Illumination Stream: Tomorrow's update of over 10,000 words, going live at noon!
Then, as usual—those who are not in a hurry, let's sit down and have a chat.
I believe... starting a new book is like peering into a beam of light through a pinhole.
The reader, on a pitch-black snowy night, approaches house after house, each with its lights on, windows papered over.
Although one can generally make out the brightness of the different houses, their internal structures are unknown, not to mention what the occupants are doing.
Only by peering through the holes in the wall does one see the interior; carefully turning one's head, looking through the small hole, taking advantage of the dim light inside to view the room's layout, can one see what sort of household it is, and why there is light inside.
When everything is clearly seen and the mind is at ease, one will knock softly on the door, push it open, and enter. Sharing in that rare light of a snowy night.
This light is the one that emanates from the depth of my heart, meant for all who wish to share it with me.
It is not a blazing light, not like The Sun that can illuminate everyone; neither is it like the shadowless lamps of an operating room, which can illuminate through darkness.
It is merely a lantern, a candle, a light bulb, the faint light I am able to emit. But it's enough to light up this small room.
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I hope that you can see me through this light.
Report on performance: the current following of Mercury's Blood has surpassed ten thousand.
This is undoubtedly the highest achievement of my career.
Although my creative performance hasn't been too shabby, having written five novels before Mercury's Blood, accumulating more than nine million words at completion, three of them with over ten thousand subscriptions, one a boutique book... yet none of the three made it to first-rate features.
The performance of all my works relied on the stable storyline that I painstakingly improved over time. And this book now stands as my highest achievement in my writing career.
It even made me somewhat apprehensive, as I didn't know if I could maintain these hard-earned results.
But at the same time, I also felt proud.
Because I have always adhered to the principle "if I don't understand the underlying principles of the plot, no matter how interesting it unfolds, I won't write it." Sudden success that comes without understanding can destroy one's worldview. Hence, I only write what I understand, what I know, what I can replicate.
And indeed, the skills honed in the last book have proven useful!
Although some authors might claim to be practicing their craft after a flop, even before I started Tower of Overturning, I told everyone that I would write a book specifically for practice... mainly because while writing Player Supreme Justice, I felt inadequate in many areas, unable to write in various genres.
But at that time, "Player Supreme Justice" was serializing well, and I didn't dare to try any fancy tricks for fear of ruining the book. So even if I had new ideas, I didn't dare to practice them.
I deeply believe in a truth: if you don't practice, you'll never learn; just as you won't understand without experience.
So I recorded all the plotlines that I wanted to write but didn't dare to, those I wasn't sure would be well-received, and practiced them in "Tower of Overturning."
In order to eliminate distractions, I deliberately chose subjects I wasn't good at. This was done purely to see how readers reacted to different plots, character development and writing styles, and then to make corrections accordingly.
It's like when you're creating a character in a game, you start with a buzz cut or bald head!
I chose science fiction among many genres because of my love for it.
—Being unskilled doesn't mean you can't love it!
I call this "pragmatic idealism."
While harboring dreams, I still pay attention to improvement and gains.
It's like in games, where you try to maintain strength while balancing cool and aesthetic appearances—neither purely about looks, nor purely about strength.
When I first started writing Mercury's Blood, it was all instinct, without any outlines or planning. There were many moments of regret thinking, "If only I had done this or that." I recorded those too, firmly intending to "one day reclaim my place."
I had a chance to do so with Player Supreme Justice, writing in a way that as much as possible conformed to popular aesthetics.
And the success of Player Supreme Justice was ten times that of Mercury's Blood.
But as I wrote Player, I accrued new regrets. And so, this new book underwent further optimization, and its success reached four times that of Player.
—As long as one insists on "effective learning" and engages in constant self-criticism, real improvement is possible!
...Of course, the downside is that my health has been getting worse.
I've now shifted to going to bed at half-past ten in the morning and waking up at half-past five in the afternoon. Writing for eight hours a day, I feel as if I'm about to ascend to a higher plane.
This book's length in the outline should be enough for two years of writing, over three million words.
I hope nothing happens to me.
After this book is completed, I'm going to rest for at least half a year, maybe a year. I've already made plans with a friend to stay at his villa in Five Fingers Mountain in Hainan, where I'll be going to recover my health.
Just over one month of rest this time was simply not enough. Even though the outline, setting, and inspiration were mostly finalized last October, during that month-plus of rest, I spent half the time recuperating.
Let's clap our hands, because now it's time for the gratitude segment—
First, I'd like to thank my friends for their chapter pushes. Next time we meet, I'll treat you to a meal!
Next, I'd like to thank my editor Canaan! Before this book was released, Canaan and I spent a long time checking the setting and outline, which turned out to be a great help!
And then there's my invincible operations officer and Painter, [Jar Without Grain]!