literature High-quality Development Seminar was held in Guangzhou. Online literature writers, critics, platform leaders and industry representatives from all over the country gathered together to discuss the present situation and future of online literature.
The event was hosted by the Chinese Writers Association, the Propaganda Department of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, and co-organized by the Network Literature Center of the Chinese Writers Association, the Guangdong Writers Association and Huacheng College of Literature.
I eat tomatoes, love diving squid, drinkers, bandits, I think about saving and other well-known online writers appeared at the venue, as well as online literary critics, platform leaders, cultural industry representatives from all over the country to participate in the activities.
After 20 or 30 years’ development, the online literature born on the Internet platform has gradually bid farewell to the early state of "barbaric growth and mud and sand", constantly breaking through the typed writing of cool articles and gradually moving towards the mainstream, high-quality and even classic development path. The content ecology of online literature has been further optimized, the trend of high-quality products has become stronger, and the trend of "going out to sea" of online literature has gradually become a scale.
The Realistic Trend of Web Theme: Hi? Worry?
On the evening of October 12th, the China Online Literature Influence List (2022) was officially released. After strict initial evaluation, re-evaluation, final evaluation and online voting by readers, the Network Literature Center of China Writers Association launched four lists: online novel list, IP influence list, overseas communication list and newcomer list, with 29 online literary works and 8 newcomer writers on the list.
The reporter found that in this list of works, the theme structure of online literature is more optimized, and the realistic theme has become the "new favorite" of online texts, and excellent works are frequent. Among the works on the list of online novels, works such as Critical Path and Biography of Shanghai Mortal closely follow the pulse of the times and write about real life.
On April 10th this year, the "Research Report on the Development of Network Literature in China in 2022" issued by the Institute of Literature of China Academy of Social Sciences also pointed out this trend: realistic works entered the "golden age" with a high compound growth rate of 37.2%.
According to Huang Fayou, chairman of Shandong Writers Association and professor of Shandong University College of Literature, the prosperity of online literature’s realistic theme creation is, in a sense, an important manifestation of online literature’s mainstream and high-quality practice. "In recent years, the creation of realistic themes of online literature has made remarkable progress and development, which has injected new vitality into online literature and pushed online literature to break through the bottleneck of development, with a broader vision and a more diverse pattern."
The same theme of reform and opening up, online literature works are not only more vivid, but also more interesting, and there is no lack of depth and temperature. The application of network literature techniques and visual narrative means also brings new aesthetics to the creation of realistic themes. Huang Fayou said that, like "Daguo Heavy Industry", it has a deep understanding of the machinery industry, and is full of respect for the exploration spirit of technicians and the fighting spirit of workers who are not afraid of difficulties. The works have a kind of affectionate power.
Wu Lanqi Muge, an associate professor at the School of Humanities, Wenzhou University, emphasized that the greatest feature of online literature is its freedom, popularity and tradition of telling stories, which allows us to have leisure, entertainment and games, which is a very important reason for its existence. "If all online literature develops to realistic literature or high-quality literature, it will certainly fail to learn from the strengths of traditional literature. Network literature has some reasons for its existence. Among some fantasy, fantasy and story-telling theme types, we can see some innovations in ideological artistry and literature and art that are no less than traditional literature and fine literature. In fact, it already has the advantages and disadvantages of traditional literature. "
In addition to realistic themes, sci-fi works, as one of the most important online categories, are still growing at a high speed. In 2022, "science" appeared nearly 250,000 times in the book review area. In this list of works, "We Live in Nanjing" and "Nomenclature of the Night" have developed gorgeous imagination, written fantastic fables in the vast universe, and explored the boundaries of sci-fi theme creation.
With the development of science and technology and the popularity of sci-fi film and television dramas, the post-90s and post-00s are rapidly pouring into the production and dissemination of sci-fi online literature in the activity field of the Internet, which is naturally labeled as "younger". The "Z generation" writers have gradually become the main creative force, and the newcomers of online writers combine the latest cutting-edge technology to create, bringing a new look and atmosphere to the development of the industry.
