As a final remark, I must review the entire book and talk about the gains and losses in the creation, and then I can know what to maintain and what to improve. Well, let me talk about it in combination with my own creative methodology. Of course, this is what I have refined and belongs to me. It does not mean that it is suitable for other people or other platforms. It is good to gain insights from it, but it is easy to fail to adapt to the local conditions by copying it. Truth has the difference between absolute truth and relative truth, not to mention this very personal feeling. Those who learn from me will live, and those who imitate me will die, right?
For me personally, the first and most important keyword in creation is "expression".
The word "expression" is very broad. In a narrow sense, it can be equivalent to the theme or central idea of an article. In a broad sense, anything that we hope to convey to readers belongs to the category of expression. We can express our own thoughts on human nature, our understanding of the world, the satisfaction we get, and in a more popular sense, I want to feel great.
What do I hope to express in this book, Mystery?
First, it combines some knowledge of Western mysticism with elements such as Cthulhu Mythos and SCP Foundation to create a novel, interesting, intriguing, complex and fun worldview;
The second is a ray of light in the darkness and despair ("Yes, it is..." Amon was about to jump out, but was covered by Cthulhu's mouth, "It is me.") This ray of light is both the compassion of humanity and a hymn to human courage. The darkness and despair are both the situation of workers and peasants during the First Industrial Revolution, and the old days, evil gods, the unknown, the inability to look directly at, the chaos, madness, despair and helplessness brought by the elements of Cthulhu mythology.
The third is the confrontation and integration of human nature and divinity. Why do I define Xiao Ke's path as "Fortune Teller" and the end point as "The Fool"? On the one hand, it is due to the needs of the storyline itself, and the "Fortune Teller" path can naturally unfold many mystical elements in the early stage and bring them in interestingly. On the other hand, the implicit subject of the book "The Secret" is, well, not really implicit, I wrote it in the introduction: a legend of a fool.
In other words: a fool's journey.
As for the Tarot card, which is a very important element of this book, there is a generally accepted interpretation that it describes the journey of a fool, starting from the fool to the end of the world and achieving perfection.
Of course, I can't just copy the interpretation and imagery of the Tarot cards. I will make certain modifications in combination with the book The Secret. Therefore, A Fool's Journey refers to the gradual transformation from human to god, and refers to the spiritual journey brought about by the confrontation and fusion of humanity and divinity.
Because I hope that Xiao Ke can always have a humane and warm side, I don't describe it directly from his psychological activities, but more from others, from the frequency and depth of his interaction with the whole world and the people around him, which is more indirect.
Therefore, no matter how much Xiao Ke emphasizes his humanity in the later stages of the story, the feeling given to readers is that he is getting further and further away from human society, becoming more and more lonely, more and more abstract, and gradually losing his sense of flesh and blood. This is the journey of a fool.
This structural design is actually a bit tricky, because my inspiration comes from the previous few books, well, except for martial arts. Some people say that the protagonist becomes more inhuman and more detached from reality as the story progresses. He no longer feels rooted in the world or society, so I simply made this change from the author's unconsciousness to consciousness. This inspiration came after I read some Tarot books.
Looking at it now in comparison, the first point is barely achieved, the light part of the second point is good, and the dark part is very good in the early stage, but fades in the later stage as the power level increases.
This is indeed a problem, and also a structural problem in the book "Mystery", and it is also the fourth part of the methodology "Structure" that I will talk about later.
Back to the topic, starting from Sequence 3, the whole book actually has a certain style split in the mysticism part and the unknown fear part. As for the Cthulhu element, once the unknown is explained and really takes the stage, it will lose most of its charm. Therefore, the chaos and madness in the later period are well maintained, and darkness, despair, mystery and insignificance are definitely lacking.
Before I started writing the book, I was very hesitant about whether I should only write up to Sequence 3 and use the rest as background. This way, the overall style of the mysterious world would be very unified, and that fascinating sense of exploration, accompanied by fear and trembling, and the sense of mystery would run through the entire text.
