Sigh, if I were to start the next book with Tarot Club reading, depicting everyone holding a normal meeting under the watchful eye of " The Fool," except that "The World," Gehrman Sparrow, seems to be wearing a monocle, and that " The Fool " is more relaxed than usual, leaning slightly forward, his right elbow resting on the armrest, occasionally pinching his right eye socket... wouldn't I be bombarded with razor blades?
Haha, just kidding. No matter how dramatic the plot twist, it still has to conform to the basic law, no, the basic logic. Given the foreshadowing and clues provided earlier, I can't just write whatever I want. You can rest assured about that.
Throughout the fifth book, as I've already summarized the main issues, for a long period, Little Klein is rather lost and lacks sufficient intrinsic motivation. This causes the plot tension to gradually decline. After all, it's not like the beginning, where you can follow Little Klein as he gradually explores this new world, with other things to cultivate and maintain interest. In the middle and later stages of a book, everyone will definitely want to see the plot develop and advance, and it must be something that keeps people looking forward to it.
However, when I first started working on this part of the structure, I considered that this transition shouldn't be too abrupt. After all, after such a huge shock at the end of the fourth movie, Little Klein would definitely need a lot of time to digest and accept it. We need to use a lot of groundwork to slowly find new momentum. As you can see, we don't have to worry about the plot tension of the next movie at all now.
While writing about Little Klein, I also had to take care of other characters, depicting their growth, their obsessions, and their inner conflicts. As a result, the pace was slowed down even further. It was like an octopus waving its many tentacles, going from managing two or three simple storylines to Manipulation seven, eight, or even a dozen storylines and character lines. It became increasingly difficult, and I couldn't let this affect the story structure of this part, making it cumbersome and unsteady.
Unfortunately, this means we have to temporarily suppress the storylines of certain characters to prevent the story structure from becoming unbalanced.
Besides the issues summarized above, I'd like to add two more points. First, the upgrade took almost two hundred chapters to complete, which is too slow from a story structure perspective, but too fast from an actual progress perspective. Although the various foreshadowings make this result seem reasonable, I still feel it's too rushed. It would have been a more gentle approach if Little Klein had taken another one to two years to digest the promotion. This is something to keep in mind in the future; it's an issue with the overall story arrangement, as it didn't leave enough blank spaces for jumping between timelines.
I'm going to say it too quickly, or too slowly. I don't know if I've summarized this before, but I don't quite remember. So let me say it again. For many authors, the main purpose of leveling up is to provide exciting moments, and I'm no exception. But I have a different understanding of leveling up. It's a tool and measure for me to control the pacing of the plot.
Why is this possible? My understanding is that it's the word "change." When a story has been going on for a long time, everyone will crave something new and different. They don't want things to stay the same. At this point, leveling up can naturally provide "change," very gently. And it's not just a simple change in the environment, but also a change in the protagonist himself, from the inside out, both internally and externally.
Therefore, it's not that you can't write something that doesn't directly contain upgrade elements, but there must be a series of "change" nodes. In a sense, this is an internalized, softened upgrade. Just like in some romance novels, the relationship between the male and female protagonists can also be seen as an upgrade, from less to more, plus elements such as regression, split, and reconciliation.
The second point I want to make is that many plot points in the fifth book gradually detach from the lower and middle-level Beyonder and the social environment. This is an inevitable consequence of Little Klein's increasing strength, status, and the level of events he participates in. It's also a problem I hope to find a solution to, because once the environment and sense of realism are gone, the whole story loses its foundation, leaving only dramatic conflict. This is why the previous books progressed faster as they went on, except for martial arts, which was too repetitive and the "changes" that leveling up brought to the plot were too few.
One of my initial motivations for developing the Sequence system and role- Acting Method Acting Method was to allow those in high positions who had become detached from society to re-enter the world, giving them a life and restoring authenticity to the world.
This point is somewhat reflected due to the overall tone of the film, but not too much, and I hope it will be strengthened in future installments.
Returning to the fifth book, the theme of " Red Priest " represents war. Although it is not described directly, it runs through the entire book and is the main plot line. At the same time, it uses the experiences of people in this environment to show the sense of drowning and struggle. Trissy is one, Little Klein is another, and all the characters who are struggling to hold on in the face of the torrent of the times are all examples of this.
I repeatedly emphasized drowning earlier so that I wouldn't mention it again in the last dozen or so chapters. I wanted to create that atmosphere and feeling through the story itself, and I believe everyone can understand it. When Trissy said those words and fell towards the mausoleum, and when Amon put on his monocle in front of Little Klein, the feeling of the struggler finally sinking into the water came through.
The corresponding character images were thus established.
Because of the need for such an atmosphere, there aren't many encounters or dramatic twists in this film. In my opinion, being attacked by the enemy again and again is not as dark and oppressive as the gradual build-up of constantly struggling, trying to break through, but unable to find a direction.
Because of the issues summarized above, subscriptions have been declining since the fifth installment, with occasional slight rebounds, but the overall trend remains unchanged. It has dropped by almost 10,000 subscriptions. Therefore, I said that the self-questioning card was very necessary because it solved the problems of intrinsic motivation and plot tension. It was a bit more forceful, but the effect was excellent and immediate. Since then, subscriptions have steadily rebounded and recently reached their peak again, with average daily subscriptions now at 89,000.
The sixth book is called " The Lightseeker," which comes from Sequence 2 of the " The Sun " pathway. It was originally called " The Sun Chaser," and its specific meaning is exactly what it says, but it symbolizes many individuals and many events.
This part is very important to me personally. It is the most important part of the overall story structure, the initial completion of the world-building, the opening of the situation, and the key to whether the plot can be impactful. A friend asked me before whether Mysteries has passed the peak of the story and is in the final stage. I said no, I expect the peak to be in the sixth part.
I'm a little nervous; I don't know if I can write it well.
Well, for the next three books, each book will definitely not reach two hundred chapters. I can't say exactly how many. It might be a little over one hundred, or it might be one hundred and forty or fifty, or it might be less than one hundred. This is mainly because I can't predict how many books I will be able to write before finishing the sixth book.
I'm a clueless writer who doesn't have a detailed outline or a main plan, only key plot points, visuals, general development, and the main structure. So before writing each chapter, I spend almost an hour thinking it over, sometimes longer. Well, it's not that I don't have an outline or a main plan at all; it's all in my head, and I update it daily. A friend asked to see my outline before, and what a joke it was! Besides the very detailed world setting, character settings, power settings, and historical timeline, the outline is usually just for show; I basically never follow it when writing.
Alright, now it's time for the part everyone's been waiting for. With the fifth installment finished, I'll take a three-and-a-half-day break. This time, I need to work on a more detailed outline for the sixth installment. Otherwise, just relying on mental deductions will become increasingly difficult as we go on, as there are just too many things to consider.
Well, the half-day break starts from Saturday noon. The last chapter was updated early, which means that I will take a half-day break on Saturday, and then resume updates on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at 12:30 pm.
Oh, and it's the beginning of the month, don't forget to vote with your guaranteed monthly tickets! Give me the motivation to write the sixth part!
I'll give the bonus chapter to the player who gets the most monthly votes in November at a crucial moment in the plot!
I need your monthly votes! I need your monthly votes! I'm saying it three times because it's important!