Chapter 655: Resurrection · Miscellaneous Talk on Creative Reflection · Constant Era Preview (April 22)

Resurrection · Miscellaneous Talk on Creative Reflection · Constant Era Preview (April 22)

Writing a thesis is much easier than writing web novels, really. Only after relaxing did I realize how tight the author's brain strings were during serialization. All the DDLs I faced this month made me feel:

Just this?

When I hadn't written a single word of my 11,000-word thesis, I told my supervisor that I would finish it in ten days. Then I wrote 2,000 words in the first six days, 3,000 words in the last three days, and wrote the remaining 5,000 words in the last day and night, finishing it. And I even felt... it's not for immediate submission, I still have to revise and organize citations later, so much leeway ^_^... I could even happily make up for sleep the next day...

The resilient brain, tempered by the daily DDLs watched by thousands of people, is already hard to react to stimulation.

However, the second task, the opening report, had a little bit of a bump, because I calculated that I would finish the first thesis in twenty days, but I finished it relatively quickly, finishing the first draft on April 1st. At this time, I thought, if I spend another ten days on the opening, wouldn't I be able to save a few days of drafts in early April?

But unfortunately, first, the finishing work of the thesis was not so easy to do, taking several days, and second, the determination of the graduation thesis topic was not very smooth.

Actually, I got this graduation thesis topic in early March, but I didn't have time to look at it until I started working on it... Tsk.

There is too much to read, including 600,000 to 700,000 words of un-proofread ancient books, and they are all abstract and unfamiliar astronomical calculations. I write novels every day and don't study properly, so how can I understand them? And I want a shortcut to success, to come back and write for everyone quickly, so how can I read this kind of thing?

The teacher who gave me the topic is a teacher I like and respect very much. He is very gentle, has a high level, and has a very rigorous attitude toward scholarship. I took a shortcut and ran to ask:

"Teacher, this topic feels very difficult. How do you think I should enter?"

Teacher: "Hmm... this, anyway, I haven't entered yet either."

"..."

"..."

"I just feel it's very hard to read."

"Yes, I've only read... less than one or two volumes, and I haven't read the rest yet."

"... Teacher, since you wrote this problem in the project, what did you think at that time that this xx would change?"

"Hmm... this, I just feel that there might be changes, but, uh, maybe you will find that there are no important changes after researching to the end, haha... but even without results, it is also a kind of research, it's just that, maybe it cannot be an important point of the thesis..."

I want results! What do I want "research" for! If there are no results after researching, how can I write a thesis!

"Teacher, let's change one."

"Okay."

Fortunately, the teacher could give several topics from time to time during the discussion, so I kept asking, kept asking. The teacher had poor sleep, and my schedule was reversed. I sent him a message at 11 PM, and he was still chatting with me at 1 AM; when he woke up at 3 AM and replied to me, I hadn't slept yet, so we continued chatting; when he got up at 6 AM, I hadn't slept yet, so we continued chatting. After several days like this, the topic was finally determined on April 11th.

Then I spent three days of high-intensity work to finish the first draft of the opening report. By today, April 14th, the main body of the two tasks mentioned in the leave letter is considered finished.

This means that the author can shift most of his brain to our Food Immortal Lord.

When I said sporadic updates and miscellaneous talks, most of my brain was still on Food Immortal Lord. I thought about updating three or four thousand words a week, which shouldn't be a big problem, but later I realized that this is not a question of time and efficiency, but a question of heart and state.

At least in creation, one cannot take care of two half-finished products at the same time.

When my brain entered thesis writing, the main body was occupied, and I left the world of Food Immortal Lord. In this state, I have no way to use the spare time to write. If I want to write Food Immortal Lord, I have to change the main body of this brain back and immerse myself in the Great Tang where little Pei is. And whenever I have this thought, the unfinished thesis will become a scratching little claw, which is very annoying.

I think everyone can understand this state. 【6

Therefore, during this period of leisure, I could only conceive, and it was even difficult to conceive the specific writing for the next dozen chapters; instead, I conceived the late-stage plot, the ending, and some character scenes, attempting to prop up the skeletal framework of the later plot. At the same time, I reflected on much of my previous creative work, and I couldn't help but feel flushed with embarrassment.

