Chapter 85: A New Year's letter to book friends
2012-2018, the ignorant period.
The first time I uploaded a novel, the sentences were not divided into paragraphs and there were many places where the sentences were not smooth, but as a high school student, writing novels made me happy.
I wrote two books in a row with tens of thousands of words, but both were cut because no one read them and the number of collections was only in the single digits. The third book I wrote was called "The No. 1 Demon King Chef in History" and was finally signed.
The editor at that time said a lot to me, such as asking me to update regularly.
"I'm a student, I can't be stable!"
"All right."
Due to the busy academic schedule in high school, I soon stopped studying. In my freshman year, I began to pursue a fulfilling life, but I found it meaningless and completely out of place.
So I started writing the old book again, and found a new editor. I finally got the number of collections back to one thousand, but it never had the chance to be put on the shelves.
Then the book was banned in the first big wave.
A few months later I went next door and my writing skills improved greatly. I could even write coherent sentences!
After writing the beginnings of several books, I finally got one signed. I was ecstatic. In the end, I even had more than 3,000 collections ready for the book to be put on the shelves!
Damn, invincible!
I swear I will write a million words as long as I get 200 orders!
Unfortunately, there were only about 60 first orders, so I wrote an apology chapter while crying and cut the book.
I finally realized the most terrifying thing.
Compared to those geniuses who rose to prominence quickly with two or three books,
I don’t have even the slightest talent for writing!
Later, I wrote another book and decided to pursue a explosive opening. At the beginning, the protagonist punched Gaia to pieces and began to evolve mythological civilization. The first order was 550.
Because it is really difficult to write an invincible protagonist, I subconsciously began to try to write a group portrait.
The outline of the grand world view of all subsequent novels was thus determined. At that time, I really felt that I was satisfied with an average subscription of more than a thousand.
Later, when I was researching books in an author group, a big shot suddenly confronted me and asked me repeatedly about my average subscription. I dared to research how to write a novel. What an idiot!
I felt really angry at that time, but I didn't dare to talk back because he has many fans and author friends.
I'm a student and I'm afraid of cyber bullying, so I just follow my heart.
After two years of hard work, this book was finally completed, which is a cause for celebration. Then I saw a book called Low Dimensional Games, and I felt that the ideas and framework were similar to my own book.
Well, at that time I suddenly felt that maybe there was still a chance for me to start again.
2018-2020, study period.
I wanted to write a new book, and at this time, an author with 10,000 subscriptions who was eager to teach others appeared in the author group. I shamelessly showed him the beginning of the new book several times, and after the big guy revised it, it was published.
Unexpectedly, the new book quickly gained more than 10,000 collections!
Damn, invincible!
As a result, the number of subscriptions stopped increasing after this point. The first order was twelve hundred, and the subsequent subscriptions dropped drastically after the book was put on the shelves. I didn't understand why, so I could only endure and write until the end, with an average subscription of fifteen hundred.
Why?
For some reason, the novel performed very well at the beginning, but then went from bad to worse.
I began to think carefully about the root causes of my good and bad grades.
I'm planning to write a new book about the fourth disaster, because I found that this type of book has good results, but not many people write it.
Let’s write something lighthearted and funny!
This time I learned my lesson and decided to polish the beginning and early ideas thoroughly before publishing the book, so I shamelessly pestered the author of tens of thousands of subscriptions to revise them for me.
"It's written too hastily," "It doesn't express emotions," "It's not well written"...
Rewrite, ask for help, revise, rewrite, ask for help, revise, rewrite, ask for help, revise, rewrite, ask for help, revise, rewrite, ask for help, revise, …
Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite…
Ten times!
For a whole month, I repeatedly conceived and reconstructed, constantly transforming my thinking and cognition of online articles. After rewriting it ten times, I finally got the answer I wanted.
"Okay, that's OK."
I'm in!
Send books.
Waiting for signing.
The contract was signed successfully.
Waiting for recommendation.
Barely passed to test the waters.
Waiting for the ranking...
Climb the list.
…
No. 1 on the Seven Charts! First order 8,700! Follow-up reading 9,000!
Damn, invincible!
However, my follow-up reading began to decline steadily, and I couldn't stop it no matter what I did. I simply gave up and wrote for a month until it was time to read again.
It has dropped to three thousand.
The average subscription continued to decline, from 10,000 to more than 8,000. Fortunately, it was slowly saved by recommendations. Because I received negative feedback every day, funny novels were no longer easy to write, and I was depressed every day when I wrote.
Sitting for a long time, no sunshine, few friends, no attention, living frugally, every day is a new decline...
My mental state also began to decline.
Finally, the 1.5 million words were completed and I breathed a sigh of relief.
