Chapter 158

Joining the Mystery Writers Association is not entirely beneficial to him?

Hearing these words, Akiwara Yuto was puzzled for a moment.

In his view, if one wants to continue climbing up in the literary world, the three most important points are works, connections, and reputation, and these were also what he had learned from his experiences over the past half year.

For a writer, works are the foundation of everything; if there are no excellent works, everything else is just a moon in the water.

After all, writers who have no works to show often cannot even afford to eat because of poor sales, let alone consider the future.

When Higashino Keigo first debuted, he first won the Edogawa Ranpo Prize through "After School," and then his works sold well, earning a lot of money.

But after that, his works did not fit the market positioning and could not be sold.

Because of his poor life, the conflict between him and his wife grew, to the point that before he made a comeback by winning the Naoki Prize, he divorced his wife, with whom he had been married for 14 years.

In fact, writers like Higashino Keigo who can make a comeback are only a minority. The vast majority of ordinary writers, once they decline, often choose to withdraw from the literary world directly.

Besides works, connections and reputation should also be valued.

Although these two are byproducts brought by works, in Akiwara Yuto's view, if he can join the writers' association, he can reduce the time spent obtaining these two byproducts.

After all, if he had a certain social influence or connections like Seto Tamae or Miyagawa Yosuke from the beginning.

How would Takei Kohei and Kihara Daigo dare to blacklist him?

Akiwara Yuto pondered for a while, still unable to think of any disadvantage to joining the association, so he raised his head and asked: "Teacher Miyagawa, what do you mean?"

Miyagawa Yosuke picked up the teacup and took a sip, "Teacher Akiwara, don't be in a hurry, I want to ask you a question first: what is your definition of detective fiction?"

"What is the definition?"

Akiwara Yuto frowned and started to think.

He was a bit speechless; dealing with writers is really hard work. Things that could be explained clearly in a few words have to be beaten around the bush.

Forget it, he is still a junior after all, so he should answer honestly first.

After a long while, he said slowly: "In my humble opinion, the essence of detective fiction is a way to solve story mysteries through detective methods. And the most critical part is the design of the mystery and the way of solving the mystery."

Miyagawa Yosuke nodded and asked again: "Then, what do you think is the most important point of detective fiction?"

"The most important point?" Akiwara Yuto was a bit puzzled.

He weighed it repeatedly for a while before answering in an uncertain tone: "I think it is the story-driven nature, or the interest."

In Akiwara Yuto's view, no matter what it is, story-driven nature is the first premise; as for human nature or the way of solving mysteries, they are just methods to increase the story-driven nature.

Readers often cannot even read works that lack story-driven nature, let alone other aspects.

However, there is obviously no standard answer to this question; everyone just has their own ideas.

That is why he answered in an uncertain tone when answering.

But to Akiwara Yuto's surprise, Miyagawa Yosuke laughed, obviously very satisfied with this answer.

At the same time, Kawai Shinta also smiled and took over the conversation: "Teacher Akiwara, I don't know what kind of views you have on the current school divisions, such as the Honkaku school, the Social school, etc.?"

Akiwara Yuto frowned and answered: "I don't have any special views; I think the works of these factions are just a type of detective fiction, as long as they satisfy the readers, that's enough."

In his past life, Nihon was influenced by Western detective culture, and the first to start was undoubtedly the Honkaku school, and the representative figures were Edogawa Ranpo, known as the "Father of Japanese Detective Fiction," and Yokomizo Seishi, the author of Kindaichi.

In the 1950s, 41-year-old Matsumoto Seicho debuted and drove the popularity of Social school works. After that, many writers of the same period were also deeply influenced by him, and many writers even changed from the Honkaku school to the Social school.

Then in the 1980s, Shimada Soji, known as the "God of Detective Fiction," released "The Tokyo Zodiac Murders," announcing the birth of the "Shin-Honkaku school."

Under his influence, many writers held high the banner of "reviving Honkaku" and began a counterattack against the Social school.

As for other things like the Court school, Suspense school, Hardboiled school, etc., because of their influence, they were just embellishments between the confrontation of the Honkaku and Social schools.

However, the Social school in this world, although it sprouted early, has always been in an "awkward position" because it lacks a leading figure like Matsumoto Seicho.

And Shin-Honkaku is more reflected in the internal self-innovation of the Honkaku school, rather than a counterattack against the Social school.

Kawai Shinta nodded after listening to Akiwara Yuto's words, "Teacher Akiwara, I am very happy to hear your point of view. But inside the Mystery Writers Association, there are many different voices."

"Different voices?" Akiwara Yuto asked puzzledly.

"That's right. In the past ten years or so, the number of Honkaku and Shin-Honkaku writer groups has increased, and many of them have become high-level members of various judging committees and associations. Many of them believe that so-called detective works should only include the so-called Honkaku school, that is, focusing on the design of tricks."

"Under the efforts of these writers, more and more awards have been given to Honkaku works, and even the circle of book reviewers has been affected not insignificantly." Kawai Shinta finished this sentence and took a sip of tea, "If this continues, the works of other detective schools will inevitably head toward decline."

Akiwara Yuto did not expect to hear these words; he lowered his head and began to think.

If it is really as this Chairman Kawai said, then Honkaku and Shin-Honkaku will inevitably grow further in the future, and as for the Social school and other schools, their survival space can only be further squeezed.

After all, for the public, they don't care what school you are; they only care if this work has won any awards and if it is recommended by book reviewers.

If they cannot get awards and book review recommendations, many ordinary writers of other schools may not even be able to afford to eat.

But these have nothing to do with him, right?

Akiwara Yuto started to think.

No, it seems it cannot be said to have nothing to do with him; the works in his mind, besides the dozen or so detective works of Nihon, also include many foreign classics.

But no matter which country they are from, they are full of many Social school and other school works. If these works cannot get awards and book reviews, he will still have a bit of a headache...

Then again, what does the struggle between these schools have to do with joining the Mystery Writers Association? How did it get to this point?

Akiwara Yuto raised his head and raised his doubts to this Chairman Kawai.

Kawai Shinta did not answer immediately upon hearing the question, but said: "Teacher Akiwara, do you have any understanding of the standards for joining the association?"

Akiwara Yuto nodded, "I have seen it in 'Mystery Literature'; the standard for members of the Mystery Writers Association seems to be that they must be writers who have debuted for more than 3 years."

"Hmm, this rule is fixed, but besides this, there is another regulation that can bypass this standard." Kawai Shinta looked around and continued: "If three senior members of the association recommend it, then one can also invite this writer to join the association, even if the other party has not debuted for 3 years."

Akiwara Yuto nodded subconsciously.

No wonder they invited him over today and even did a test; presumably, these are all the procedures for inviting him.

"But the problem lies in this point." Kawai Shinta shook his head, "Teacher Akiwara, if the three of us invite you to join, you will inevitably be labeled with our faction."

Labeled?

Akiwara Yuto reacted immediately, but he thought about it and felt it was true.

After all, in the eyes of other writers, he was invited by this Chairman Kawai and the other two; if he didn't support the other party's point of view, others wouldn't believe it either.

But is this good or bad for him? In other words, should he accept the invitation?