"Going out", China traditional culture is sought after.
According to the data released by the Network Literature Center of the Chinese Writers Association, by the end of 2022, the overseas market scale of China’s online literature exceeded 3 billion yuan, with more than 16,000 online works exported overseas, and overseas users exceeded 150 million, covering more than 200 countries and regions in the world.
From 2004, qidian began to sell the copyright of online novels to the whole world, to 2006, the translated works of Ghost Blowing Lights and Zhu Xian opened the Southeast Asian market, and then overseas originality and AI translation were launched, and IP adaptation was popular overseas. China’s online literature has spread all over the world, and some people even listed China’s online literature as "the four cultural wonders of the world" along with Hollywood blockbusters, Japanese anime and Korean TV dramas.
On the overseas communication list published this time, "The Return of the Warrior" triggered readers in more than 170 countries and regions around the world to "catch up" with a compact plot and suspense story lines, with more than 500 million hits; Cosmic Pro combines various elements such as reiki revival, live martial arts broadcast and life evolution, and shows the powerful imagination and narrative power of China’s online literature overseas …
It is worth mentioning that, in the tide of "net writing goes to sea", the works that inherit Chinese excellent traditional culture have made outstanding achievements, attracting many overseas readers, and the international communication effect is outstanding.
According to Tian Zhiguo, deputy editor-in-chief of Reading Group, through investigation, they found that overseas readers like China traditional culture and modern China style. In 2022, China-related words appeared 150,000 times in readers’ comments. In readers’ related discussions, the most mentioned China elements include food, martial arts, tea art and panda.
Tian Zhiguo said that with the continuous going out to sea of online articles, the literary style relying on the Internet has become an important entertainment content in Southeast Asia and North America, which is loved by local young people. "We have opened up localized originality in the local area. The main types of works are 15 categories and more than 100 subcategories, mainly focusing on five major themes: city, game competition, science fiction, oriental fantasy and western fantasy. Many of the oriental fantasy themes are influenced by China’s traditional culture and have a strong Chinese style in theme setting and character setting. "
In recent years, many platforms have made efforts in the direction of audio and short video to promote the spread of China’s online literature overseas. According to Xie Guangcai, director and executive vice president of Chinese Online Group, as far as overseas communication is concerned, the current "ReelShort" short play can be described as a shining star in the European and American markets, and its user scale has developed very rapidly, making it a sample for short plays to go to sea. "The short drama of network development is a good outlet in the current two or three years, but its quality is the top priority of commercial operation."
Tong Ye, CEO of Twitter Technology, said that going out to sea is not just a text going out, but more importantly, letting Chinese culture go out. Xie Sipeng, editor-in-chief of tomato novels, also stressed that both the content and the mode of going out to sea are all China’s online articles going out to sea, and they all bear the mission and heavy responsibility of spreading China culture.
The degree of mainstreaming has increased, and excellent originality is still less.
While the iron is hot, you need to be hard. Whether the theme turns or the online text goes out to sea, high-quality online literature works are needed. This is also the core value of this list release and seminar: focusing on the mainstream and quality creation of online literature.
China’s online literature has been in a state of natural growth for quite a long time since it came into being spontaneously. Internet literature, which was born on the Internet platform, pays too much attention to market efficiency and pursues "fast", "long" and "cool" blindly, resulting in the problems of rough quality, vulgar content and deviation from mainstream values, which can be described as "barbaric growth and mud and sand".
In recent years, with the continuous promotion of the trend of quality content, the mainstream degree of online literature at home and abroad has been significantly improved in 2022: in China, 144 online works have been permanently collected by the National Library, and 10 digital versions of online works have been collected in the China National Edition Museum; Overseas, 16 China websites have been collected by the British Library, and they have spread to more than 200 countries and regions around the world, with 901 million users visiting overseas websites.