I began to try to open a new book with joy and anticipation.
2020-2023, Transformation Period
I have 30,000 manuscripts in stock and I am going to publish a book.
Flop.
I have 50,000 manuscripts in stock and I am ready to publish another book.
Failed again.
Almost no social interaction, a monthly mortgage of more than 8,000 yuan, sick family members, myself unemployed for half a year, a confused future, all kinds of thoughts in my mind, and sleepless nights.
I started to get irritable and even yell at people around me, especially when they advised me to go out and find a job and said that I was just playing games.
Anxiety disorder, a common mental illness among full-time authors, has quietly come knocking on their door.
Finally, I felt right again.
This time I plan to write another invincible book. I saw a book about a little girl being sacrificed to an evil god, so I will write a book in which the protagonist is summoned by the little girl as an evil god.
Will I still succeed?
"A flash in the pan", "good luck", "accidental", "newcomer wall", "running out of ideas"... the majority of authors who have only written a book that has reached 10,000 subscriptions once account for the majority of authors with 10,000 subscriptions.
The so-called ten thousand orders,
Just getting started.
It ranks second on the new book list. It had a good start, but unfortunately the plot started to drag after more than 20 chapters, and the protagonist also lacked initiative, so the readership started to decline.
Four thousand first orders.
Shit, I’m…not invincible anymore, not invincible anymore.
I began to study the data feedback, and based on the rules provided by the background, I carefully thought about and experimented with various new plots. Finally, I stabilized the readership and the average subscription began to gradually increase.
Once again 10,000 orders.
Then, comic adaptation.
Subscription performance improved again.
Unfortunately, the framework of the invincible flow could not be written for long, the results could not be stabilized in the later stages, and my anxiety became more and more serious, so I could only barely finish the book.
One night, my teeth were bleeding while I was brushing them. I knelt on the ground and cried, thinking that I had a terminal illness.
From then on, a hypochondriac journey of forty trips to the hospital a year began.
I knew I couldn't hold on any longer.
Go see a psychiatrist.
There has been some improvement.
"If you take the medicine, you will be drowsy and you won't be able to write a novel."
So that's it.
Then I refuse to take medicine!
For my new book, I wanted to try to lower the starting point of the protagonist and reduce the explosive points, but the results were very poor. Until later, I wanted to write a group portrait novel.
How about the protagonist playing games on his mobile phone, controlling the super-powered people to continuously add points and save the world again and again?
As long as the struggles and entanglements of people with super powers are well written and the information gap is created, it will be interesting.
Okay, let’s get started!
The new book starts off well until a certain part of the plot starts to drag, and then the follow-up reading declines, just like the previous book.
To be honest, I have almost no sense of language. I have to read the article several times after posting it before I can tell whether the text is good or not. I also can't judge whether the plot I wrote is good or not. Only when the data comes out can I know clearly.
If the plot is not dragged out, I don’t know what a good rhythm is. If the plot is not dull, I don’t know what intensity is.
Realize it later.
Compared with those geniuses who have foresight, my writing of books has always been like a blind man dancing with a sword or a slow bird flying.
There is no way. Now that things have come to this, I can only accept the defects.
The first order is seven thousand.
Very good, as expected.
Now I have gradually transformed. Through taking a lot of notes and repeated thinking and pondering, I have gradually understood what anticipation is and what the beginning, development, turning point and ending are. The subsequent results will never collapse.
Hey, there seems to be something wrong with my eyes. Could it be a hypochondriasis attack?
Go check it out.
I had a retinal tear and needed laser repair. I followed the doctor's advice and rested for half a month. I also listened to crosstalk in bed for half a month.
After I came back, readers left one after another, and the average subscription was only over 3,000.
After the updates were resumed, the average subscription quickly increased to more than 5,000. Now I am ranked tenth in the essay contest. The prize money for the fourth to tenth place is not high, but the prize money starting from the third place is very high.
I told the author group that I wanted to compete for third place.
Everybody laughed.
Because the ranking is based on average subscriptions, the average subscription for the third place at that time was 13,000.
I said that the framework of the book is not good. The climax and anticipation are all at the beginning, but the follow-up is just like dead bones in a grave and it is difficult to achieve anything.
As for me, I can now observe the background data in real time, constantly reflect on the new plot, and there are more expectations and highlights in the later stage of the framework. My performance will gradually improve.
Of course they didn't believe it.
There is a word count requirement for the essay review, and because of the half-month break, I have to update quickly to have a chance, so I started updating quickly, thinking, and pouring my heart and soul into it like never before.
A few months later, my average subscription increased to 11,000, while the average subscription of that book dropped to 10,000.
Take the essay prize.
The final average order amount was 16,000.
