Ling Yi, a web novelist who has been struggling for ten years.
I started reading online novels in 2007, or more accurately, I read physical (pirated) versions of online novels.
The first book is " The Ethereal," which is hailed as the progenitor of cultivation novels. People born in the 90s and 00s may not be familiar with this book, but most people born in the 80s should be very familiar with it. Even if they haven't read it, they have at least heard of it.
Ling Yi remembers clearly that the pirated physical copy of " The Ethereal " cost Ling Yi ten yuan; he bought it from a street stall.
The worldview of " The Ethereal " is very grand, with a systematic cultivation realm, a fairly complete set of concepts such as weapon crafting, alchemy, Formation, and Restriction, the influence of mental state on cultivation, and the true meaning of heavenly tribulations.
Ling Yi was immediately captivated by the novel and became completely engrossed in this novel literary form, online literature.
Although Xiao Dada's Later works were somewhat lackluster, and " The Ethereal " also had some flaws, the impact on Ling Yi, who was just getting into online novels at the time, was unimaginable.
He broke through certain constraints of traditional novels and surpassed the limits of people's imagination at the time.
Before this, Ling Yi had also read a lot of traditional literary works, such as " Jane Eyre ", " Wuthering Heights ", "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame ", " The Old Man and the Sea"... Ba Jin's collected works, Shu She's collected works, Shuren's collected works, Da Qian, Da Jia... and so on.
Even now, there are still hundreds of famous books from home and abroad in the cabinet in Ling Yi's hometown.
Ling Yi loves literature; he can immerse himself in the Intent Realm created by the author's words.
Many people know that those who enjoy reading often enjoy writing. Ling Yi wrote a lot during high school and college, filling more than twenty diaries alone.
He has written short stories, poems, essays, and more.
It turns out that Ling Yi has absolutely no talent for writing. People with a literary background have a certain ability to appreciate literature; after all, they can easily tell the quality of writing by reading more.
But being able to read doesn't necessarily mean you can write. Ling Yi is one of those people who can read but can't write.
This thing requires talent, and at least in Ling Yi's opinion, he himself doesn't have that talent.
During my high school years, Han Han's novels were very popular for a time, such as " One Degree Below Zero " and " Triple Door ".
However, Ling Yi, who was used to traditional literature, found this type of novel somewhat unacceptable. After finishing it, he only remembered one poem. "Please read it after me..."
"The fragrance of plum blossoms, hidden in the shadows, lies on the branches, a sorrowful sight beneath; their scent, like flowing water, easily penetrates the verdant spring..."
In fact, in 1998 and 1999, " Qing Wu Fei Yang " was the first online novel that Ling Yi read. The name Pizi Cai may be familiar to people born in the 1980s.
It moved many people at the time, and in Ling Yi's memory, it was the first online literary work to attract a certain amount of attention online.
Strictly speaking, however, " Qing Wu Fei Yang " is a literary work related to the internet, and cannot be considered a true online novel.
It wasn't until the emergence of Moudian websites that online literature truly ushered in its Spring.
When Ling Yi first came into contact with online literature, it had already developed significantly. Therefore, Ling Yi was unaware of the concept of online literature at that time, and didn't even know about Moudian websites.
Ling Yi only reads pirated copies from street vendors, from " The Ethereal Journey " to " The Legend of the Little Soldier," from " Zhu Xian " to " How a Villain Is Made "...
That's right, Ling Yi's exposure to online novels all started with "pirated" books sold at street stalls.
After 2008, Ling Yi left his original company, and he felt lost at that time.
It's said that was the golden age of the internet, and Ling Yi majored in computer science in college.
However, by the time Ling Yi graduated, the streets were already full of "talented" computer science majors.
Ling Yi's first company was a management software design company, but it went bankrupt due to poor management.
At that time, Ling Yi didn't know what to do.
Lacking resources and direction, I simply found a media company to work for.
One day, Ling Yi discovered Moudian website and finally realized that the "pirated" books he had read at the street stalls were actually from these novel websites. He also finally learned that this type of novel is called online literature.
There are huge differences between online Wenhe and traditional literature.
Online novels emphasize storytelling, plot, and immersion, so the requirements for writing skills are relatively lower.
As long as the readers enjoy it, it doesn't matter if the whole thing is just dialogue.
Ling Yi is the kind of person who is influenced by traditional literature but has not developed his own writing style. He has no story rhythm at all, but likes to use a lot of space to describe his state of mind, scenery, and concepts.
It was supposed to be a long novel, but it was written in the style of essays, so after writing several books, they all flopped.
Fortunately, Ling Yi didn't rely on this for a living; he was just playing around at the time.
But the constant failures discouraged Ling Yi. Back then, online novels were in a chaotic battleground, with top authors everywhere and authors boasting millions of followers...
That's right, it was an era. Using the word "era" to describe that golden period is not an exaggeration at all.
For Ling Yi, who was just starting out in the industry but kept failing, the impact was unimaginable.
Ling Yi also likes to compare the stats of his flops with those of top authors.
Look at other people's reads exceeding ten million, while mine are only a few hundred. Look at other people's tips, millions or even tens of millions, while mine are zero. Look at other people's collections, hundreds of thousands or even millions, while my novel's collections are still zero.
The contrast is stark, and you can imagine how one feels.
The key point is that Ling Yi didn't think his novels were bad at the time. He always felt that his novels were the real novels, while others' were just diary entries.
Online articles don't need fancy language or much embellishment.
It's not that online articles need to block these things, but rather that they should be used as little as possible.
Online literature belongs to the "fast food" literature system and is a new type of work.
