Blind writers write 200,000-word novels with computers.

     









Using computer to type depends on hearing and feeling.


    There is a military doctor named Zhuang Dajun in Nanjing. He was blinded by diabetes 25 years ago. With the help of his family, he started his literary creation with difficulty. He once wrote a novel of more than 200,000 words in three years. It is unimaginable that most of his manuscripts were completed on X-rays, and later he learned to write on a computer. Recently, a new book of more than 200,000 words by Zhuang Dajun has entered the printing stage. Yesterday, the reporter came to Zhuang Dajun’s home and saw with his own eyes his "stunt" in writing with a computer.


    Suffer from blindness


    Yesterday afternoon, when the reporter rushed to the home of the second half mountain garden in Xuanwu District where Zhuang Dajun lived, he was typing with a computer in a house on the second floor, and his expression was meticulous. After a paragraph of text was typed, Zhuang Dajun quickly got up and apologized to the reporter: "This is a new work, and more than 40,000 words have been written. I just suddenly got inspiration, so I dare not stop!" After understanding the reporter’s purpose, Zhuang Dajun seemed very natural. After a short meditation, he talked about Kan Kan, and he did not shy away from the most painful memory of his life.


    "I remember that it was 1982, and I just turned 32, which was the most worthwhile age in my life. Unfortunately, I was blind!" Zhuang Dajun told reporters that he was a military doctor at that time, and he had eye problems due to diabetes. Later, he had an operation, but unfortunately, the operation failed. Zhuang Dajun, who had a sense of light before surgery, really fell into the dark world after surgery. Later, he divorced his wife. Since then, Zhuang Dajun has lived with his parents. Recalling this, Zhuang Dajun unconsciously looked up and his voice became soft. "In the darkest days of my life, my parents never shed tears in front of me. They kept encouraging me, comforting me and trying their best to pull me out of the darkness!" All this moved Zhuang Dajun, who was gradually depressed, and he wanted to cheer up.


    Writing drives away darkness.


    "My first thought was writing, because I loved literature when I was a child, but the dilemma I faced was that I was blind!" Zhuang Dajun told reporters that at this difficult turning point, parents and younger brothers once again extended a caring hand. They found X-rays, grew X-rays into strips for a moment, and then put the engraved X-rays and paper together with clips, so that Zhuang Dajun could write in the strips by hand, so as not to be serial. After the manuscript was written, Zhuang Dajun’s parents helped to sort out and transcribe it. Everything comes to him who waits. After a period of hardships, Zhuang Dajun’s first novel, Quiet Snake Valley, was published in Youth magazine.


    "Although this is only a short story, how much care and desire for light are contained in those types. I feel that I have set foot on a broad road to light!" Zhuang Dajun said excitedly that later newspapers and magazines began to adopt his works one after another, and he felt that life had given him the best return. Because X-ray writing is very troublesome, in order to improve the writing progress, Zhuang Dajun came up with a tape recorder to record. As soon as he was inspired, he picked up the tape recorder, but the problem was that it was inconvenient to modify it. In 2003, the opportunity for Zhuang Dajun to get rid of the above difficulties appeared, and he participated in the "computer training class for the blind". However, the learning process is painful. In order to write, Zhuang Dajun gritted his teeth and kept practicing hard in front of the computer through computer voice prompts. When people practiced for an hour, he practiced for two hours. Finally, he learned to use the computer in a very short time and became a "blind typing" stunt. At this point, an idea that has been lingering in Zhuang Dajun’s heart can finally become a reality, that is, writing a novel.


    Inspiration comes from communication.


    With the publication of the first novel, Zhuang Dajun’s confidence doubled. In Zhuang Dajun’s words: "When this article was published, it was a long-lost happy moment for me, which greatly promoted my creative path. The whole family was very happy. Many relatives and friends called to encourage me and congratulate me, which strengthened my confidence."


    In 2001, Zhuang Dajun began to write "The Wind of Stones", during which there were also jams. When inspiration came, he could write three or four thousand words a day. When there was no inspiration, he could not hold back a word for a month or two, which was also the most painful time. Later, when a friend came to see him, he told the story to everyone and wanted to listen to their opinions. I didn’t expect to be inspired when I talked about it. He thanked everyone for patiently listening to his story, which gave him new creative inspiration. In December, 2004, the novel "The Wind of Stone Mounds" was finally published. For more than three years, Zhuang Dajun wrote 210,000 words, telling the love between two stones in a symbolic way and expressing his desire for love. Zhuang Dajun said that creation means a kind of affirmation of life, and he has never given up literary creation for more than 20 years.


    Zhuang Dajun told reporters that art comes from life, but the eyes are blind, the information is blocked, the circle is small, there is little life experience, and there is nothing new. It is impossible to write a good article behind closed doors. Later, after learning to use the computer, he made friends with many netizens, including communicating with some blind friends to get information, and often learned some news and learned some unique things, which also injected new "blood" into literary creation.


    Creation returns to society


    After the publication of "The Wind of Stones and Stones", Zhuang Dajun received many phone calls from readers, asking him to write his own experiences in succession, in order to inspire those friends who encountered setbacks on the road of life.


    In 2005, when "The Wind of Stone Mourning" was sold in Nanjing Xinhua Bookstore, Zhuang Dajun signed books at the scene. An anxious mother came to him and said that she had an 11-year-old son who was blind. I hope Zhuang Dajun can give her son a word as an inspiration. Zhuang Dajun wrote a note, "Life doesn’t believe in tears, only in courage". The mother took the note, thanked her and left. Now Zhuang Dajun doesn’t know how the blind child lives. However, he always carries out literary creation with the attitude of "excellent works are inspiring".


    Zhuang Dajun said that the new book "Darkness and Light are Together" is an autobiographical novel. The protagonist appears in the first person "I", focusing on life perception, how to get out of the darkness and how to feel the light from the heart. In addition to writing, Zhuang Dajun often gives lectures in some colleges and universities, and teaches children how to write compositions in women’s and children’s activity centers. In addition, he also practices Qigong hard to learn massage. In the past 20 years, he has done massage for nearly 20,000 people for free.


    Our reporter Guo Yipeng Ren Guoyong Wen/photo

Editor: Li Xingcun