Perhaps many authors have such an experience, which is feeling that they are gradually leaving the stage of writing by instinct, and suddenly being able to start examining their own writing.

I remember writing in a postscript before that after the first volume was finished, I felt like I was walking on thin ice, because I didn't know at all what counted as "correct." I only got my first recommendation at 110,000 or 120,000 words, with a total of two or three hundred people following; by 200,000 words, this number suddenly became several thousand, and many people suddenly started praising it, and I didn't know what had actually happened. Writing in a daze, the results kept rising, and at that time I realized that I would definitely step into thin air at some point.

Not knowing why readers came, of course, I also didn't know why everyone would leave.

So-called writing by instinct is trying hard to present the things that make you feel excited; as for how much space this thing needs to be written, I had no experience; whether this plot segment is suitable to be written under the existing reader expectations, I didn't know; what its meaning and role are, and where it connects to the final theme of the whole book, don't ask me either.

Anyway, I just wrote.

So later, I thought quite emotionally that "Food Immortal Master" is a beautiful dream I wrote for myself. I wrote about a man with a backbone like Yue Muzhou, about a perfect woman like Ming Qitian, and about a bright friendship like Zhu Gaoyang's, because I really like them. When I wrote about them, I smiled happily, rather than out of reflection on the overall creation; I didn't have that awareness either.

Now I also quite regret not taking the book title seriously at the time, being in a hurry to submit. I thought that since "Lord of the Mysteries" was so popular, I had to have a "Lord" too, and "Food" also had a sense of novelty. (

I say this because I now indeed possess a certain amount of experience and self-awareness. Commercially, I began to understand the connection between the plots I write and the results. At the beginning of the third volume, I speculated that if I wrote it this way, the results should go up, and then they indeed grew. Before writing about the Imperial Palace, I thought, "Ah, the performance of this plot segment will be relatively weak," and later it was indeed so. In terms of writing itself, I began to be able to think about the formation of the whole book, from the deepest expression to the slightly more superficial symbolism, and then to the structural framework at the plot level—what is one or two lines that run through to the end, and thus slowly gather the scattered characters and plots.

Xiao Ming, Xiao Yue, Xiao Zhu, Xiao Li, Da Li... I wrote these characters out of love. After they appeared in this world, laughing, scolding, and cursing, my love had already been satisfied. Why do I say that I write daily life very comfortably? Because that is also the process of me enjoying these characters.

But when I began to be able to examine my own creation, I clearly realized that the satisfaction of my own love is not the end point, or rather, if the end point is right here, then the book will most likely be abandoned.

If a character image refuses to move from its original spot, and the author is also immersed in the happiness it brings, reluctant to—or not knowing how to—let it move, then the book really cannot be written further.

What comforts me relatively is that I feel they can still move very well; everyone can still spark more intense fireworks between them. In the variations of the story, these lovable characters can still be more closely connected to each other, and there are still many exciting relationships that haven't been written yet.

Up to now, "Food Immortal Master" generally still seems quite scattered; there is no very solid connection between plots, and it is more like individual small chapters. It is also hard to say there is a main thread. Later, I will try my best to write the entire second half as a whole. I don't want people to say that this book is written very loosely and scattered; I still hope to write the structure more solidly.

Of course, this involves a market issue. I also realized that conceiving plots from the reader's following experience and from the perspective of the whole book are two distinct paths. I haven't written much yet; perhaps after I finish this one, I can gain some experience, but currently, I have no ideas for this problem and am still on the path of trying.

Because I haven't read books for a long time after writing, I have reread some these days, and there are also a few very successful web novels. The reading experience is really great, so it also verified an idea of mine: I have always felt that my updates are sluggish and the plot is dragging, which is a problem of my ability and writing habits, and I often consume myself because of this, but in fact, this is a problem of my plot structure.

