Chapter 880: Cui Geng And The Superhero Theme
Cui Geng looked around the entire “inspiration cla.s.s” and realized that the environment was much better than he had imagined!
Television, single-person sofa, and even a special movie studio. While the “inspiration cla.s.s” would not experience a professional cinema but it would definitely be able to beat the movie experience in places other than the cinema.
What’s more, there wasn’t just a movies available. There were also many standalone games with excellent storylines, physical books such as novels and comics, and so on. It could be said to be a huge treasure trove of inspiration.
What’s more, the most important thing was that there was no longer a small dark room in the “inspiration cla.s.s”. There were no restrictions on the authors’ creative time at all. If you wanted to, you could sit in the sofa and watch a movie for two consecutive weeks without writing a single word!
This environment was like a dream to Cui Geng.
If he were to set up such a set of equipment himself, it would probably cost at least thirty to fifty thousand yuan. What’s more, a large number of genuine blueray films, books, and exclusive sound studio would cost more than a creator could bear.
Not only was food and accommodation free here, but the novels that he wrote would also be sold at extremely high prices in a fixed-rate contract. The conditions were unimaginable!
At first, Cui Geng had thought that he was an author with dreams and aspirations. How could he accept a fixed-rate contract?
However, it was a really good deal now that he looked at it again!
He would take such a fixed-rate contract any day and time!
The editor smiled when he saw Cui Geng’s excited expressionand said, “Sigh, I really envy you guys. I really wanted to join this’ inspiration cla.s.s’, but I’m not qualified.”
“You guys can experience the ‘Inspiration Cla.s.s’ for three days when it startsofficially tomorrow.”
“That’s right, I heard that Boss Pei will come to see how the ‘inspiration cla.s.s’ is doing tomorrow.”
“During this period, you can experience it first. Then, you can decide if you want to accept the fixed-rate contract and the theme of your creation.”
Cui Geng’s eyes lit up. “Huh? Boss Pei is coming?”
This was a pleasant surprise.
Cui Geng had met Boss Pei a few times. For example, Boss Pei had treated him to a meal in his busy schedule and given him the position of ‘special observer’.
Cui Geng’s current success was closely related to the inspiration provided by Boss Pei.
For some reason, Cui Geng felt that something good would happen as long as he met Boss Pei or got involved with him.
Boss Pei was coming to inspect personally this time. Who knows, he might be able to get enlightened and burst with inspiration just by discussing with him?
Cui Geng happily looked forward to it.
…
…
February 9th, Thursday…
Pei Qian took a car to the inspiration cla.s.s to check on the authors’ current situation in the morning.
Zhongdian Chinese Network might not be very profitable in Tengda Corporation’s various industries, but Pei Qian valued it very much.
This “inspiration cla.s.s” was an idea that Pei Qian had come up with himself. Once it succeeded, he would be able to capture all the top writers in Zhongdian Chinese Network and greatly reduce Zhongdian Chinese Network’s earning speed. It could be said to be very meaningful.
Thus, Pei Qian felt the need to come and take a look.
Pei Qian looked far away from the entrance after arriving at the “inspiration cla.s.s”.
The authors of Zhongdian Chinese Network were all sitting comfortably in the single-person sofa. Some were watching the movie seriously, some were playing games with their controllers, and some were reading physical books.
It looked like an internet cafe at first glance but was different. More accurately, it looked like a large-scale entertainment room.
The writing area on the side, however, was was empty..
The only pity was that there were still fewer people in the “inspiration cla.s.s” at the moment. Only a small portion of the seats were taken since there were only about ten people.
That was because many top writers’ books had not finished their novels which were still being serialized. They could not possibly cancel the books they were writing, right?
Thus, there would be batchs of authors coming over one after another later on.
The dozen or so people who had already arrived were the same as Cui Geng. They had already finished their books before signing up for the “inspiration cla.s.s”. It was precisely because they had finished their books that they did not have the pressure to update. That was why no one went to write.
Pei Qian was satisfied with this result.
Excellent!
You can just watch movies and play games here, delay writing for as long as possible.
Pei Qian spotted Cui Geng in the crowd and focused on him immediately!
That was because Cui Geng was one of the first authors to become popular on Zhongdian Chinese Network. He had brought Zhongdian Chinese Network directly to fame. It could be said to be a turning point for Zhongdian Chinese Network.
What made Pei Qian even angrier was that he had clearly given Cui Geng high hopes and even arranged for him to be a ‘special observer’. However, not only did Cui Geng not reduce the efficiency of the various departments, he even wrote a popular book and stabbed Pei Qian in the back!
However, this time, Pei Qian felt that the situation would definitely be different.
