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If my editors in China hear that I'm working multiple-drafts, they'd probably say that the story's not going to be good. The popular thought there is that if you don't have it in the beginning, you won't have it. Quite a contrast to what people believe here, right? Thoughts?

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As a translator, I desperately wish Chinese editors were forcing their writers to do multiple drafts. You may not be able to edit in inspiration, but that is not the problem. No one, in any country, in any language, structures their novel right the first time around.

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Long-form fiction is exhausting, and disorienting. Needing help, or time, or multiple attempts, is perfectly normal. To me that's basically a dismissal of the craft side of authorship, and Chinese fiction NEEDS BETTER CRAFT.

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There have been more than a couple of quite established writers who told me they don’t allow the editors to change even one punctuation of their manuscripts... (I suppose it’s a social status? ) 🐮🐮🐮 Can’t say no more 🙊

Eric Abrahamsen

@girzel1

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@YanGeMay

Oh I've heard the same thing, multiple times. I think in part it's because Chinese editors aren't expected to do this kind of work, and often they really don't have the literary skills necessary. So there is that. But I think more often it's simple writerly arrogance.

12:23 AM · Oct 3, 2020Twitter Web App

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May I just add I’ve never heard such statement from women writers 👀 Personally I’ve only been given editorial advice once during my 18 yrs of writing career in China and it was from 收获. (Okay I’ve said too much )

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You don't need to be so tactful, at least not with translators, we complain for a living :) And yes, 收获 is one of the few places that edits seriously, and I think it's no coincidence that Chinese writers' best writing is often in 收获.

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Somewhere in the back of my head I've got a short essay on the idea of pride and humility in the relationship between an author and their own work. A novel exists on its own terms, and I think authors need to respect that.

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Again, personally I have a few friends who are lit critics and when I send them my work, they do criticize and give my advices. But usually I won’t get feedback from editors - you’re right, probably not part of them jobs.