A Que, a post-90s science fiction writer： Write a touching ＂space opera＂

　　The Northern Literature Creation Center, as a special invited unit of this year’s Galaxy Awards, conducted an exclusive interview with writer A Que at the event site. The following is to organize the whole article according to the interview record for readers.　

　

　　1 "The golden age of a writer should be between the ages of 40 and 55"　

　　I did well in the college entrance examination, and when I applied for college, there were only a few schools in the country that could not apply. Because science fiction culture has developed particularly well in Chengdu, "Science Fiction World" magazine is in Chengdu, and Sichuan University has the largest science fiction club in the country. For science fiction, I chose Chengdu and Sichuan University. At Sichuan University, I joined the Science Fiction Association and met a lot of interesting people. In the past two years, with the continuous development of science fiction culture, the science fiction association has developed better and better. In the past, an event was held with more than a dozen organizers and two or three on-site audiences. Now, there are more than a dozen organizers, and usually hundreds of spectators can be attracted to watch. Science fiction has gradually become a "hot term" in colleges and universities, providing a space for campus authors who like science fiction and want to engage in science fiction literary creation to grow and communicate.　

　　When I was in college, I started writing science fiction literature, which was relatively early among young people. I asked Mr. Liu Cixin a long time ago, and he mentioned a suggestion not to write full-time. Because at that time, the writing ecology was not very good, and it was difficult to make a living by writing. However, some changes have now taken place, also thanks to the influence and appeal of Mr. Liu’s "Three-Body Problem". This ecology has allowed the bottom writers to slowly feel some benefits. So I now feel that this trend has already appeared when I first wrote science fiction literature, but I still dare not write full-time.　

　　I’m a three-time Galaxy Award winner, and the Galaxy Awards hold a special place in my writing of science fiction, and it even changed my life. If it weren’t for science fiction and the Galaxy Awards, I would be a hydroelectric engineer. Because of the Galaxy Awards, I quit my job, abandoned my original profession to pursue science fiction, and the entire trajectory of my life changed.　

　　When I was able to write commercially, it became possible for my work to be turned into film and television, and film and television companies came to me for commissioned creation, then the income situation would be much better, and I began to consider my own status. "Famous as soon as possible" is correct. If one’s ability allows, becoming famous at a young age can indeed enjoy some of the benefits or benefits of fame in advance. However, in all professions, writers are different from other professions. The golden age of a writer should be between the ages of 40 and 55, and there are very few examples of young people achieving success. From a personal experience, I certainly hope to become famous through a work, but at the same time, I am prepared to start writing good things after the age of 40. Science fiction literature is a benchmark that requires a lifetime to pursue.　

　　　

　　　

　　2 "Hurry up and write, don’t let science fiction literature become non-fiction literature"　

　　The charm of a novel is the most important thing is emotion. Writers try to find the emotion and shining points of the story before writing each story. In literary and artistic works, what a writer should do most is to move people, that is, to move readers. There are many kinds of moving people, which can make people cry or make people laugh. I want to make people laugh. I have been writing for nearly 10 years without changing, and I will persevere in the future.　

　　Some readers have said that my science fiction world is humorous and warm. Regarding the creation of YFJ49 and LW31, they are all robots with flesh and blood, and even have human feelings to a certain extent. At first, it was accidental, I just wanted to write like this, not deliberately. I referred to the voice assistant Siri that had appeared at that time. There are cases of artificial intelligence and artificial manufacturing, which will make everyone feel close. I don’t really want to portray a cold image. Moreover, there have been such images before, and good works already have mountains, which are difficult to climb. If I write now, I will write according to this image.　

　　In the earliest days, for example, when I first started writing science fiction, I didn’t have much reserves, so I could only go from the classic themes, such as the three classic categories, aliens, robots, and clones. Among them, robots are the first science and technology that I think entered our lives. I want to hurry up and write, otherwise it will become non-fiction in 20 years, and it will not be science fiction. But this kind of warm, cute and cheap little robot image, in my opinion at that time, its reading threshold will be a little lower, and the public will accept it better. A good science fiction will actually make the threshold lower and lower. A science fiction writer should not be obsessed with posting all kinds of obscure terms in a novel. The newly constructed concept is indeed fascinating and surprising, but the writer has many skills to bring the concept to the reader and make them understand.　

　　I very much reject this kind of beginning. I introduce the whole world view or unique concept first, and then let the reader see the conceptual behavior of the character. A good practice is to tell the story first, first let the reader see the life of the character’s image, that is, the reader’s life, and then accept this concept step by step. Not to make a threshold alone, it should be the basic quality of a writer. I personally prefer street stall literature. If there are some theories in my novels, I will try to reduce the appearance of these theories in the article. Because theory will break the reading rhythm of the article, the reader may see 1/3 of the story, and suddenly there is a theoretical introduction of one or two thousand words. This is not good, like eating a stone when eating. Therefore, I will try my best to lower the threshold, and the effect is OK for now, but there is still room for further improvement.　

　　　

　　　

　　3 "The charm of science fiction literature is the integration of space opera and the future"　

　　Science fiction literature should be a good story first, and science fiction ideas should take second place.　

　　There are many kinds of good stories, such as setting up suspense, making people unable to stop reading, or setting up a very good core character, everyone cares about the person, no matter the plot twists or turns, this character will touch the reader’s heart. The story and characters should be well matched. In my opinion, these two points are actually more important than science fiction concept. If I think of good stories and characters, but it is not science fiction, then I will not write it as science fiction. I will write it as a mystery or romance novel and publish it in other genres of literature.　

　　Science fiction literature is very strange. Science fiction is the only one that doesn’t tell stories, doesn’t write characters, and doesn’t even have to be very good at writing. As long as you come up with a science fiction idea and everyone understands the core image, you can feel the charm of science fiction. Recently, I published a new book "Star Traveler". Why is it called "Star Traveler"? Because I have written a lot of machines before, such as "Walking with Robots", "Robots", and "Wet Metal". Strictly speaking, they are all robot integration. In fact, what I really want to embody the charm of science fiction is space opera, which is the integration of the future.　

　　For example, nowadays, most people would pick up a mobile phone, meet a person, and add a contact information, and you could never lose some way to contact them for the rest of your life. However, in the future, if you go to another planet, you will never see this person, and time and space will play their role again. This is the romance that only happened in that era, and this is gone forever. Therefore, in "Star Traveler", I wanted to create this image, and I finally named it according to this image.　

　　For the future, I hope that more fresh blood will pour in and make the "sci-fi" plate bigger together, so that the cake will be bigger. If you really like sci-fi, sci-fi is something that can be persisted in, and even said, it is worth the author to sacrifice or give up something. The premise is that it does affect the author’s life. From now on, sci-fi is able to do this. Maybe I didn’t have the confidence to say this 10 years ago, but what I see so far is that this industry can support and even drive a group of people.　

　　　　　　

　　Remarks:　

　　LW31: "Living with a Robot", a male robot with human emotions to a certain extent.　

　　Siri: Apple’s intelligent voice assistant.　

　　"Star Traveler": A new work by science fiction writer Ah Que, this book tells the story of the young Jin Chuan and the territory company. It is a legend and adventure that travels through the stars, a deep affection and nostalgia that drifts through the sea of stars.