Angry Young Writer: An Interview with Kuo Cheng

Q: How did you come to writing fiction?

Fiction is Kuo Cheng's life-long passion. Through this medium, he freely paints a world with words. （Sinorama file photo）

Passion for words

A: I love words. The reason I choose to write fiction is a pure passion for words. When I was sixteen I tried my hand at writing while I was working at a printer's, but I never did very well. I not only lacked a formal education, but there was nobody to discuss things with, so I was completely on my own. It's been a tough road, but quite happy at the same time.

After writing for eleven years, I never truly finished a single thing, not until I was 27 when I began to get things published. I don't even know where that burning passion came from back then; even though I couldn't finish a thing, l wrote like a maniac. But now the fame doesn't burn as brightly.

Q: How did you learn to write fiction, Did you ever worship a particular author or model yourself on someone?

A: There is no method to my madness--I just write and write. I read very little contemporary writing. I read mostly traditional Chinese novels, of which Water Margin [also translated as Outlaws of the Marsh] has affected me the most. I've also read quite a few classic 18th century Western novels, like Dostoevsky and Crick Maria Remarque of which I'm quite fond.

Just write and write

Q: Does not having an orthodox education hold your writing back?

A: Not only doesn't it hold me back, it keeps me unencumbered. Of course it made the going rough at first, which is why it took me a decade plus to get rolling.

I drill myself through constant writing. When I first started, I'd pick something up today that I wrote yesterday, find it trash, and just rip it up. But after some time it took me a week to reach dissatisfaction. I kept on tearing up my past work like this; I might not even complete a chapter after a year of working on it. When I got to a certain stage, I would start feeling that some things that took me incredible pains to get halfway through were real junk: maybe I used the wrong method to transmit an idea, or the story was not on a high enough plane, in which case I would choose another and try again. I went on drilling myself for over ten years and I never finished a single story.

Q: What was the first piece you ever had published?

A: The first work I ever really completed was not a story, but a script. I always wanted to write fiction, but I just couldn't finish any. Then just when I almost lost it I read in the newspaper that the Government Information Office was soliciting outstanding scripts, so I wrote one. Little did I ever expect to win anything with the first thing I ever finished.

Even though I found scriptwriting easier, I was determined to write fiction. So I spent a full two years and finally produced my first short story, "I've Been Framed!," and got it serialized in a literary supplement.

The author in command

Q: What are the differences between writing fiction and scripts?

A: It's quite different. A script is just a blueprint; the language itself isn't important. Plus, what you write and what ends up in a movie or on television might be totally different--it's out of the author's control. But a work of fiction is a finished work. It needs fully developed language and imagery. Everything is created by the author, so it yields a greater sense of accomplishment.

Also, scripts must have dialogue, whereas novels can do without it. A lot of novelists who try their hand at scriptwriting have the most trouble with dialogue. As soon one of their characters opens his or her mouth it's all wrong. I pay a great deal of attention to language and have spent considerable time reading up on slang, proverbs, and idioms, so I don't have any trouble with this area.

Q: Where do your ideas for subjects or your inspirations come from?

A: I never go out of my way to write on a particular subject, and I don't believe in inspirations, either. I write mostly about the people I see or know in life.

I have an excellent memory. Any person, event, or thing that perks up my interest, even peripherals like facial expressions, usually stay with me. I throw these things into my brain where they sort themselves out. When they're ripe and ready, that's when it's about time to start writing.

Q: Traces of yourself can often be found in your stories. Some people say that your creative process is a kind of "self-therapy." Do you agree with this?

Who's the audience?

A: You could say that. There are always traces of an author in every one of his characters, whether major or minor ones. Even if I write about a close friend, I'm seeing that friend through my eyes, so I'm writing what I know about him, not writing definitively about him.

As for the "self-therapy" comment, this probably refers to the part in "A Good Day for Cutting Class" where I write about student life. I have a youthful kind of anger in that piece, rancor that most certainly comes from my dissatisfaction with the education system. I was in the last class of students that had to pass a test to get into junior high school from elementary school, so I got pushed very hard, so hard it completely turned me off.

I definitely worked anger out in "A Good Day for Cutting Class," but my anger didn't disappear when I finished that piece.

