Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
When Sherry blurted out that she wanted Fang Yuan to take her to his room, Fang Yuan was not the only one who was stunned.
In fact, Sherry also felt a little regretful for her somewhat rash words.
After all, she was born into a literary family. While she was influenced by the highest level of literature, she was also taught to be conservative.
Sherry usually had very little contact with the opposite sex outside of a work setting, let alone get so tipsy that her mind was a little muddled.
However, she had unknowingly lost track of time and drunk so much wine with Fang Yuan.
After drinking, she even went to his room!
Even she was baffled by her own thoughts.
As a writer, she was simply curious about the later part of this tomb-robbing story, so she wanted to see how Fang Yuan would proceed with this brand-new topic. Or perhaps, she had subconsciously developed an interest in Fang Yuan, who was five years younger than her and was theoretically still her student, that surpassed pure literature.
Sherry shook her head slightly, trying to get rid of these unseemly thoughts. “Since I’m your mentor, I’ll need to follow your work in detail to make sure that no other factors affect your creation.”
These were indeed the rules of the Fall Cup.
After all, this was a creative writing workshop competition.
During the writing process, the participating mentors and authors could communicate openly and thoroughly to bring excellent works to the judges.
Fang Yuan fished out his key card and opened the hotel room door.
The two of them walked into the dimly lit, warm room.
Every room in this five-star hotel had a small study room that was spacious enough to fit a desk.
When the two of them were alone in the room, Sherry suddenly felt the need to express her innermost thoughts perhaps due to a sense of security in this enclosed space or perhaps because she was still a little tipsy.
“Fang Yuan, let me make it clear to you that I don’t actually believe that there are any literary geniuses in this world. Since the very beginning, I’ve been very skeptical about you and signed up as a mentor in this workshop because of it. Of course, I have to admit that our conversation during dinner earlier left a very deep impression on me and mostly dispel my doubts about you. But…on second thought, it won’t be of much help to you if I support you just because of this good impression because most people will still doubt you, so it’s best if you prove yourself with your work. That’s why I’ve made a decision to stay here and watch you write your novel until you’re done. As long as you can write another successful novel after ‘The Coiling Dragon’, this will naturally dispel everyone’s doubts. If there are still people who doubt you then, I’ll vouch for you because I would’ve witnessed your writing myself.”
Fang Yuan nodded and said, “You mean, I have to write the novel in front of you now?”
Sherry said, “Yes.”
“Can I take a shower first?”
Sherry replied, “I will follow you wherever you go to make sure that you don’t cheat.”
“Then I’d better not take a shower.”
Fang Yuan shook his head and turned to the computer. Seeing that Sherry was still following him, he could not help but smile bitterly. “Are you going to keep an eye on me even when I’m writing in front of the computer?”
Sherry said, “Of course! I need to make sure that no one contacts you from outside our venue to ensure that your work is original and completed by you.”
She looked so serious like an exam invigilator.
When Fang Yuan wrote, he felt uncomfortable knowing that someone was staring at him from behind.
It was like a thorn in his back.
Fang Yuan stood up from the table, plopped down onto the bed, and said to Sherry lazily, “Alright then. Since you’ll be watching me no matter what I do, why don’t I dictate from here while you type in front of the computer?”
Sherry was stunned.
There were indeed famous writers who used this method to write novels dictation, like Borges in his later years.
It seemed very convenient because it only required voice input.
However, every writer who had tried this method knew that dictation was much more difficult than writing or typing on the keyboard.
That was because when speaking, it was inevitable that they would include some sort of colloquial slang or verbal nuances.
Some expressions would be intermittent and not coherent enough as the author’s train of thought would sometimes jump all over the place.
Sometimes, authors would suddenly stop because of writer’s block and remain silent for a long time until inspiration settles in, but then they would have forgotten the previous content.
It was like playing chess blindfolded, which was probably ten or a hundred times more difficult than normal chess.
Sherry raised her eyebrows. “I’m fine with it, but do you want to make an outline first?”
She was familiar with dictation.
It was impossible for someone to write completely off-script, just like how a teacher needed a lesson plan for lectures.
No matter how talented the author was, an oral novel should at least have a concise outline.
However, Fang Yuan did not take the pen and paper that she handed to him.
Instead, he said calmly, “The first volume of ‘Candle in the Tomb’ titled ‘Ruins of the Ancient City’. Introduction. Tomb-robbing isn’t a walk in the park, nor is it elegant or graceful. It is a technique of destruction. When the ancient nobles built a tomb, they must have thought of ways to prevent their treasures from being stolen. That was why they did everything they could to set up all kinds of booby traps in their tombs. They set up ambushes with huge rocks, quicksand, poisonous arrows and insects, traps, and anything they could imagine. There were countless of them everywhere…”