This update ends here. The next update will be in two days. This time... there is really a dice in the plot (laughs).
Another volume of stories has been written, and it’s time for the summary at the end of the volume, or the release of the discarded cases, or the stage of self-criticism)
Zero Island Volume was my first attempt at writing a "big" story. The "big" here not only means that the scope is large and the events have become bigger, but also that the map has become bigger, the forces have increased, the characters have appeared one after another, and everything has become mixed. So I have to say—and I find myself saying this every time—that I actually had a hard time writing this volume.
In the second volume, the difficulty I felt came from the arrangement of plot rhythm. At that time, I had a headache with the distribution between the character's personal love drama and the advancement of the overall main plot. By the third volume, my headaches really increased. Let’s talk about it one by one.
First of all, the map is bigger. Unlike the small box garden of Sky City, Zero Island is a very big stage. There are three islands here, each island has its own characteristics, and each island has its own power. I carefully designed the unique terrain of each of the three islands, and placed characters with different personalities, abilities, and positions. I arranged everything in the set and in my head, and it felt like I was making an open-world game. I felt very satisfied when I finished all these settings. I thought to myself that this place is really fulfilling and it can definitely support a full story!
…The fleshing out turned out to be too much.
When I actually started writing, I realized that writing and making an open world are different. In the game, all locations and characters can be placed there, allowing players to choose by themselves. I could wander around the map for ten days and a half, and then push the main line of Novice Village.
But it's different. With only the main perspective of the protagonist, I couldn't let Ace do branch plots all the time without touching the main plot. That would make him look like he was fishing and the enemy would be stupid. I can't push the main line directly in one go. That would make it appear that this is a "one-way" map. The setting will end up being a map on both sides of the road, which has no practical effect.
So I tried to write it by interspersing the main battles and side activities, so as to promote the first half of the story of Tsukushi Island. At this time, another problem emerged: there are too many characters and forces, whether it is the enemy or our side.
Not to mention anything else, there are four leaders in Kobu Kai Junfeng, two leaders in Yamazaki Ryubu, and the big boss Wataru. There are other ninjas under the martial arts association. Genya manages the Shigure family. Nanyao Shinto has Rina and the old shrine maiden. There are also strange gods. The troublemakers on Qionggo Island and Master Chi are the hidden boss...
I think if this place is expanded, it can be used as a novice village for that kind of adventure story. Starting from Chikushi Island, you will learn how to defeat monsters in the beginning. In the middle stage, you will fight with ninjas and go to Yamato Island. In the later stage, you will go to Qiong Island to find out the truth about Fujin World and bring the first major incident to an end. This place is fine, it can support a big story, but when I have to show it all in one volume, the pressure becomes particularly great.
Even if the characters are created in a short and quick way to prepare the plot, at least two or thirty more chapters will be needed to smoothly implement these characters and forces. And this is just a corner of our big map. I really can't devote too much space to continue describing this place... I probably won't come back to this place again...
As a result, it was visible to the naked eye that the original outline had been significantly changed. I believe everyone can see that the plot progressed very quickly after the Great Falls war.
In the original outline, everyone would break into Weiyuan City and rush straight to the Ninety-nine Capital Tower just like A Ce said. During this period, Genya will use Ryumu and Yamazaki to stop them. The two paranoid old people know that they are being used, but their twisted patriotism and desire for revenge drive them to fight with the protagonist group. At the same time, they will eventually be involved in this plot. Show up and take action. After the battle at Weiyuan, everyone found out that they had been plotted by Wanaya, and had to rush to Qiongo Island to start the final plot, and thus the final battle began.
There are two reasons that led me to abandon this original outline. First, writing like this would take up a lot of space, and second, after such a big event, although the protagonist team defeated their opponents, they couldn't "get" anything. They were taken advantage of by the boss behind the scenes. I felt that such a plot would give a bad impression and make it very unpleasant, so I decided to change the final battle in Weihara Castle.
After the outline was drastically changed, the characters had to be sacrificed. Yamazaki and Liuwu immediately became two old people who didn't know what they were talking about, and finally turned into outright tool men. Sakurabu had a good preparation in the beginning, but later had to end it in a hurry. Most of the crew ran out of money, and everyone got a lunch together. mean.
Among them, the one I regret the most is Yamazaki. Originally, Zuiyan had already written all his own chapters, which would have been good enough. It would have been much better to arrange a scene with him and Zuiyan opposite each other. But I was still worried that people would get bored if I didn’t write about the protagonist for too long... I didn’t insist on writing this idea, which is a pity now that I think about it.
Also, for example, Nanaya Shinto is not well described, the mysterious atmosphere is not enough, the Shigure family seems too empty, Orianna's plot is not well laid out, etc...especially the creation of the last Orianna. The last time I used it in the world, it was the prologue. I remember that readers would also find it strange...
Under the influence of these and other factors (the focus is my own lack of strength and insufficient thinking), this volume presents a look and feel similar to a JRPG with insufficient funds. The beginning was okay, and there were plot points in the middle, but then the funds ran out and the construction period was not enough. The big map was not built and the bosses hurriedly said a few lines and rushed to lead the people into the final battle. Such a sense of anxiety that was visible to the naked eye was really unbearable. Be true to your word.
