[Photo provided to China Daily]

For Zhang, writing is never dull

Ten volumes, 4.5 million words, and decades to prepare and finish the writing.

After the publication of You're On the Highland in 2010, a family saga that spans generations, critics and readers all praised author Zhang Wei as "a person who survives the loneliness and has strong willpower".

Zhang tells China Daily that appraisal was wrong: He never felt alone and bored during those long years of collecting material, interviewing people and writing.

"If it was that painful, I would have already quit. The truth is, when I challenge myself with harder writing, I enjoy the ecstasy from the game of intelligence, and I feel I'm right there at the eye of the storm," Zhang says.

Peking University professor Chen Xiaoming shares an anecdote about Zhang.

In 2011, after Zhang had won prizes for the huge novel, Chen asked him if he'd welcome a rest after such labor.

"And he answered: I'm not yet started," Chen recalls.

Zhang shot to fame with The Ancient Ship in the late 1980s. The novel is known for its retrospective pondering on past miseries and the early period of the reform and opening-up.

The book's multiple-language editions were well-received by foreign readers.

Some other popular works include September's Fable: A Novel, about wandering around small villages, and Song of the Hedgehog, a fable-like tale about love and happiness.

In every new work, Zhang is determined to reach a higher level.

"I value my byline very much. I know that if I write with inertia and without hard work and thinking, I can still do above average. But I can't," he says. "Writing should be about ... the history, the origin of life, the different individual features and the truth."

"Sometimes I feel like a sculptor－I get hold of a stone, and I cut the extra material off, then I get to the core of an art piece," he adds.