Chapter 17 (2/2)

“Then I’d better not take a shower.”

Fang Yuan shook his head and turned to the computer. Seeing that Sherry was still following him, he could not help but smile bitterly. “Are you going to keep an eye on me even when I’m writing in front of the computer?”

Sherry said, “Of course! I need to make sure that no one contacts you from outside our venue to ensure that your work is original and completed by you.”

She looked so serious like an exam invigilator.

When Fang Yuan wrote, he felt uncomfortable knowing that someone was staring at him from behind.

It was like a thorn in his back.

Fang Yuan stood up from the table, plopped down onto the bed, and said to Sherry lazily, “Alright then. Since you’ll be watching me no matter what I do, why don’t I dictate from here while you type in front of the computer?”

Sherry was stunned.

There were indeed famous writers who used this method to write novels dictation, like Borges in his later years.

It seemed very convenient because it only required voice input.

However, every writer who had tried this method knew that dictation was much more difficult than writing or typing on the keyboard.

That was because when speaking, it was inevitable that they would include some sort of colloquial slang or verbal nuances.

Some expressions would be intermittent and not coherent enough as the author’s train of thought would sometimes jump all over the place.

Sometimes, authors would suddenly stop because of writer’s block and remain silent for a long time until inspiration settles in, but then they would have forgotten the previous content.

It was like playing chess blindfolded, which was probably ten or a hundred times more difficult than normal chess.

Sherry raised her eyebrows. “I’m fine with it, but do you want to make an outline first?”

She was familiar with dictation.

It was impossible for someone to write completely off-script, just like how a teacher needed a lesson plan for lectures.

No matter how talented the author was, an oral novel should at least have a concise outline.

However, Fang Yuan did not take the pen and paper that she handed to him.

Instead, he said calmly, “The first volume of ‘Candle in the Tomb’ titled ‘Ruins of the Ancient City’. Introduction. Tomb-robbing isn’t a walk in the park, nor is it elegant or graceful. It is a technique of destruction. When the ancient nobles built a tomb, they must have thought of ways to prevent their treasures from being stolen. That was why they did everything they could to set up all kinds of booby traps in their tombs. They set up ambushes with huge rocks, quicksand, poisonous arrows and insects, traps, and anything they could imagine. There were countless of them everywhere…”