Already, deeply, reflecting on it.
I guarantee that I will never make so many settings and characters next time I launch a game... I will be satisfied with just controlling the core characters and core concepts, really.
·
Then the reflection time is over and we move on to the next step.
I’ve already talked about plot abolitions, let’s talk about other character abolitions that were abandoned before writing.
——Rina was originally supposed to manifest the realm, after all, she was Master Yan’s cheap apprentice. But in the environment of Lingdao, manifestations are quite valuable. With three manifestations on our side, it is almost impossible to deal with a near-death situation - Wuhui and Junfeng only have four manifestations of ninja army leaders.
So Rina, just go to the gods and wait.)
——The initial draft of Sakura Dance was a spy placed by Master Chi in the Martial Arts Association and Junfeng. It also included the identity of the current unified god, which is to say a three-faced spy.
Later, I thought that this was too much torture, so I decided to let Sakura Mai=san be a double agent again.
——The pure ability was originally planned to be parallel world control. He will be a very, very difficult enemy to defeat. The reason why this ability setting was abandoned is... I can't think of how to defeat it or how to "express" this ability well...
So Pure=san finally changed to a weakened version of distance control and became the abandoned villain, Sayonara.
——Shigure Seventeen was originally planned to target Reiichi's yandere. In this draft, her main target will be Gongsun Ce. With her crazy attitude of "You make friends with my brother, you will steal my brother". Attacked by the feeling of eating A Ce alive. And it's a boy.
Later, I thought about it and felt that, well, the homo was too much, so I changed it to the crazy cooking girl Miss Zero is now.
——Miss Zero was originally expected to be bombarded by Genmi until her mentality exploded, and then was taken advantage of by A Ce to break through herself in the end and successfully advance to the creation world.
But later I felt it was too cliched, so I had her transform in a dream in advance and join the battle majestically at the end.
——The original setting of the God of Disaster Festival is more cruel, not only taking the direct power, but also taking the life of the miko. So every time, a living sacrifice must be offered to the Dragon of Void Light, and Rina will be this year's miko (sacrifice).
This setting was abandoned not only because it was too cruel, but also because the setting of Divine Marriage still existed. If one miko must die every year, then the King of Destiny would have to be accompanied by more than a thousand girls in miko uniforms...
I think this really damages the character image and makes Destiny look like an old pervert. The setting of the living sacrifice was removed decisively after imagining the scene.
·
So finally, the plot summary of this volume.
The theme of this volume is of course fate and freedom. There are people who resign themselves to fate, there are people who live their lives normally, there are people who refuse to give in until the last moment, there are people who pray for miracles despite knowing the difficulties, and there is also a crazy person like Omo Genmi who has been fighting fate all his life.
What is the so-called destiny? If you believe that fate exists, you are in a sense a slave to it. But blindly ignoring the existence of supernatural forces seems to be self-deception... I think that discussing these straightforwardly will lead to a myth that has no practical meaning. , so Ace was not allowed to argue about these, but focused on pragmatic people and things.
If I were to comment on the villain of this volume, Genya Shigure, he would be a person who is far more hateful than pitiable. He is mad because of pain, and resentful because of injustice, but he also ignores his own mistakes...that is why he is a complete villain. A man who made use of everything he had, including himself, finally fell to an accident that even fate could not foresee. It was an ending that suited him very well.
He is probably the smartest character in this book, because I think it would be difficult for me to write a smarter person than Wataru (laughs)
Compared with him are the siblings Reiichi and Zero, mainly the latter. When I wrote Genya, I deliberately gave him some similarities to Zero, because a large part of Zero's characteristics were influenced by him. Reiichi's ruthlessness in fighting and his ruthlessness towards his enemies are undoubtedly derived from his inheritance. However, they ultimately embarked on a different path from their father and led different lives.
Miss Zero is undoubtedly the heroine of this volume, and I tried my best to depict her growth and changes in mentality. During this period, Ace's past was also revealed bit by bit, and it's really difficult to think about it now. With the breakthrough to Creation, Zero's growth line has truly been completed. She found what she wanted and found her original self, but she was still the narcissistic, sad, and dreaming girl... With such thoughts, let her interact with A Ce, and she would feel very happy. .
Similarly, Gongsun Ce's morbid thoughts were somewhat alleviated. After all, people always influence each other.
The core worldview is gradually revealed in this volume. It’s over 800,000 words long, so there’s no need to hide the setting! Having said that, the next volume will not be a series of bombings of big scenes like Zero Island (which does not mean that the main plot will not be promoted). After that, let’s go back to the Sky City and tell some relatively relaxing stories.
Well, just like last time, there are too many main plots, so I haven’t written any daily plot for a long time. I still write 4 or 5 chapters of daily light comedy in 3.5 volumes before moving on to the next volume.
If you have anything you want to see, you can leave a message here and I will pick up interesting ideas and write them down.
Finally, I am still very grateful to everyone who is willing to subscribe to this book, and I am very grateful to book friends for their rewards, votes and comments.
Just like last time, I will take two days off to adjust the outline. This volume is scheduled to be updated in these two days, and the text will be updated on Friday evening.