But in the end, I am still a little greedy. I hope that the book "Mystery" can outline the overall world view, and then I can play it calmly within this world view.
For the third point, my personal score is above passing, probably not exceeding 80. The main reason is that I am not ruthless enough and my expression is not intuitive enough.
After talking about "expression", the second set of keywords in my creation is "interesting, interesting".
In other words, once you have determined what you want to express, you then need to examine whether your subject matter and possible methods of expression are appropriate.
It doesn't mean that some topics cannot be written. Excluding external factors, whether a topic can be written depends only on whether you can write it in an interesting and meaningful way.
Home-cooked meals also depend on who cooks them and how they are cooked.
Well, humans are essentially seeking novelty and surprise. Of course, they also seek refreshment and touching moments. I will deal with the latter two in the "emotion" section and only talk about novelty and surprise here.
New does not mean simply rare, and strange does not mean simply novel. They should be more like novel and have a certain difference from others.
As for the meanings, there is a big difference between "interesting" and "interesting". "Interesting" refers more to fun and novelty, while "interesting" can be added with the meaning of "worth pondering".
Interesting things may not necessarily be fun or funny, but they can make people immerse themselves in them, find them interesting, and allow people to ponder and expand their imagination.
Interesting is not necessarily interesting. There are many novels that are simply light-hearted, funny, and play on memes, and they have a huge market.
Of course, the two can also be combined. If it is interesting and can make people feel interested, willing to ponder, study, immerse themselves in and fantasize, then it will be doubly attractive.
Besides being interesting, if the writing style, character interactions and details can also be interesting, it can also serve as the finishing touch, making people more motivated to follow the series.
For the book "Mysteries", my goal was to make it interesting first and then pursue fun. Now, the system of twenty-two sequence paths, 220 kinds of potions, nine source substances and role-playing methods is indeed new, strange, interesting and fun.
As for the behaviors, interactions, details, etc., I also tried my best not to be monotonous or boring, and most of the time I still met the requirements.
Of course, there is still room for improvement in this area.
My third creative keyword is "substitution".
Don't think it's YY when you hear the word "substitution". In fact, there are many kinds of substitution. Indeed, many people substitute themselves into the protagonist, but some people substitute themselves into the protagonist's father, mother, brother, girlfriend, and some people substitute themselves into supporting roles, audience, reader roles, world views, the global community, the sacredness of science, classical culture, and so on.
Once an author has determined what he wants to "express" and has found interesting and fulfilling approaches in terms of subject matter and expression, the next question to consider is which perspective to let the main readers take into account. This will determine what kind of narrative techniques, article structure, and foreshadowing you use.
I previously updated a brainwave of only three chapters on my official account. In fact, it was an idea that came about when I considered "substitution". I hope that the main readers will substitute the earth's knowledge, and watch with a sense of excitement and pride as an indigenous person makes jokes and grows with the help of earth's knowledge. It's a refreshing experience.
In addition to the common protagonist substitution, the book "Mystery" also puts more energy on the power system, magic potions, acting methods, and the overall world view, so it makes extensive use of suspense and mystery techniques, laying out hooks little by little, and unfolding the story little by little, so that everyone can immerse themselves in it.
The fourth key word for creation is "structure".
After completing the first three steps and thinking of the story outline, you need to conceive the overall structure of the novel based on these.
So, when I say that the mysterious ending was anticipated from the beginning, it is completely visible. The comparison between the beginning and the end, the fateful cycle, and the conclusion of the story, all of these unfold under a large structure. For me personally, this has a peculiar beauty.
In addition to the overall structure of the novel, there is also the structure of each individual part. I have talked about the structure of the first part before. I am very proud of it and it is very well done. I have also talked about the structures of the second and third parts. say.
Among them, the fourth part is of the type that progresses layer by layer and finally detonates the foreshadowing, the fifth part is of the vortex type, which gets bigger and bigger and finally produces a huge change, the sixth part seems to have been mentioned, it is a plain type with front and back peaks in the middle, the seventh part is a sudden outbreak in daily travel, and the overall structure is close to the second part, and the eighth part is a continuous push, and then ends with a lingering aftertaste.