Everyone knew that Cui Geng was a no-show with no motivation. How could a no-show work hard in such a comfortable environment? Impossible!
Pei Qian walked in and looked around at that thought.
These authors were struggling with the selection of the themes of their novels at the same time.
Zhu Xingan had already emphasized to the authors that they had to write custom-made novels. In other words, they could only write IP works related to Tengda instead of original works.
This rule was set by Boss Pei and could not be changed.
Tengda’s current IP works were from three areas: Tengda’s games and movies, GOG’s various well-known IPs in the country, and Hurricane Comics’s various comic IPs.
Which theme should they choose? That was very confusing.
They definitely could not choose the genre without thinking. They had to study these genres repeatedly and find the best entry point.
Therefore, some of these authors were playing Tengda’s games, some were watching films like Tomorrow is Beautiful, and some were flipping through comic books and old movies by Hurricane Comics Company. They had no clear goal and could only try their luck.
Cui Geng was thinking hard when he suddenly saw Boss Pei walking around.
“Boss Pei, you’re here!” Cui Geng stood up happily to welcome him.
Pei Qian pushed him back. “It’s alright. I’m just walking around. You can continue with your work.”
There was no one else in the seat next to Cui Geng. Pei Qian sat down beside him, intending to experience the configuration of the “inspiration cla.s.s” and enjoy himself.
Cui Geng was very excited. He did not expect Boss Pei to sit beside him. He felt that he was being valued.
Pei Qian flipped through the various movies and game resources that the “inspiration cla.s.s” had allocated and casually asked casually, “Have you thought about the theme?”
Cui Geng was Pei Qian’s final target.
After all, Cui Geng’s results were the best among the first batch of authors. He was the smartest and the most likely to get into trouble. Thus, Pei Qian casually asked Cui Geng to confirm his level of threat.
Cui Geng quickly said, “Oh, Boss Pei, I don’t have a clear idea yet.”
“However, I do have a general direction, that is to dig deeper into Tengda’s games and movies!”
“After all, Tengda’s most influential cultural content comes from games and movies. These are all original content of Tengda, which the public has had the highest acceptance. I heard that the new game, ‘Mission and Choice’, is a huge production with a sci-fi background. The entire structure is very big, and the expansion is quite good.”
“I plan to research similar topics and try to write a short story based on the current story of Mission and Choice!”
“I dare not say that I can surpa.s.s the current story of Mission and Choice. I just have to write with style and uniqueness!”
Pei Qian was shocked.
What was this? He had already locked onto Mission and Choice in advance?
No way!
‘Mission and Choice’ was a project that had he had invested a huge sum of money. Nothing could go wrong. It was only a game and a movie until now. However, if many authors gathered together to write fanfictions about it and they became famous, wouldn’t all the works, including movies and novels become popular as well?
Therefore, he must definitely not let it work!
It must not involve Tengda’s core business!
At that thought, Pei Qian quickly said, “I think… this material selection is not very good.”
“That’s because Tengda’s games and movies basically have a more complete story. The official platform would have to fill them up themselves even if there are ‘pitfalls’ left behind. It would affect the future development plan.”
“Wouldn’t it be very awkward if you wrote a fanfiction about ‘Mission and Choice’ but ended up deviating from its settings? It would be equivalent to useless work.”
“I’m not saying that we can’t write it, but I suggest that we bring it down from the priority and consider other directions first.”
Cui Geng nodded. “Hmm… Boss Pei makes sense.”
“If that’s the case, we’ll only have the domestic IPs that GOG bought and the comic series IPs from Hurricane Comics Company. Let me think…”
“The IPs in the country might be old, but they still have some fame. Perhaps writing a fanfiction about it would bring up some childhood memories. This theme would become even more popular. What’s more, it would be able to connect with GOG…”
Pei Qian could not help but frown when he heard that.
That wouldn’t do either. There was still danger!
Many cla.s.sic IP characters were actually very likely to become popular. For example, there were some old movies that no one would be interested in, but they would inexplicably become popular with a BGM edit. Such a situation had also happened before.
These cla.s.sic IP characters in the country might be outdated, but they were the common memories of a generation in the country after all. What’s more, they had traditional Chinese cultural characteristics. It would be harder to deal with them when they became popular.
Coupled with GOG’s huge influence in the country, the chances of something happening were much higher.
Of course, Pei Qian felt that the creative model of the “inspiration cla.s.s” had been decided. The success rate of authors would not be high no matter which genre they chose. After all, they would be dancing in shackles while writing custom-made novels.
However, Pei Qian still hoped that these authors, especially Cui Geng, would choose a theme with the lowest success rate.
At that thought, Pei Qian said disappointedly, “Cui Geng, you are an author with dreams and aspirations. Why do you keep choosing the easy path for yourself?”
