Three Challenges Upon Leaving the Mountain

Hello everyone, I am Gu Zhen Ren.

Today, I bring you a new book, The Immortal Craftsman's Creation.

I've thought it through clearly; writing this book faces at least three challenges!

The first challenge is writing after coming out of seclusion.

From the beginning, my writing of web novels has been driven by interest and passion. I've written so many books, and the main purpose has always been interest. Therefore, when I wrote Gu Zhen Ren, even when the subscriptions were dismal, I persisted for at least seven years. I was still very young then, my parents weren't old, and I had no worries. One person eating well meant the whole family wasn't hungry.

So, when I wrote Infinite Bloodcore, I was willing to revise the outline, and even if there was no subscription income during that period, it didn't matter for several months.

Don't laugh at me—

I'm clumsy. When I was in the mountains, I couldn't reach the moon and ended up with a bruised and bloody head. This time, coming out of the mountains, I mainly want to fill my worldly stomach.

Reflecting on myself, the state of being "in the mountains" might be my personal comfort zone, content in my own little world. Perhaps my past pursuit of art, the so-called dream, was just a form of self-indulgence, a pipe dream.

"Outside the mountains" is where heroes compete and a hundred boats race!

The new book, The Immortal Craftsman's Creation, is my first time writing "out of the mountains." For the first time ever, I'm starting to consider rankings, reader activities, updates, writing pace, and conforming to popular reading habits.

I hope to write something that aligns with popular reading habits and is enjoyed by everyone.

I am a very clumsy person, and this is my first attempt, so I might not do well. However, I will humbly learn and strive to improve! Please feel free to criticize and correct me. If I can get some encouragement, that would naturally be even better!

The second challenge is social interaction.

I am a homebody. Besides writing and reading, my biggest hobby is playing games.

I have social anxiety, although it has eased somewhat with age. But I'm still not good at socializing with people or interacting with fellow readers.

This time, I will take everyone's advice and work hard to improve on this point, doing more activities on social platforms, doing some live streams, and so on.

The third challenge is my inner self.

This is the biggest challenge.

Everyone has two lives. One is called the worldly life, and the other is called the ideal life. Specifically for artists, the second life is called the artistic life.

I wrote Gu for about 10 years, on and off, with dismal income for most of that time, yet I found it sweet. I revised and rewrote Bloodcore for several months, secluded myself, paid no attention to the outside world, yet I was full of enthusiasm, not diminished in the slightest.

I love writing. Writing itself is the source of my motivation. These processes are all nourishing my artistic life.

Writing after coming out of seclusion might be different. For me, it might be consuming my artistic life.

How long can my second life last? I'm not sure.

Since this is my first attempt, I also don't know if I am suitable for this kind of writing model.

There are too many ways to kill the second life. It is extremely powerful, yet also incredibly fragile.

I can only tell myself: coming out of the mountains is to go back into the mountains to chase the moon.

I will try my best to adjust my mindset, find the balance point, and work hard to transform. Perhaps I can nourish my artistic life with this writing method; it's not impossible.

I earnestly request all of you to bear witness.

Thank you!

2024.4.20