Q: What kind of readers do you have in mind? What kind of messages are you trying to convey to your readership?

A: I'm aware that novelists write for the reading public, but I don't have any particular type of reader in mind, nor do I particularly care if readers understand what I'm trying to say.

After a while I started to feel that when I set out to write, I'm not writing for readers, but for a certain person. Although it's hard for me say who it is I'm writing for in which story, I must have someone to write for. Sometimes when I'm getting my thoughts together before starting, or when I can't produce anything, actually what I'm after is a person to tell a story to. This person isn't a reader out there in the market, but someone in my life. It might be someone ambiguous, but as I'm writing I unconsciously search, and when I find the right person that's when I pick up steam. Otherwise, I can't write a thing.

"You" because of "Me"

Q: The entire story "God's Dice" is directed at a "you," until the very end when a "me" appears. What particular meaning is there in this?

A: I ran into a major stumbling block when I was writing this piece. I didn't know how to begin. I tried over and over, but I couldn't even get down a first sentence. Yet I couldn't figure out where the problem was. Finally I discovered that the problem was with the speaker.

Usually in fiction either the first person or the third person is used. Rare is it that "you" is used, but it suddenly came to me that I should begin with the word "you." After getting the speaker right, the rest just fell into place. When I got to the end a "me" appeared. The use of "me" followed the establishment of the "you" throughout the story. Sort of like a mirror, something in the foreground is always in the mirror, and we end up getting a picture of a "reflection."

Q: Tell us about the idiosyncrasies of your language.

A: I'm actually quite proud of my language. I use words very sparingly so there's nearly no fat.

Sometimes when the reader needs to stop and reflect, an "obstacle" should be placed in the way to make the reader pause there. But I don't like to do this. I pay particular attention to words, so I get rid of all the cumbersome or superfluous words. This way readers move very quickly and finish reading without running into any obstacles, but once they're finished they might find that they only have a vague impression of several parts. This can be said to be a drawback of compact language.

Words and images

Q: There are hardly any descriptions of characters" appearances, or of settings or colors and such in your stories. Why is that?

A: It's not that I haven't devoted thought to such things as characters' appearances, settings, and colors, but I normally don't describe these unless it is absolutely necessary. What I do instead is imply these things between the lines.

For example, why did [popular Hong Kong fantasy fiction writer] Jin Yong use the words "eagle hunter" in the title Story of the Eagle Hunter instead of just coming out and using the words "Genghis Khan?" Because the words Genghis Khan are flat, while "eagle hunter" says so much more. For me, those two words call to mind autumn, the barren grasslands, and a man in white. These things are all compressed into the two words "eagle hunter." So if I get enough out of these two words, I don't have to write about the autumn, the barren grasslands and such again.

The imagery of words is extremely fecund. I take great pains over the use of imagery, so I am quite careful in my choice of words. A large part of the satisfaction of writing fiction comes from this. I might only think of two words in an entire night, but as long as they are two intense words it is enough to let me sleep at night.

There's nothing I like less than detailed description of people's appearances. I use actions, words and smells to bring these out, to let people get their own idea of what a given character looks like. I do the same when it comes to settings and weather. The rare thing about novels and short stories is that they are imaginary spaces from which everyone derives his or her own feelings and understanding. This is the main reason fiction still hasn't been "terminated" by visual imagery.

Warm heart, cool pen

Q: You've said that in order to write fiction the heart must burn but the pen must be cool. Why is that?

A: Essays and poems are somewhat like music in that they require natural gifts. These are very "hot" or passionate things which must be served up when they're still hot. Fiction, or the other hand, does not work that way, because fictional stories are not merely the release of personal feelings but touch on many levels of life.

Sometimes you think of something that on the surface seems fine, but upon closer examination stinks. Fiction writing requires a cooling off process. When you lay out a bunch of images, it is vitally important to constantly remove yourself from the writing and take a look at where it is that you're going.

Fiction requires organization, unlike poems which can just spring forth. This is why one must keep the flame burning in one's heart, but let things sit during the process of writing, and keep doing so until the feeling is just right.

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(photo by Vincent Chang)

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Fiction is Kuo Cheng's life-long passion. Through this medium, he freely paints a world with words. (Sinorama file photo)