Seeing the authors of the Inspiration Class like a bunch of hungry chicks, eagerly wanting to gain some knowledge about creative writing from him, Cui Geng felt a bit embarrassed.
Because he had absolutely no idea what to teach them!
If it were techniques for traditional web novels, he could certainly share some insights.
But the authors who made it to the Inspiration Class all had impressive achievements in traditional web novels, each with their own set of skills.
Cui Geng’s limited experience would be more than enough for authors without much success, but the authors in the Inspiration Class were all at a similar level—what was the point of teaching them?
Moreover, these authors wanted to hear about Cui Geng’s creative journey while writing “The Successor.” They wanted to know specifically how to write in order to secure adaptation rights.
After all, they were all accomplished authors—how many of them came to the Inspiration Class to idle away their time? They were all aiming for adaptation rights.
Just like Cui Geng, the successful adaptation of “The Successor” not only elevated the story’s fame by several dimensions, but the drama series also provided him with considerable revenue shares.
The money earned this way was far, far more than what he could make from writing a regular web novel!
Stimulated by both fame and fortune, these authors looked at Cui Geng with admiration, as if looking at a living god of wealth.
The problem was that Cui Geng himself couldn’t clearly explain this matter either!
Cui Geng coughed awkwardly a couple of times: “Ahem, well, to be honest, I don’t really have much to share.”
“Everyone here has successful works, and each person has different writing techniques they excel at. My experience might not necessarily be suitable for everyone.”
“Moreover, ‘The Successor’ was completely a story that came to me by chance, something I wrote on a whim. I didn’t even have high hopes for it after writing it. If Mr. Pei hadn’t said it could be adapted, I would have long since set it aside…”
Cui Geng very honestly shared what was on his mind, but the authors didn’t believe him at all.
“Wow, getting full of yourself, huh? You wrote such a successful work just on a whim? Let me tell you, it’s only because showing off isn’t illegal in our country right now, otherwise you’d be arrested already!”
“Hey, is this 110? I’d like to report someone showing off here—the situation is getting out of control!”
“Old Cui, stop being so modest. Is this the time for modesty? Remember what we said when we went to the internet café to play games together? Share the good times, face the hard times together. Don’t forget to bring your brothers along when you make it big—have you forgotten already?”
“Right, don’t be modest. Tell us everything you know!”
The authors remained insistent.
Obviously, no one believed that Cui Geng “wrote it casually on a whim.” They all thought he was being modest.
Cui Geng felt helpless. These days, no one even believed the truth anymore!
It was all the fault of those show-offs. Why did they need to show off for no reason? It had increased the cost of trust in society, making it so that people telling the truth couldn’t even be trusted.
There was no choice but to share something, anything.
Cui Geng tried hard to recall his motivation and source of inspiration when creating “The Successor,” and he actually remembered something.
Thinking about this, he nodded: “Alright, then I’ll share a little.”
As soon as they heard Cui Geng was going to teach, the authors became excited.
The Inspiration Class lacked nothing—it had a large conference table and an audiovisual room. Since there were too many people to fit around the conference table, everyone decided to go to the audiovisual room.
They turned on the equipment and gave Cui Geng a microphone, turning it into a lecture scene.
Seeing this setup, Cui Geng felt a bit helpless, but what could he do at this point? He had to give the lecture!
Anyway, he just needed to truthfully explain the birth process of “The Successor.” How the other authors interpreted it was their business.
“The origin of this story goes back to a certain morning soon after the Inspiration Class was established.”
“At that time, Mr. Pei came for an inspection. After rejecting several of my creative directions, he pointed me toward a clear path…”
Cui Geng eloquently recounted his conversation with Mr. Pei at that time.
His first choice had been to write a fan fiction of “Mission and Choice,” and his second choice was to write stories about the traditional domestic IPs that GOG had purchased, but Mr. Pei rejected all of them.
Mr. Pei pointed him in one direction: write about Hurricane Comics’ superhero themes!
Cui Geng felt this was completely unrealistic because the superhero genre was the exclusive territory of the top two American comic companies. Only they could pull it off, as it was a genre rooted in Western liberal cultural backgrounds.
In short, the path Mr. Pei pointed out seemed like a dead end no matter how you looked at it.
However, Mr. Pei said one thing: “A superhero theme aimed only at domestic readers might not necessarily fail!”
Mr. Pei also said, why must the readers like these superheroes? You could also write these superheroes as dead, or fates worse than death. After all, readers don’t like these superheroes anyway, doesn’t that give you more creative freedom?