…
Then, I suffered a mental breakdown due to excessive stress, had palpitations every day, and stopped writing for several months to recuperate. I finished the book normally after I recovered.
That year, Qidian's anti-theft effect was very good, the income limit increased several times, and people around me came to Qidian and achieved results one after another.
"Prove the truth."
I want to become a starting point master.
2023-Now, Future, Reshaping
Flopped.
I read and studied the Ignition Book in depth, tried to deconstruct the mysteries contained in it, and then failed.
More than once.
For a whole year, I cut several books and couldn't find a direction to continue writing.
Why?
I began to reflect.
Even if you complain about being born at the wrong time and social injustice, nothing will change.
People need to understand the current situation and analyze it, and take action after fully understanding the reasons.
While I was reflecting, I was also doing another thing.
Don’t just spend your life writing books.
Exercise, travel, go back to school for lectures, control your diet, and actively socialize.
I am fully aware that it takes both mental and physical fitness to ensure sustained work output.
I began to learn to please myself and no longer pua myself. When I felt anxious, I would immediately eat, drink and have fun instead of letting it build up.
It took me half a year to successfully reduce my weight from 178 to 137, getting rid of more than 20 years of obesity.
Get rid of insomnia and palpitations!
Over the past decade, I have generously answered questions from those who sought my advice and have been grateful to those who have done me favors. Even though my grades plummeted after I became ill, I still finished every book that was sold for a fee.
I have been surrounded by many old readers, author friends, editor friends, and other friends without realizing it...
Everyone gave me encouragement and support.
Finally, by controlling the variables, I understood why my books were successful.
Whether it is the Fourth Disaster or the Salvation Organization, they are actually based on the framework of "transcendent protagonist plus group of protagonists". This is the subject matter I am best at writing.
Why didn’t you write about this kind of subject when you first came to Qidian?
Because, "Group Portraits" is a book that is difficult to reach the top and has a limited audience.
Then it will be difficult to become a great god and you won’t be able to climb the highest mountain.
The lifelong dream may very likely die here, which is tantamount to abandoning the great path and devoting oneself to studying minor techniques in the world of immortal cultivation.
Most people are like the red snapper. They grow slowly and cannot become goldfish. They may even give up and choose something easier when they encounter setbacks at the beginning.
The rest of the people also realized that they had limited talents and were destined to live in obscurity, so they no longer had the will to fight.
I don't want to admit that I am a red snapper, even though I already know that I lack a sense of language, am not sensitive to rhythm, and have absolutely no talent for writing.
A blind man wielding a sword cannot foresee the consequences and can only reflect after each injury. How can he reach the highest level?
Until I saw a sentence in my final remarks a few years ago.
I finally feel relieved.
"Red snapper is destined to never become a goldfish, but it doesn't matter if it can never become a goldfish, as long as you can be the best red snapper!"
So I poured all my experience, inspiration, and passion over the past decade into the new story outline, hoping that it would be delivered 100%.
Group portrait, sacrifice, inheritance, epic, crying, laughter, change, the fate of bloodline...
The outline has already written about the character designs for generation after generation, with each generation changing and succeeding each other.
good.
After being unemployed for more than ten months again, I wandered in the darkness, as if I had grasped the sword in my heart.
Draw the sword! Send the book!
The initial results were pretty good, and the editor even commented that it had the potential to be a hit.
However, the plot has been delayed in the past half month, and the old problem of "plot problems before release" has occurred again. Because I can't see the real-time follow-up reading before release, I can only finish writing and wait a few days before adjusting the follow-up.
I gradually realized that the "old problem" was due to the problem of being slow to realize things, and on the other hand, the beginning and the framework were well done, but the plot from the beginning to before the book was put on the shelves was not polished enough.
I felt that this book was slow to warm up from the beginning. It was the slowest to warm up among all my books. In fact, I had already made several hundred pre-orders at the beginning, and was prepared to turn things around later.
Only by breaking away from the original framework can we break through to a new level.
The early results of this book are already much better than expected.
I can’t say that my writing will definitely get better after it’s put on the shelves, I can only say that I will do my best.
I'll stop here for my thoughts on the launch.
Thanks to "Yangyan Living in a Dream", the leader of "Feiwen", thanks to the editor Canaan, thanks to the operation officer, thanks to the head of the kindergarten, Buqi Shixian, poor Xixi, Caicai Caiqing, and Buluoyu for pushing the chapter.
Thank you to my family and friends who have always supported me.
Thank myself.
Finally, thank you all for your continued support and wish you all a happy new year in advance.
I hope you will start from here and read until the end of this book.
My life is like walking on thin ice.
Do you think I can make it to the end?
(End of this chapter)
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