Chapter 91: Setting Characters Based on Roommates as Prototypes

To Cao Sheng, Ai Qian was merely a fan of his books.

It was just that this fan was pretty and cute, somewhat attractive, and seemed quite wealthy; that was all.

Returning to his residence, he cast Ai Qian to the back of his mind, brewed a cup of tea, and went to the study on the second floor.

He opened his computer, but suddenly realized that he had drunk some alcohol tonight; his mind felt a bit sluggish, making it unsuitable for writing.

However, it was a bit too early to go to sleep at this hour, and it would easily mess up his biological clock.

So, he opened the outline for *Divine Tomb*, thinking about whether he could refine it.

Come to think of it, he actually had a few ideas.

He wanted to adapt the behavior of his former roommate, Wei Dongming, from today and incorporate it into the outline of *Divine Tomb*.

Just imagine: if the female lead of *Divine Tomb* were introduced to the male lead by a supporting character like Wei Dongming, wouldn't that be quite interesting?

Claiming verbally that she was his lover, only to have her personally deny it after introducing her to the male lead—that seemed rather intriguing.

"No! The female lead appearing this way might displease some readers, so let's arrange this plot for a female supporting character instead..."

Cao Sheng muttered to himself, feeling it would be a pity not to write Wei Dongming's behavior from today into his novel; in real life, not everyone could contribute such inspiration to him.

Thus, he arranged this little plot point for a female supporting character in the *Divine Tomb* outline.

As for novels, someone had long ago said—there are two ways to write them.

One is the method of using the plot to drive the characters.

The other is to craft distinct characters first, and then have all the plot points unfold based on their identities, backgrounds, personalities, and other information, occasionally adding a bit of coincidence or accident to derive the entire story of the book.

The plot of the first method is often more brilliant; all events are under the author's control, the story has stronger narrative quality, and the plot structure is more logical.

While the plot of the second method might have inconsistencies or even absurdities, some of the main characters in the book might be crafted more vividly, like living, breathing people. If the main characters are not disliked by the readers, works written in this way can often rely on the charm of the characters to attract readers to keep following, even if the plot might torture the readers to death; many readers will persist because they like one or several characters in the book.

Cao Sheng had used the second method when writing *Days Living with a Flight Attendant*.

He focused his efforts on crafting the male and female leads, making the image and personality of the female lead, Ran Jing, likable enough for readers to love her.

He crafted the male lead, Ding Yang, to be a bit roguish and lazy, but inherently kind and sincere, so that readers would not dislike him.

Then, in the process of designing their romance, he further showcased Ran Jing's virtues and slightly improved the readers' perception of Ding Yang, letting them gradually grow to like the character of Ding Yang as well.

Only by making both characters likable to the readers would they feel heartbroken and moved when the plot progressed to Ran Jing's death, and only by improving the readers' perception of the male lead, Ding Yang, would they have the interest to continue watching Ding Yang's solo performance after Ran Jing's death.

It could be said that when Cao Sheng was writing the outline for *Days Living with a Flight Attendant*, all the plot points served the purpose of shaping the male and female leads.

This was a work where character development came first.

Of course, such a design is very difficult for readers to discern from their perspective.

It is work done outside the text of the novel itself.

As for the book *I Wish to Become an Immortal*, Cao Sheng mainly used the first method, using set plot points to drive character changes.

When the plot required it, the personalities of the various characters in the book would change accordingly.

For example, becoming mature.

For example, a sudden awakening of conscience.

For example, a sudden turn to evil.

Or perhaps a sudden realization, turning over a new leaf, putting down the butcher's knife to become a Buddha on the spot.

And so on.

Even when the plot required it, characters in the book could suddenly change their gender (such as castrating themselves, or being sent into the palace).

Of course, there was no plot of gender-swapping in the outline for *I Wish to Become an Immortal*.

As for *Divine Tomb*, for which he was currently writing the outline, Cao Sheng intended to combine both writing methods.

He focused on crafting characters with distinct personalities, including the male and female leads, important supporting characters, and various major villains.

Regarding the plot for these characters, he derived the events based on their established personalities.

But for supporting characters and extras outside of these main roles, he used the method of plot-driven character change.

This method easily leads to writing these characters as stereotypes.

But he felt there was no problem with that; as long as the main characters' personalities were distinct enough, writing some unimportant supporting characters or extras as stereotypes might make it easier for readers to remember them.

And the character Cao Sheng had just set based on Wei Dongming was a supporting character with a relatively distinct personality.

Regarding the future plot for this character, Cao Sheng intended to decide it by observing Wei Dongming's changes over the coming period.

If one wants to craft characters with distinct personalities in a work, finding a real-life prototype is naturally the most effortless and effective way.

What Cao Sheng did not know was that—while he was using Wei Dongming as a character prototype, in the dormitory where he used to live, Wei Dongming was getting into a fight with several roommates.

The reason was that the roommates had heard from someone that Wei Dongming's self-proclaimed girlfriend, Ai Qian, had personally denied being his girlfriend that night.

Such a funny matter, and since the roommates were already not on good terms with Wei Dongming, they started mocking and ridiculing him one after another.

Wei Dongming, who was already feeling very depressed, how could he endure such provocation?

He immediately questioned Pang Yunhai and Guan Zhi, asking them who had spread the word.

But both Pang Yunhai and Guan Zhi denied it.

Wei Dongming did not believe that neither of them had said anything.

In a fit of rage, he resorted to violence.

He fought Pang Yunhai and Guan Zhi together.

Along the way, he also threw things at Song Chao and the others, looking as if he wanted to take on the entire dormitory by himself.

The result was naturally no surprise; he was not a martial arts expert, so how could he possibly defeat the entire dormitory alone?

The next day, when Cao Sheng arrived at the classroom, he was surprised to find that Pang Yunhai had a bruised eye socket; the corner of Guan Zhi's mouth was broken and scabbed over; Song Chao was limping; and Zheng Xiaoqiang had two bandages on his forehead.

At this time, Zhai Jun sat down next to Cao Sheng with his books, smiling. Cao Sheng raised his chin, gesturing toward Pang Yunhai and the others, "What's going on with them? What happened?"

As soon as Cao Sheng asked, Zhai Jun, who had just sat down, laughed, his shoulders trembling slightly.

Two nearby classmates were also snickering.

This made Cao Sheng even more curious, and he hurriedly pressed for an answer.

Under his questioning, Zhai Jun and the others lowered their voices and recounted, one after another, how Wei Dongming had challenged the entire dormitory last night.

As he listened, a line flashed through Cao Sheng's mind—whose subordinate is this? So brave?

Wei Dongming actually dared to challenge the entire dormitory alone.

This truly surprised him.

Then he realized that Wei Dongming had not yet come to the classroom; for the entire morning, Cao Sheng did not see a trace of Wei Dongming.

It was said that Wei Dongming had been beaten black and blue last night, but no one had been ruthless with him; they were all superficial injuries, and he had already gone to the school infirmary for treatment last night.

Zhai Jun and the others guessed that Wei Dongming was feeling depressed and, combined with his bruised face, was probably too embarrassed to come to class.

At noon that day, after eating at the cafeteria, Cao Sheng returned to his residence, went straight to the study on the second floor, and adapted Wei Dongming's feat of challenging the entire dormitory last night, arranging it into the plot of *Divine Tomb*.

He suddenly felt that using people around him as prototypes to craft characters in his books was a very good choice.

He looked forward even more to Wei Dongming's performance in the coming period.