Fan Xiaoqing is a prolific writer. She has published hundreds of short stories， novelettes and novels since her first short story was printed in 1980. The writer is so legendarily creative and productive that some people even claim that she once wrote a novel of more than 200，000 words within 20 days.

Her first story， published in 1980， is a criticism on the chaotic years of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). By then she had been a college student， one of the millions enrolled into higher education institutes across the nation after colleges resumed enrolling students for the first time since 1966. Her mother was ill when the story was published. Learning the publication， her father rushed to the local post office and bought more than 10 copies of the latest issue of Shanghai Literature. Her mother， too sick to read， caressed the magazine fondly and happily. Her father sat beside the bed and read the story to her mother. The great happiness her parents felt motivated the budding writer. She wanted to please her parents. Moreover， she began to feel a sense of responsibility for writing into her stories the things she had seen during the years when she lived in the rural areas.

Highly dedicated， she began to write diligently. Her name began to appear in mainstream literary magazines. So far she has published more than sixteen novels. She has also penned six television series. As a celebrated writer， she has received numerous honors and attended important meetings. In 2007， her short story A Brief History of Cities and Villages was awarded a Lu Xun Literature Prize.

However， she does not rest upon her laurels. She still drives herself relentlessly. Talking about her amazing productivity， she comments， “No one can write faster than the hand of fate.” Life is short， her mission is urgent and her stories are waiting to get out. She has to write fast. In an essay about her whirlwind tempo in writing stories， she talks about how she tries hard to emulate the unbearable fastness of being.

For the past 28 years， her days have been spent like clockwork. She simply writes and gets her stories into shape. For a diligent writer like her， the occupational disease comes to her naturally. She suffers a serious case of cervical vertebra problem. She often feels dizzy and headache; and sometimes she feels as if she can’t breathe. And she has to take sleeping pills. Though her body suffers， her mind is highly active. She feels that the best part of her youth was wasted in rural areas and that now she is racing against time. Whenever the spine really hurts， she takes a short break， and before long she sits down to her computer again.

Fan’s understanding of time contributes to her productivity. In her autobiography， she writes， “I have the whole world’s time in my hands. I work at home and I am not assigned to honor a work contract. However， I am pressed for time. I don’t know where this sense of urgency comes from. I don’t have to go to an office to work， but I time my schedule relentlessly. The most important things in my life are wrist watches and clocks. I can’t live without them. I don’t know what will happen to me if I can’t keep watches and clocks in sight and if I can’t have control over time.”□