"It is necessary to promote the mainstream and quality of online literature innovation." Hu Bangsheng, member of the party group and secretary of the Secretariat of the Chinese Writers Association, observed that there are a large number of online literary works and rich types, but there are still few excellent original contents. He believes that holding an online literary and cultural heritage forum and publishing a list of online novels is to inherit the Chinese context, explore the development path, guide online writers to adhere to the correct creative orientation, and launch more online literary masterpieces.
"Mainstreaming, quality and classicalization are a plan for the whole online literature industry, which requires that online literature must serve this era. This requirement also invisibly constrains the creation of each of our online writers, regardless of personal will." According to Ouyang Youquan, a professor at Central South University, the current development of online literature is facing many changes. With the rise of audio and video industrialization, as the source of content, online literature must produce high-quality texts so that our creation can stand, spread and stay.
Guangdong is one of the cradles of online literature in China, and it is also the province with the largest number of online writers, and many "great god" writers who are famous all over the network have been born. According to Zhang Peizhong, Party Secretary and Full-time Vice Chairman of Guangdong Writers Association, by the end of 2022, there were more than 200,000 online literature writers in Guangdong, including nearly 40,000 people who signed contracts with websites and wrote, and 150 head writers. The number of authors, works and readers ranked among the top in China, with strong development momentum and broad prospects. "We should further strengthen the creation of high-quality products, speed up the IP transformation, increase the online literature’s going to sea, and truly realize the two-way development and two-way empowerment of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area’s online literature and cultural industries", and make Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area an important pole in the development of China’s online literature.
[interview]
"I eat tomatoes":
Focus on creation, not following the market trend.
Network writer "I eat tomatoes", whose real name is Zhu Hongzhi, is called "tomato". In 2005, he began to serialize The Legend of the Star Peak in qidian, and since then, he has started the journey of online literature creation, and has successively published works such as The Star Change, Panlong, Swallowing the Starry Sky, The Age of the Wild, and The Professional Player of the Universe, breaking many online records.
Among them, Panlong, Swallowing the Starry Sky, Cosmic Professional Player and many other works are also representative works of online writing, which have been translated into English, Korean, Thai, Indonesian and other languages.
Yangcheng Evening News: For you personally, what is the biggest change in online literature over the years?
I eat tomatoes: the external environment has been changing, and we need to adhere to the initial intention of creation while adapting to the environment. Online novels developed vigorously in 2002, and it has been about 20 years now. Its future still has great potential and possibility. All we have to do is write a good story, and your story may spread explosively at the right time. You can’t follow the trend just because of what the market is, like the short video of the fire now, not that you have to do it. Writers still have to concentrate on creation, write a good work, and then wait for the opportunity.
Yangcheng Evening News: Now discussing online literature, many critics have put forward the expectation of "mainstreaming" and "quality". As an online writer, do you want your works to enter the mainstream vision?
I eat tomatoes: the ancients said, "If you take it, you will get it." You can set a high goal and then work hard in this direction. As for the result, I think it will be left to future generations to evaluate.
Yangcheng Evening News: Apart from online literature, have you tried to create more profound and serious literature?
I eat tomatoes: the boundaries of serious literature are actually rather vague. The essence of literature is to convey ideas. If the ideas you convey can still have a good influence on people after a hundred years, then I think your works are excellent literary works, and you are creating with a very serious attitude, which is exactly what I have been pursuing.
Yangcheng Evening News: Where does your creative source come from? What is the creative motivation?
I eat tomatoes: the source of my creation is the bits and pieces in my life, like sometimes looking at the blue sky and white clouds outside, I will conceive a very illusory world in my mind, or watching a news, which will also trigger some associations. These are the sources of creative materials.
If you are motivated to create, I feel that people still have to pursue something, and they can’t live in a daze all the time. I started writing in 2005, and it’s been 18 years now, which is equivalent to doing it all the time during the most creative period. Since this is the most important career in your life, I still hope to create some excellent works. If there are still works that are widely welcomed by readers many years later, it is still a very fulfilling thing for me.
