A Few Words

After losing contact for half a month, I thought it over and decided I still couldn't pretend nothing had happened.

Though my words may not carry much credibility, that really is the truth. Sometimes, a hiatus isn't because I'm lazy—it's because I simply can't write.

Fairy has more or less reached the point where the plot is building toward its climax and preparing to wrap up. Far too many threads are converging. Even if I've sorted out the outline, when I actually get to that point, I suddenly realize it seems I can't write it that way, because it doesn't fit the characters, nor does it fit their positions.

For instance, in what I wrote the other day, to push the plot forward, the protagonist had to get the Immortal Tax Law passed. But to do that, the two imperial clan members, Li Yucheng and Li Qingyan, had to cooperate.

But just as Crown Prince Li Yucheng would never seek the throne by siding with the Prime Minister's Mansion, Li Qingyan likewise would never be as ignorant of worldly affairs as Ran Qingmo, much less hesitate between her own sect and Xu Yuan like Tianyan would.

Writing it that way would be dumbing down the characters and force-feeding readers shit. Not writing it would lead the plot into a dead end.

A dead end won't do. I have to go around it, and rethink a solution that fits the characters.

Then there's the issue of writing itself. At this point in Fairy, I can feel that my command of the pen has declined a great deal. "Command of the pen" is rather an abstract thing to talk about; put into practice, it probably shows in things like word choice and sentence construction.

Because throughout the writing process, I've barely read