Online articles are aimed at ordinary people and young people; they are "entertainment" products used to Passing Time.
More accurately, online articles should be categorized as "entertainment works".
Just like crosstalk, skits, songs, and movies... what do people want from listening to crosstalk, watching skits, listening to songs, and watching movies? Isn't it simply for enjoyment and relaxation?
At that time, Ling Yi hadn't grasped these points; he continued to insist on his so-called "style."
Ling Yi wrote three novels, each exceeding one million words, over a period of more than four years. After Moudian, he wasn't a full-time writer; he wrote in his spare time.
Can you imagine that three novels, each a million words long, went unsold, without any editors contacting him, without being signed, and without being published?
In 2011, the media company where Ling Yi worked went bankrupt again.
Ling Yi lost his job, and this unemployment lasted for six months.
He was stuck in a rut, neither good jobs would hire him nor ordinary jobs would suit him. He wasted several months, eating instant noodles, steamed buns and pickled vegetables every day.
Being away from home and feeling embarrassed to go back, I'm just going through the motions.
Therefore, Ling Yi decided to try becoming a full-time online novel author.
Ling Yi always felt that he had a solid foundation in literature after reading so many famous works, so he believed that he was not much worse than those so-called literary masters.
To put it bluntly, at that time, Ling Yi neither understood the industry nor himself.
Fortunately, an editor named " Taozi " saved him back then.
Taozi was an editor at Dolphin. At the time, Taozi was also a newbie and, with a "cast a wide net" mentality, sent a contract invitation to Ling Yi on QQ.
Taozi was only doing it for the sake of performance targets; after all, there were so many editors, and it wasn't an easy job.
Fortunately, Taozi is a very responsible and conscientious person.
After reading Ling Yi's previous few flops, I understood the problem with Ling Yi.
He could tell that Ling Yi did have a certain level of literary skill, but he hadn't grasped the essence of online novels.
At that time, Taozi personally taught Ling Yi how to create a novel outline, explaining the differences between online Wenhe and traditional literature, and the essence of online novels.
No matter how beautifully you write, if it's tiring for readers to read, they will definitely give up on you.
To tell a good story, you can let your imagination run wild and add various Element in a reasonable way, but it must be captivating.
The characters' personalities must be vivid and simple.
Less description, more dialogue. Does a Combat really need thousands of words of description? There's no need for that.
Readers want the results; if you write rambling and verbose, it will annoy them.
blah blah blah...
Taozi talked to Ling Yi a lot, and Ling Yi chatted until late almost every day.
This also allowed Ling Yi to gradually understand some of the common tropes in online novels.
The first officially signed novel was titled " Player Hunter ".
This is Ling Yi's first novel that has earned him money. With full attendance bonuses and a share of the profits, he can basically make a living each month.
Although this novel cannot be considered a success, it was a turning point for Ling Yi in his writing of online novels.
The second novel was " Spirit Devouring Transformation," and the third was " Marvel Salted Fish "...
Ling Yi wrote six novels for Dolphin, and although the results were still terrible, it was considered his official entry into the industry.
As Ling Yi wrote more, he gradually gained some insights. He might not become a top author, but he could truly make a living from it. With full attendance bonuses, various rewards, tips, and subscriptions, he could earn a few thousand yuan a month, which was much better than when he first Entry.
However, as he wrote more, Ling Yi realized that he didn't really have any writing talent, and as time went on, his works gradually began to follow the mainstream.
They wrote whatever was popular, whatever genre was most popular, they wrote that genre—in today's terms, they were just copying what others were doing.
Ling Yi still lacks a distinctive artistic style.
In 12 years, Dolphin has undergone tremendous changes, as those who know, know.
Taozi, the editor who had been with Ling Yi for three years, was forced to resign. Dolphin seems to be getting more and more famous, but the website is imposing more and more restrictions on online novel authors, under the guise of Purification the online Literary World, with all sorts of Restriction.
This can't be written, that can't be written; almost everything related to reality has become a Restriction word.
For most readers, online novels are simply a form of entertainment; people read them purely for enjoyment.
What do you expect to learn or receive an education from reading online novels? That's utter nonsense.
The content of online novels is significantly more explicit than that of other literary forms.
It's not that Purification is wrong, but some online articles were indeed too outrageous, and at the time it was truly a chaotic mess.
But Ling Yi felt that he had gone a bit too far.
People's boundless imagination is the true source of inspiration for online literature. The transformation of Dolphin directly imprisoned thought, and from this moment on, online literature gradually began to become formulaic and assembly-lined.
With the departure of editor Taozi, Ling Yi's last novel on Dolphin has also been abandoned.
There was simply no way to continue writing. Back then, Dolphin would write one chapter and then review it, even if there were no problems. Sometimes, after writing for half a month, dozens of chapters would still be under review.
This isn't the most frustrating thing. The most frustrating thing is that the novel written by Dolphin can't appear on Dolphin's official website, but is instead published on other platforms that Dolphin partners with.
This was intolerable to Ling Yi. After writing about two hundred chapters, he abandoned his last novel and for a considerable period of time, Ling Yi completely lost interest in writing.
In addition, Ling Yi started working with others to start companies and do projects at that time, which kept him extremely busy, leaving him with almost no energy to write novels.
However, in his spare time, Ling Yi still sits in front of the Computer and writes.
Having written novels for nearly ten years, it has almost become a habit. Every night around nine o'clock, I can't help but sit in front of the Computer and write a little, just like writing a diary.
Over the next seven or eight years, Ling Yi wrote nearly five or six novels, but none of them were published; he did them all for his own amusement.