For some volumes, when the writing officially started, the structural ideas were not clear enough, or we didn't know how to achieve the expected effects, which led to rhythm problems in the middle part, or we had to sacrifice some things for the rationality of the plot.
These are all experiences and lessons. In the future, when I start a new volume, I need to try my best to make the setting and grasp of the structure very clear, rather than just having a concept and then vaguely trying, exploring, and writing. In this way, if I'm lucky and in good shape, I can catch the inspiration and maybe get a surprise, but most of the time there will be many problems.
The fifth group of creative keywords are “reality, truth”.
This actually developed from the third keyword "substitution". I initially felt that the most immersive thing might be the most realistic environment, and then on this basis, I transcended reality. The most realistic thing is undoubtedly our daily life, which is an urban theme.
Under this premise, the city is definitely the easiest subject to embody. So, after finishing my first life, I thought about integrating fantasy into the city, which is both realistic and beyond reality. At the same time, I also wanted to practice my ability to write about daily life and details. So I came up with the book "Martial Arts". In fact, the effects in the early stages were quite good, but later I found that I had underestimated a problem, which was the limitations of the city itself. Because I did not fully consider this when setting it up, the book could not be expanded in the later stages, and the story became repetitive and lacked changes.
This idea of mine has been confirmed in some popular themes in recent years, which makes me very happy. However, 404 focuses on urban themes, which resulted in the failure to produce the big trend I imagined.
After writing "Martial Arts", I have a deeper understanding of substitution and reality. I believe that compared with "reality", "truth" can better reflect the essence.
As long as it is real enough to immerse readers, it can achieve a realistic effect and have a more novel meaning.
Therefore, when I was writing the mystery, I consulted a lot of information and enriched the details, just to make this world vivid and let everyone immerse themselves in it naturally when reading, knowing what to eat here, what to use, how much it costs, and what the customs and habits are.
This actually has something in common with the 3A masterpieces in recent years: an open, free but sufficiently real world.
Realism and immersion, this is an idea that gradually became clear to me after I finished writing martial arts and in the process of writing the mysteries. It was at this time that I truly refined my own complete creative methodology.
Of course, this way of writing is really tiring, very tiring.
This point was done very well in the early and middle stages of Secret, but it was weakened to a certain extent after the sequence was improved. The next step is how to create reality at a high level of power.
The sixth keyword is "soft".
I remember I mentioned it in the previous summary, so I won’t say much here - mainly because I wrote so many words in one breath, my thoughts started to wander, and I wanted to have fun and be lazy.
My understanding of "soft" is that there is enough foreshadowing for plot twists, enough fermentation process for emotional advancement, and enough appropriate release. If the former is not done well, twists for the sake of twists, and ** for the sake of **, it will only be abrupt and fail to reflect the sense of impact. The latter will easily become melodramatic and overly sensational.
In this regard, I have been restraining myself. If it is not appropriate to kill someone, I will never kill them. I cannot kill someone just for the sake of killing him. If a main character cannot die meaningfully, appropriately, or with a sense of impact, then it is better for him to be alive. Trauma for the sake of trauma is not gentle enough.
Similarly, don't be sentimental where it shouldn't be. When expressing emotions, you must know when to restrain and when to explode, whether the overall atmosphere supports this, and so on.
Also, you can't just slap someone in the face for the sake of slapping them in the face, or just for the sake of having fun. As the plot progresses, the fun moments will naturally come out smoothly and without making people feel embarrassed.
In this regard, I did a pretty good job in terms of mystery. The only time I did worse was in the chapter where I asked myself questions, but there were also traces of that.
The seventh keyword is "character":
I’ve said before that I put story first and characters second, which is somewhat different from putting characters first and story second. But since I started doing martial arts, I’ve increasingly felt that characters are equally important.
