□Wang Pingzhong
In my bookcase, there are several thick edited books, which are pasted with news and literary works published in newspapers and magazines across the country in the 1980s and 1990s, recording my footprints of growth. Among them, an short story "Sickness from Smoke" published in the Sichuan Agricultural Daily on August 5, 1990 appears in front of me. It was the first time I published a literary work in a provincial newspaper and it played an important role in realizing my dream of writing.
1982, after graduating from junior high school, I returned to my hometown to work as a farmer. Because I liked writing when I was in school, I devoted myself to creating during the slack season and wanted to be a "writer". However, I have written a large number of "works", and most of the manuscripts I submitted are either returned to the original manuscript or sank to the sea. I have only published a few short articles in cities and counties. I suspect that I am not a writer, and I secretly swear in my heart that if I cannot publish 4 literary works in public newspapers and magazines at or above the provincial level within ten years, I will give up my "writer's dream".
At that time, every village and group subscribed to Sichuan Agricultural Daily. Whenever the newspaper comes, I always read it all the time. After reading too much, I can see the "way". The works published on them are very close to the times, close to life, and close to reality, which is completely different from my original "unimaginable" works. I seem to have found the "cause" that my previous "works" could not be published.
In July 11990, I created a short story "Strange Disease", which tells the story of District Mayor Zhang going to Lianyunshan Township for inspection. The accompanying Township Mayor Hu was respectful to District Mayor Zhang. District Mayor Zhang refused because of a cough. Township Mayor Hu was not aware of the reason for panic. After District Mayor Zhang left, Township Mayor Hu became ill. After learning about the situation, District Mayor Zhang went to visit Township Mayor Hu and took the initiative to ask Township Mayor Hu for a cigarette. Township Mayor Hu's illness suddenly recovered. The novel reflects the subtle relationship between superiors and subordinates, and is humorous and funny. After the work was written, I submitted it to the dandelion supplement of Sichuan Agricultural Newspaper. Unexpectedly, this short story was published in just over 10 days.
After calming down, I found that the published manuscript is very different from the original manuscript. I hurriedly found the draft and the published draft for comparison. The original title is "Strange Disease", and the publication title is "Sickness Came from Smoke". The publication title is easier to understand and very relevant, and is more suitable for farmers to read. The text originally had more than 1,200 words, but only more than 600 words when it was published, which reduced by nearly half, making it more concise and clear. I used a red ballpoint pen to circle the deleted sentences, words, characters and punctuation points one by one, and there were actually thirty or forty places that were deleted and modified. I was both ashamed and moved. What is ashamed is that there are so many problems with a thousand-character article, and it seems that improving language skills is urgent. What moved me was how much effort the editor spent on deleting and modifying every word and punctuation in my article. The publication of
"The Sickness Comes from the Smoke" strengthened my creative confidence. I also strengthened my training in literary language, and carefully considered words and sentences in my future creation to ensure that the language is concise and accurate. Later, Sichuan Agricultural Daily selected and published my short stories such as "Anecdotes of Qingshui River", "Fishing", "Preview of Painting", "Public Comes to Fight", and "Malatang Chicken Ding" that exceeded my goal of "publishing 4 literary works in public newspapers and magazines at the provincial level or above within ten years", and inspired my motivation to continue to create. To date, more than 400 literary works I have created have been published in domestic and foreign newspapers, and more than 200 articles have been selected for publications such as "Selected Novels", " Selected Chinese Literature ", " Selected Novels ", and "Reader". I have become a member of the China Micro Novel Society, a member of the 8th Plenary Committee of the Sichuan Writers Association , and a vice president of the Sichuan Short Novel Society.
In addition to publishing literary works in Sichuan Agricultural Daily, I also wrote new people and new events in our town into a press release and published them, which attracted the attention of the town leaders. In August 1990, , I was hired as the news editor of the town radio and television station. Later, due to outstanding achievements, I was hired to work in county and municipal radio and television stations, and I became a journalist from a farmer correspondent. I have achieved remarkable results while working in journalism and literary creation. It can be said that Sichuan Agricultural Daily changed my destiny and fulfilled my writing dream.
Later, I learned that at that time, the editor of the Dandelion Supplement of Sichuan Agricultural Daily was Mr. Zeng Boyan.But until now, I have no chance to meet him and have not thanked him in person. Teacher Zeng Boyan is just a microcosm of many editorial teachers of Sichuan Agricultural Daily. It is precisely with their selfless contribution that grassroots correspondents and farmer authors can thrive. Taking advantage of the 70th anniversary of the founding of Sichuan Agricultural Daily, I wrote this article to express my highest respect to Teacher Zeng Boyan and all editors of Sichuan Agricultural Daily.
