2018 has passed. Let me do a quick summary.
For an author, the happiest and most fulfilling thing is that I still have the confidence and passion to create better works. I can still find flaws in my writing and think of good ways to solve them. For example, my forte used to be a repetitive, questioning style of climax, great at writing big peaks. However, Lord of the Mysteries didn't adopt this style. This is partly self-restraint, and partly because the world itself restricts it—overly explosive emotions feel quite jarring. So, for my next work after Lord of the Mysteries, I hope to find a good way to combine that repetitive, questioning climax with calm, objective, plain description and rendering.
Lord of the Mysteries was uploaded in April. Today marks exactly nine months. I've written a total of 1.798 million characters. Roughly speaking, that's 200k characters a month. Not much, but it's steady. Slow and steady wins the race, right? I'm not a writer blessed with quick wit, nor am I as young and agile-minded as I was a few years ago. Every chapter requires a lot of time to conceive. Even writing two chapters a day, I often get stuck with no time to rest or read. Three chapters is even harder. Plus, I'm working out, so extra chapters are extremely rare.
In such a situation, what I first want to guarantee is quality. You all gather here because the book is good, not the other way around. Before I started this book, I talked to some friends about writing a fantasy story with a bit of an English flavor. Their reaction was unanimous: it would be very difficult to sell the film and television rights, almost impossible. And that's a huge amount of money. I like money. I think everyone does, except maybe a certain Jack Ma. But as an author, I want to create the story I want to express. Because the quality is good, I can make some money. Not create a story to make money. The positioning and relationship absolutely cannot be reversed.
I'm really happy. Since Lord of the Mysteries started, it has received everyone's love, and more and more people are liking it. Because of this, I can earn some money. This is the best state.
Oh, right—on the last day of 2018, we achieved the Hundred Patron Alliance achievement. Actually, I never really thought about it, nor did I ever appeal for it. It just happened naturally. Because Lord of the Mysteries, well, it's pretty well written. This is the logic I want.
Thank you to every single Patron. Thank you to everyone who tipped or subscribed. Also, thanks to everyone's enthusiastic voting, Klein is Qidian's Most Popular Character of 2018!
Back then, when the forum moderators and group admins asked me what to compete for, my first reaction was the Author Award. Later, after their urging, I studied the leaderboards and decided to go for the Character Award. First, the competition ahead is fierce. If we competed for the Author Award, it would be quite a burden on you all, and cost a lot of money. Second, my research showed that the Character Award is actually more practical than the Author Award. The Author Award just gets you a Gold Keyboard, while the Character Award gives an exclusive splash screen recommendation, which is basically a big promotion. I'm just a practical guy like that.
Well, it's 2019 now. I'm going to release three chapters today to thank the Patrons, those who voted, and those who subscribed. At the same time, I'm asking for your monthly tickets! Give me your guaranteed monthly tickets! The higher the position on the monthly ticket rankings, the better the promotion effect and the more practical it is. As Klein's patrons, I think everyone likes practical things.
The first chapter has already been updated. Tomorrow is still the same time as usual. I bow to ask for monthly tickets~
Oh, and Happy New Year, everyone!
(This chapter ends here)