In a novel, the world view is the skeleton, the plot is the flesh, and the characters are the blood. Without good characters, the novel will be dull. It is difficult to make every part of a long novel interesting and attractive enough, and it is also difficult to create resonance, touching moments and various emotions.
In terms of character creation, in addition to the hierarchy of character settings, I have also slowly figured out a word: "interaction".
The image of a character is built on their interaction. Individual psychological interactions and personal actions are useful once or twice, but if they happen too often, they will become monotonous, thin, and boring.
With interaction, the characters come alive and show different sides of themselves in different interactions.
I won’t go into detail because there is too much to write and I want to finish it quickly.
Also, the ultimate characters must come from the ultimate plot, and the ultimate plot can inevitably create the ultimate characters. The two are not completely separated.
In the book "Mystery", I have gained a lot from vague cognition to clear application, and I have also created some good characters. Of course, due to the length of the book and the character growth curve, some characters cannot keep up with Xiao Ke, so I can only complete the first half. I hope that the second part in the future can portray them better.
In general, although Amon is disliked by many people, his overall character completion is the highest except for Xiao Ke.
Similarly, I have some problems with the portrayal of many villains. As I mentioned in the seventh part, they are always set up to be too strong, lack sufficient opportunities to appear, have little accumulation of emotions, and even less interaction. This will have to be changed in the future.
In addition, combined with the keyword "real", we must also pay attention to whether the characters are distorted. Sometimes, being too funny or playing with too many memes can easily distort the characters and degenerate into the kind of characters in most anime. Of course, this does not mean that such characters will not be charming. Whether they are distorted or not depends on the overall atmosphere of the story.
The eighth keyword is "change".
This is what was mentioned most often in the summary. The most taboo thing for a novel is to remain unchanged. Whether it is the main plot or the hidden plot, there must be certain changes, otherwise it will not be able to support a long length. Even the simplest fantasy novel with a wireless style must bring changes through repeated changes of the map to eliminate the sense of repetition in the plot.
In the process of writing the secret, in the middle of the fourth part, the upgrade line was too long, resulting in insufficient changes and a decrease in the plot tension. The martial arts were difficult to unfold in the later stages, the plot began to repeat, and the fighting became more and more boring. This is what I have said before, and I will make good improvements in the future, always pay attention, be aware, and take precautions in advance.
The ninth keyword is "details".
The devil is always in the details, and this is also the key to realizing "substitution", "truth", "softness" and "characters".
The lack of details will undoubtedly make it unrealistic, impossible to empathize with the story, the interactions will be boring, and the transitions will be abrupt.
This is a big topic, so please allow me to be lazy and not talk about it. Anyway, this is not a writing class.
In short, the book "Mystery" has many details, so it has texture, characters, pictures, and emotional resonance, which I am very satisfied with. However, the later battles are too abstract and conceptual in expression, and gradually lack details, which is indeed a big problem.
I currently have some ideas on this point, which is the inspiration that JOJO gave me, that is, to give rules and restrictions for abilities, as simple as possible but clear enough, and then work within this framework, so that the abilities have boundaries and the details are guaranteed.
This is a point that can be improved in the future.
The tenth keyword is “emotion”.
Having written this, I really don’t want to continue. I’m too tired and emotional.
Well, in fact, many online writers have talked about emotions, and many even take it as the core of their creative method. The entire story is planned and paved around how to mobilize readers' emotions.
I also attach great importance to emotions, because a good film, a good segment, a good character will ultimately contain or bring about emotions. Without emotions, the story will be dry and lack sufficient appeal.
I won’t talk about other methods of attracting hatred. I know a lot but use them seldom. I prefer to use plot conflict to advance the story.
However, when it comes to emotions, I will always pay attention to whether the progression of emotions is natural and smooth, and whether there are too many interruptions in the middle, otherwise it will be impossible to build up the excitement and impact.
In addition, emotions cannot be equated with hatred and venting. There is also love and justice. No, there is also touching, liking, satisfaction, etc., etc. A good author must try to enrich his arsenal and have more types of emotions to mobilize.