“What kind of heights can you reach even if you write such a theme seriously?”
“If you have confidence in yourself, you should choose the highest difficulty and write about the superhero characters of Hurricane Comics Company!”
Cui Geng was stunned. “Huh? Boss Pei, you think too highly of me…”
Writing a superhero theme?
I’m just an ordinary web novelist!
Superheroes was the playground of the top two comic companies in the United States. They were the only ones who could play it well. It would be boring no matter which other countries and authors wrote it.
There was another important reason apart from being an objective writer: cultural background.
The West advocated individualism, so the story of superheroes had a lot of ground to workd with. What’s more, the audience in the West especially liked superheroes, so the film made were very popular.
The top two comic companies in the United States had decades of acc.u.mulation in hero characters. That was something that could not be shaken. Any superhero that they threw out could instantly kill the superheroes of Hurricane Comics.
Trying to make a name for himself in this field?
Cui Geng felt that this was unattainable dream.
He had a premonition about this: Even if he wrote on a superhero theme, he would probably not be able to get rid of the strong influence of online literature as a ReadNovelFullist. At that time, he would not be able to please either sides.
Thus, Cui Geng wanted to give up on the spot.
“Boss Pei, I’m a web novelist. Wouldn’t you be making things difficult for me if you were to force me into writing a superhero theme?”
“The entire structure of online literature and Superhero themes are two completely different things. The final outcome would definitely be inappropriate if I were to write it forcefully.”
“What’s more, it’s impossible for me to achieve it if even the creators of these superheroes of Hurricane Comics could not make them popular!”
Pei Qian was even more certain that he had chosen the right path seeing Cui Geng’s att.i.tude. “Don’t belittle yourself!”
“What’s the ‘inspiration cla.s.s’ for? Is it for you to collect inspiration?”
“Why didn’t I limit your updates and word count? It was so that you could work on it slowly.”
“If you follow the creative process of online literature and insisted on updating thousands of words or even tens of thousands of words daily, it would indeed be difficult for you to write a story about an outstanding superhero. However, slow down and slowly polish it now. As long as you persevere long enough and write enough stories, you will succeed one day!”
“All of you are top-tier writers and storytellers. I believe that you will definitely be able to s.h.i.+ne for any topic as long as you have enough time to research it!”
Cui Geng was still at a loss. “But Boss Pei, we have a cultural gap with the West. Superheroes are a theme that comes from Western culture. If I were to write it forcefully, wouldn’t I be using my weakness to test other people’s strengths!”
“This is not something that can be changed just by acc.u.mulating research.”
“Indeed.” Pei Qian reluctantly admitted after a moment of silence.
“However, who said that superheroes can only be written for Westerners?”
“You can also write it for domestic readers!”
“A superhero theme that only targeted domestic readers might not necessarily fail.”
Cui Geng scratched his head. “However, I can’t create an original. I can only write it with the IPs that are available now. Characters in Hurricane Comics Company are neither popular overseas nor domestically. This means that these characters are actually lacking a breath of air. I’m afraid it would not succeed because domestic readers doesn’t like superheroes at all, even if I were to localize it…”
“I don’t think I can make domestic readers like them. It’s too difficult.”
Pei Qian pondered for a moment. “Why do you have to like these superheroes? You can write all of them to their deaths or make them wish they were dead. No one likes them anyway. That would give you more freedom!”
“Don’t let the rules restrict your thinking. Make bold a.s.sumptions!”
Cui Geng: “…”
He could tell that Boss Pei was determined to make him choose the most difficult theme: the superhero theme of Hurricane Comics Company!
In any case, no matter how hard he tried to find a reason, Boss Pei’s comments would always return to this topic.
However, how should he write this?
Why would someone who wrote online literature have to be so thick-skinned as to write on a superhero theme? Won’t it be a joke?
Cui Geng was extremely unwilling, but he realized that Boss Pei’s debate ability was indeed too strong. He quickly became speechless.
In the end, he could only nod reluctantly. “Alright, Boss Pei. I’ll read Hurricane Comics Company’s comics in the next few days and come up with a concept…”
“However, don’t get your hopes up. I won’t be responsible if you spend all the money on the fixed-rate contract for a bunch of rubbish.”
Pei Qian was overjoyed. You can write a bunch of rubbish? That’s exactly what I wanted!
He patted Cui Geng on the shoulder immediately. “Don’t worry. It doesn’t matter even if the work is not successful. It will be a meaningful attempt!”
“There will always be failures as long as we try!”
“Zhongdian Chinese Network is offering the fixed-rate contract because we will take the risk and allow you to create your works without any pressure!”
“Don’t worry and try to your heart’s content. I’ll take responsibility if anything goes wrong!”