"There's a hobbit living in an underground cavern......"

Open the supplement of "The Scotsman", and you can see the serialization that began today——

The Hobbit.

When he saw the first sentence, James had a sense of crisis,

The Hobbit, a human race that has never appeared in any previous fantasy works,

Reading back, it is a short race, about half the height of a normal human, with strong soles like leather and a thick layer of brown fur on the surface of the feet.

The creation of a new human race illustrates the need to build a new world in Lu Shi.

This is very demanding on the author, like walking a tightrope on a cliff, and if you are not careful, you will fall into the abyss.

Cavendish on the other side said, "Brave. ”

James nodded,

"Indeed."

Unexpectedly, Cavendish added another sentence: "But stupid." ”

James didn't answer.

Obviously, Cavendish felt that Lu Shi could not create an immersive "real" world,

Even if it is shaped, it will never succeed.

It's so hard!

James wasn't a horror story writer in the first place.

Because of his in-depth study of the Bible, he once considered using the Bible as a model to create a world in which God and demons clashed, and write an epic.

To this end, he also made a world view setting, which was very detailed.

But the result is ......

I don't want to write it.

Many online writers in later generations have had similar experiences.

No matter how complete the setting is, it's just a setting,

From the setting to the story, there is still a gap of 108,000 miles.

James asked, "Mr. Chancellor, don't you think it's good to create a new race and set up a new world?" ”

Cavendish shook his head,

"Of course I don't think so. But you must know that the purpose of the setting is to assist in writing, and you should not abandon the basics. ”

That's right,

The set requirements should be concise, logical and self-consistent.

And a very important point -

Easy to remember.

But when I see Lu Shi coming up, I will create a new hobbit race, but I am afraid that I will inevitably miss something in my creation in the future, and there is a risk of eating books.

James pondered for a moment and said, "I hope Mr. Lu uses the chronicle style when making the historical setting, not the chronicle style." Because it's not a drama, people are always at the heart of the story, and taking time as a clue will cause big trouble. ”

He would never have thought that Lu Shi's setting was not made by himself,

It was done for him by the great Mr. Tolkien.

Cavendish on the side was curious,

"I noticed that you used the word 'hope', why? Since there is a gambling contract, you don't want him to lose? ”

James was stunned for a moment, then smiled bitterly,

"It's smooth."

Cavendish frowned and reminded: "Don't lose your fighting spirit. ”

James nodded and diverted the subject: "Let's not talk about this for now, let's continue to look back." ”

The two of them went on to read,

“

The cave had a porthole-round, painted green door, with a shiny yellow doorknob in the center. When the door opens, there is a living room that looks like a tunnel in the shape of a tube. ’

It was a cozy, smoke-free living room with elaborate walls, carpets and tiles on the floor, and polished chairs everywhere. ’

……

”

There is also a large description of the scene at the back.

James couldn't help but be frightened,

"Such writing...... Is this writing really written by a Chinese? ”

Cavendish was puzzled, "What's wrong?" ”

James explained: "Mr. Chancellor didn't know that because paper was expensive, ancient Chinese would use classical Chinese when writing, concise and to the point, and minimize unnecessary descriptions. This habit continues to this day. ”

Therefore, foreign monks can't recite the scriptures.

James knows only a little about it, if he has read "Dream of Red Mansions" written in the ancient vernacular, he will definitely not have this kind of wrong cognition.

Besides,

Isn't there much description in "The Preface to King Teng's Pavilion"?

Aren't there many descriptions of various ornate prose styles?

Classical Chinese can also be described.

Of course, James wasn't all wrong,

In China, it was only when the new cultural movement to promote vernacular literature was rolled out that the descriptions in it were gradually enriched.

Cavendish nodded,

Indeed, Mr. Lu's previous "No One Left Alive" had much less depiction of the environment. Why did he suddenly change his writing style, you say? ”

James replied, "Because it's a fantasy work." ”

Cavendish thought about it and understood.

Fantasy works are full of fantasy, and if you don't describe them in detail and build a picture in the reader's mind, it is easy for the reader to lose the immersion of reading.

But this depiction is also a double-edged sword,

If the writing is not good, the reader is easy to get distracted, and when you look back, you will feel that this work is rambling and very rubbish.

Many people can't read tomes such as "Reminiscences of the Years Like Water" and "One Hundred Years of Solitude", and that's for this reason-

There are too many descriptions.

"What surprised me the most was the variability of Mr. Lu's style," James said. In "No One Left Alive", he can write very simply, explain the situation of the isolated island in a few strokes, and then focus on the progress of the case; And this "The Hobbit" is the polar opposite. ”

Just a few natural paragraphs of description made the two discuss so much.

In fact, these contents were indeed written by Lu Shi,

In the original text, because it is a fairy tale style, Tuo Lao's words are lively and smart, and try to use simple sentences, such as "The sun is warm, and the grass is extremely green".

Lu Shi changed these contents.

James couldn't help but muttered again: "Is this really written by a Chinese?" ”

Cavendish shook his head,

"Okay, stop appreciating Mr. Lu's writing. Let's keep reading. ”

James nodded,

"Yes, the plot is more important than the writing."

The two of them continued to read,

Unexpectedly, as the plot unfolded, there were more shocks from the plot than the writing.

The protagonist of Bilbo Baggins is timid and cowardly, never takes risks, and never does anything unexpected.

Until one day, the wizard Gandalf suddenly came to Bilbo and encouraged him to join the expedition as a snitch to reclaim the treasure that had been seized by the dragons.

This is the main content of the first chapter.

The second chapter is the first battle of the adventure story.

Bilbo and his teammates embark on an adventurous journey, only to be nearly killed by the trolls, but luckily Gandalf arrives in time to cause the three trolls to quarrel and they escape.

The third chapter is "A Short Break",

At this point, the three chapters of the series are over.

James read to the end, and his whole body couldn't help but stiffen,

Immediately after, he couldn't help but sigh and said, "Awesome! That's amazing! ”

Cavendish was puzzled,

"What's so great about this? Isn't it just a very orthodox story? ”

Treasure of dwarfs, wizards, dragons......

Orthodox indeed.

But the problem is that

"Mr. Superintendent, you read the first three chapters just now, did you have even a second of drama?"

James asked in a low voice.

Cavendish was stunned, understanding what the other party wanted to say,

He bowed his head wordlessly.

James said: "That's why I think Mr. Lu is amazing." An orthodox fantasy adventure story, but not at all boring to read, even very interesting, makes people can't help but look forward to next week's serialization, isn't that enough to show its success? Moreover, this wizard named Gandalf is so charming......"

As he spoke, James couldn't help but look back and flip through the highlights in front of him.

Cavendish was silent,

After a while, he asked, "Are you sure?" ”

James looked up,

"Are you talking about a bet?"

Cavendish nodded,

"Yes."

James said: "From the current point of view, I should still be able to hold Mr. Lu down." However, Mr. Lu is doing a long serial, and I am almost certain that "The Hobbit" will gradually get better and become a great work, so I ......"

He didn't finish the rest of the sentence.

Cavendish asked, "Don't you have faith?" ”

Can this be answered?

James only smiled wryly.

(End of chapter)