Yangcheng Evening News: In your opinion, how does online literature creation relate to the times?
I eat tomatoes: as a member of society, the author will of course be influenced by various social news when he creates. However, for me personally, there is a certain time difference. Because when I write a novel, it is often long, up to several million words, so before I start writing, I will first determine the outline of the novel, and once it is decided, it will not be easily changed. Just like Jin Yong’s novels, there are many foreshadowing in the early stage, and these foreshadowing have already decided the direction of the later article. So the touch of news events may generally be integrated into the creation of my next work.
Yangcheng Evening News: Do you analyze readers’ preferences when creating?
I eat tomatoes: I may listen to readers’ opinions in the process of preparation, but once I start writing, I will stick to telling the story in my heart. I have written many creative themes, such as Xian Xia, science fiction, magic, city and so on. I like to challenge some unwritten themes, and different attempts are more fresh.
Yangcheng Evening News: What do you think or suggest about China’s online literature going out to sea?
I eat tomatoes: the first step of online literature is translation, so the translator is very important. A good translator should first like the work itself, and then be able to translate it into other languages smoothly. Besides the translator, the original work itself is fundamental. Another is the platform, which needs a suitable platform to spread excellent online literary works and reach overseas readers.
"Squid who loves diving":
Net articles with deep expression will have more audiences.
The online writer "Squid Who Loves Diving", whose real name is vilen, is a signing writer at the starting point and a platinum writer of Reading Group. He has written many online novels, such as "The Record of Death" (formerly known as "The Way to Immortality"), "The Divine Immortal", "The Master of Mysticity" and so on. Among them, the number of hits on the Internet of "The Divine Works of Olympiad Mathematics" exceeded 12 million, ranking first in the list of online novels in China in 2015 by Chinese Writers Association, and winning the first Biennial Award for Excellence in Chinese Online Literature.
He has also won the second "Mao Dun Literature Newcomer Award of Chinese Literature Foundation" and the third "Orange Melon Network Literature Award" and other honors. In 2016, he was elected as the vice chairman of the 8th Sichuan Writers Association. In 2019, he was elected as the chairman of Sichuan Network Writers Association.
Yangcheng Evening News: What do you think of the proposition of "classicalization" of online literature?
Squid who loves diving: I think there may be a long way to go to talk about the "classicalization" of online literature. What we should do first is to make it fine. As a creator, classicalization is definitely an unavoidable desire. But at this stage, as far as I am concerned, I can only say that I am constantly exploring in my own creative field and writing more timeless works, which can be passed down as much as possible.
Yangcheng Evening News: Will deep thoughts conflict with the pursuit of story in online literature?
Squid who loves diving: Not really, because online literature is aimed at hundreds of millions of readers. Some readers prefer relaxed and cool articles, while others want to see some works that can touch people’s hearts and arouse resonance. Network literature can’t please everyone, and it can only attract favorite readers as much as possible in its own field. On this basis, online literature with deep expression will have more audiences in the future.
Yangcheng Evening News: In your opinion, how has online literature changed in the past 20 or 20 years?
Squid who loves diving: the progress of technology has brought many changes to online literature. The earliest online literature was only serialized on the internet, and it was still a literary expression in essence. Later, with the development of technology, the era of mobile internet was ushered in, and many readers used their mobile phones to read books. At this time, as the author of online literature, in order to optimize the mobile phone reading experience, he will try to split long sentences into short sentences and remove large inner monologues. Now, with the assistance of AI, it can help to name the supporting role of the work, and even provide some story outlines, giving some ideas and inspiration. Of course, technology is always only an aid, which cannot replace the uniqueness of human creation, nor can it simulate the inner mental journey of each individual.
Yangcheng Evening News: What changes have you brought by engaging in online literature creation?
Squid who loves diving: I am very grateful to the industry of online literature, which makes me jump out of the established box.
Figure/Cai Yisheng