I always subconsciously choose structures with more characters and more complexity. Under serialization, of course, my mental energy cannot support it. Actually, thinking about it, in the early stage of this book, that is, the first volume, I didn't have a complete conception, nor did I have a backlog of drafts, but I could completely manage to update on time and stably.

A simple plot structure, or one that is complex but can be skillfully controlled by the author, will not bring obstacles to updates and can make the reading experience as smooth as water.

The Imperial Palace chapter is like this. I not only gave a brand-new scene but also gave a large number of new characters, new conflicts, new pasts, and echoes of new pasts... and I also wanted to gather them all at a family banquet to detonate them, because I tend toward this kind of aesthetic. I think writing like this is awesome, but I also have to admit that the maturity of my conception and my writing ability are not enough to support me in writing such a structure, so many places are relatively sloppy, and the final effect is uneven.

But how should I put it? I have to challenge myself to write this kind of thing to get excited.

After finishing Qu Zhu, I truly felt very tired and didn't want to be so hysterical anymore. I want to write some bright and relaxed things, so the waves in the first half of the Divine Capital volume are relatively shallow, and there are few dangers, with more showing off. The density of climaxes (although it is still shameful to see compared to others) has increased quite a bit, and the performance of this segment's results has also rebounded.

But I started to get restless. Honestly speaking, I hope to write things that I think are awesome (they always exceed some of my ability range), and I also like it when readers say, "Parrot Biting Tongue writes really awesomely."

Authors always hope to get recognition from their own creations. If you say, "This segment by Parrot Biting Tongue is still quite enjoyable, but this plot is really average, vulgar, and melodramatic," I will droop.

For those who write web novels, this statement might not be very correct. No one dares to say that what they write is not a "cool" novel. What? You actually dare to pursue higher things than just being "cool"? What are you pretending for? Then why don't you go write pure literature?

Eh, just pretending.

To tell the truth, this is indeed my true feeling, and my other feeling is equally true, which is that I must pursue market recognition.

After being able to examine my own creation, it is inevitable to start examining the significance of my own creation. I think if I treat writing as a career, then I must treat it seriously. I write web novels, which is writing popular literature. If popular literature has no circulation, then what kind of popular literature is it?

When viewed from the perspective of literary criticism, "Food Immortal Master" is full of flaws. At this time, we say we are serialized web novels, the author's ability is limited, and we pursue market results, so don't be too serious; but after really putting it into the web novel market, it's just a ten-thousand-subscription book. At this time, we say again, "We are a niche treasure book, different from those vulgar cool novels." Thus, everyone eats fennel beans, and they all burst into laughter.

Therefore, I think, first, try to write it to be a bit more popular; second, try to write it to be a bit better.

Under the guidance of this policy, I will continue to advance my creative work.

Oh, finished listening, so when will you start advancing?

Ah, about that.

In short, it means that there is still a part of the finishing work that has not been completed.

Although I can start working hard on "Food Immortal Master," there are still several tasks hanging every day that don't take too much mental effort but do take time, such as translating, revising, writing seven or eight mid-term assessment documents, and so on.

So, um, I think the so-called "sporadic updates" should be skipped to exchange for an earlier resumption of updates. What do you all think?

Well, this question is as hypocritical as the "Do you think it's okay?" from a parent after they help you save your New Year's money. Shamefully speaking, this is what I have decided; you all don't need to think about it.

But generally speaking, I think I am still quite efficient. I really haven't rested much. In twenty-some days, I completed the writing of a ten-thousand-word thesis and the selection and conception of my graduation thesis from scratch, and wrote a ten-thousand-word proposal. I think I can already be called a "natural-born thesis saint."

Originally, it was expected that the two things would take at least nearly forty days, but now it is expected that thirty days will be enough to basically finish. So, let's set the resumption time to one week later. Today is April 14th, so on the evening of 【April 22nd】, Xiao Pei and Da Li will come down from the roof of Zhu Jingdian, and the world time of "Food Immortal Master" will start flowing again!

P. S.: Thank you for your votes and tips during the leave, thank you for your waiting, and thank you to the book friend who tipped as a League Leader during the leave. Thank you all very much for your support!

(How can these four thousand words of postscript not count as an update?)