Cao Viet Quynh is the youngest delegate at the 2024 Ho Chi Minh City Young Writers Conference. Two years ago, Quynh was also the youngest author to receive the National Book Award with the novel series The Comet.
Dragon Continent is coming soon
At the 2024 Ho Chi Minh City Young Writers Conference, Cao Viet Quynh read a paper on imagination and creativity in writing.
The author of the novel series The Comet shares with Tuoi Tre about a dream world in his books, as well as the thoughts of a young writer in today's era.
A better world we need
Cao Viet Quynh's writing career began with the three-volume novel series The Comet, when Quynh was only 9 years old. Just three years later, Quynh completed The Comet - a novel series with fantasy and science fiction elements.
Cao Viet Quynh's debut work
Quynh once shared that she idolizes JKRowling and is crazy about Harry Potter. For Quynh, building the fantasy world in her works is her greatest passion:
"Harry Potter was the first work that took me into a world hidden behind ordinary life. Like many young people at that time, I wished and still wish to receive a letter from Hogwarts.
The appeal of fantasy literature is experiencing lives and worlds that are completely different yet strangely familiar."
In his fantasy world, Cao Viet Quynh wants the protagonists to fight for justice, be upright, always optimistic, and always joke even in the most desperate moments, for example in The Comet.
"There was a time when I didn't like that and thought that such characters had no depth.
But now I understand, like the role of Superman or Captain America in the superhero world, the mission of those characters is to bring hope and belief in justice to everyone. The Comet does not reflect reality but creates a beautiful world that we need to strive to have" - Quynh confided.
Live to share your world
In his speech at the conference, Cao Viet Quynh said: "Every book I have written has been written with all my effort and dedication to create the best work within my ability."
Cao Viet Quynh - Photo: TUAN ANH
When Quynh started writing The Comet, she had no particular aspirations, just the urge to tell stories. And that remains her main motivation today, to live to share her world.
"There is a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson that I like: "Fiction reveals the hidden truth."
I think literature is not a collection of "lies" as some people say. No matter how magical or unbelievable it is, it still reflects the truth.
Vietnamese authors pay special attention to this, because most of their works highlight the beauty of nature that many people overlook or show us how previous generations lived through historical stories.
It can be said that fantasy literature, the genre I pursue, is the furthest from the truth, but the message through my novels is still the dream of fighting for a better future."
Sharing with Tuoi Tre, Quynh said the biggest difficulty in his creative journey was the limited experience: "How can you describe a sword fight if you have never held a sword?
How can you understand a character's sadness if you have never experienced it yourself? Describe foreign places and climates - places you have never been to?
Would the people there, the experienced, knowledgeable people, laugh at my naivety?
I still remember the first time I set foot on a ship, after writing about sailors for a while. I was surprised by the rocking, the sinking and rising of the floor, the strong wind. If I had experienced those things while writing, I might have written a better paragraph."
When writing fantasy, Quynh certainly does not have the opportunity to experience the fantasy that his characters experience. But with his imagination, experiences, and knowledge that he tries to gather, Quynh believes that he can make everything more believable so that readers can immerse themselves in that world.
Tuoitre.vn
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/trong-the-gioi-ky-ao-cua-cao-viet-quynh-20241013095948589.htm
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