In the mystery, I was very restrained in expressing emotions overall, and I kept the progression of emotions gentle, so so many creative keywords definitely do not exist independently, but are all coordinated with each other and naturally integrated.
Regarding the classic scenes of emotional expression in the mystery, I can recall some of them with my eyes closed. I won’t brag about it, mainly because I’m too lazy to write. Anyway, it’s done well. In the next work, I hope to increase the explosiveness of emotional catharsis and combine it with other ways of emotional expression.
The eleventh keyword is to replace ** with "impact". Scenes like "Chernobyl" are the performance. The twelfth keyword... forget it, I won't write it anymore. I'm too tired. I've run out of ink. Anyway, they are all not very important.
When I write down my creative ideas, I am not afraid of others copying them. On the contrary, I really hope that others will learn from them. This means that I can read many books that suit my taste. However, such novel writing is destined to be very tiring, but of course, it will also be very satisfying.
Well, let me report the number of times. The average subscription of Weird Secret is now 109,000. The follow-up subscription has been quite high because of the bonus of the last part. It is a little higher than the seventh part. Most of the time, it fluctuates between 61,000 and 63,000. The lowest is 58,000. The highest is the last three chapters, which have exceeded 70,000. The last chapter now has 90,000 in 24 hours.
After finishing the mysterious creation and summing up the gains and losses, let's talk about the new book.
Well, I won't start writing Tricky 2 directly because I'm worried that I'll repeat some things from this one. I hope to write something else first to change my mind and accumulate some experience.
I mentioned before that I would choose between the wasteland and the fairy tale. When I was writing the secret, I hoped that the next book would be light-hearted and fun, so I was leaning towards the fairy tale at first. Later, someone told me that I could make the protagonist a little crazier to dilute the wasteland tone, which seemed quite interesting.
Anyway, my balance is now back. After I take a break and clear my mind, I will ask myself which one I want to write the most.
The new book is tentatively scheduled to be published in mid-November. I will announce the specific time on the official account. From now until then, I will first serialize a small extra chapter of 20,000 to 30,000 words here, and then gradually and irregularly post some mysterious settings and write some small extra chapters on the official account. At the same time, I will announce the subject matter of the new book, some settings, recruit extras, etc. Just search for "wuzei1985", the one with the anime avatar is it.
Finally, thank you all again, thank all the friends who have subscribed to this book and like this book. It is you who give me the opportunity to tell the story in my heart.
Also, thanks to the friends who have been voting for monthly tickets. We broke the monthly ticket record for the men's channel on Qidian two days ago. Let us congratulate ourselves, haha.
Thanks to the friends who voted for the characters, Xiaoke, Audrey, Leonard, Sharon and others had their own birthday parties.
Thanks to the friends who gave me tips. My attitude has always been that I should not let it affect my life, study, or other entertainment. Under this premise, I can only open my pockets and say "no, no". Who doesn't love money? (Serious.
Thanks to all the friends who have sent messages for Guimiweiai and recommended it to me. It is a great experience to be liked and affirmed.
Thanks to my moderators and managers, you have worked really hard and the blame you bear is so heavy.
Thanks to my advisors for taking up so much of your time to give us your suggestions on the cover and peripherals.
Thanks for your comments. Friends who posted on this chapter, you have brought me a good mood most of the time. At first, I read every one of them, but later, there were more and more, and I couldn't read them all, which would delay my writing, so I could only read part of them at a fixed time.
Thank you to all the friends who have accompanied Guimi to the end. It is my luck to have your company over the past two years, and I hope this will be a beautiful memory in your life.
Finally, he placed his hands on his chest and bowed.
Finally, multiply by 3. The extra chapter will be updated in the form of chapter comments at 12:30 noon on May 7, one chapter per day for seven to ten days.
After writing my thank you speech, I am going to take a good rest and have a good sleep.
Looking forward to seeing you again!
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