It was these two requirements that drove Cui Geng to analyze Mr. Pei’s deeper desires, and ultimately settle on the “anti-superhero theme,” which led to the story of “The Successor.”
The authors below were nodding frequently.
So “The Successor” had such a twisted story behind it?
Listening to Cui Geng, “The Successor” was never his first choice but his third! It was Mr. Pei who consistently pushed Cui Geng to write in this direction, which led to “The Successor.”
If Mr. Pei hadn’t intervened, Cui Geng would most likely be writing a fan fiction of “Mission and Choice” right now.
Of course, a fan fiction of “Mission and Choice” might not necessarily be unsuccessful, and it might even have the chance to be adapted, appearing as DLC for the game “Mission and Choice.”
But in that case, “The Successor” would not have existed.
Comparatively speaking, “The Successor” was obviously more successful because it created a new IP instead of relying on the existing IP of “Mission and Choice.”
Some authors sitting in the front row clearly showed disappointment on their faces.
So it turned out that the theme of “The Successor” was specified by Mr. Pei?
Then a large part of the story’s success should be credited to Mr. Pei!
But this kind of treatment wasn’t common. Cui Geng, as a veteran author and one of the first members to join the Inspiration Class, could receive guidance from Mr. Pei, but others couldn’t!
This made the experience completely irrelevant for reference.
Seeming to see through these authors’ thoughts, Cui Geng changed the subject: “However, after reflection and contemplation during this period, I suddenly had an insight and gained a deeper understanding of the creative direction and creative philosophy that Mr. Pei encourages!”
“I can share this with everyone.”
The authors below became spirited again.
This was good! This was pure value!
Although they couldn’t get direct guidance from Mr. Pei, through Cui Geng’s analysis, interpretation, and transmission of Mr. Pei’s creative direction and philosophy, it was roughly equivalent to receiving guidance from Mr. Pei!
As long as they created according to Mr. Pei’s thinking, their content would definitely meet Tenda’s adaptation standards!
Cui Geng smiled slightly and said: “I believe that the three works chosen for adaptation this time weren’t randomly selected by Mr. Pei, but represent two creative directions that he encourages.”
“The first is like ‘Eternal Cycle’ and ‘Agent Academy,’ which are based on Tenda’s existing IP content, extending the themes into other domains.”
“Novels, games, animations—the crossover between different art forms has a very positive significance for expanding Tenda’s cultural industry landscape.”
“Of course, this is a simpler approach, and many authors in the Inspiration Class will likely choose this path in the future, so the competition will be more intense. Only relatively outstanding works will have the possibility of being adapted.”
“The second type is like ‘The Successor.’ Considering that Mr. Pei personally guided me, he clearly prefers this creative direction.”
“This direction, simply put, is to create content based on traditional cultural heritage and social phenomena that appeals to young people’s preferences and tastes!”
“There are two key elements here, both indispensable.”
“If we only create based on traditional cultural heritage and social phenomena without appealing to young people’s preferences and tastes, it becomes empty preaching that cannot spread widely.”
“Moreover, we must maintain the right attitude and clearly define our position. We are not traditional writers; our content must ensure that young people can engage with it, even enjoy it avidly. Only on this foundation can we pursue other goals.”
“If we don’t base our work on traditional cultural heritage and social phenomena, but blindly cater to young people’s tastes, we might fall into a void of empty content.”
“For general web novels, this is certainly not a problem, as one can still earn manuscript fees. But for the Inspiration Class, works need to be adapted into other media forms, requiring significant investment. Only works with rich connotations justify the use of such enormous resources for adaptation.”
“‘The Successor’ meets both these points, which is why it ultimately had the possibility of a reputation reversal.”
“Everyone should note one more thing: works that simultaneously satisfy these two conditions may initially appear unpopular or unlikable.”
“On one hand, these two aspects are difficult to balance; on the other hand, the cultural invasion from the Western world is pervasive, infiltrating, and subtle. Many of our habits may have been changed without our awareness, with no one feeling anything amiss.”
“At this point, when a work depicts content completely different from what people commonly recognize, it inevitably provokes resistance and opposition from these people.”
“Like the content described in ‘The Successor’—how many people would have thought it reasonable if not for the election results in Ukraine? Everyone was criticizing it, saying it was deliberately smearing.”
“So, no matter how many people don’t support you at the beginning, if you choose this path, you must persist.”
“Everyone must believe that as long as you stick to this path, even if no one else supports it, Mr. Pei will. And as long as Mr. Pei supports it, the work can be adapted, and once adapted, it will surely succeed!”