The King of Soft Rice in Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 321 Is it really that complicated?

"I think this could be changed like this..."

"In that case, doesn't the plot become a bit unbalanced...?"

"Personally, I don't have a strong preference; both Lin Zhuxiao and Bi Qingyue are good female leads..."

Guo Zhenni discussed the plot and writing techniques with Xu Jiuyang very seriously throughout the discussion. Her focused expression made it seem as if she had nothing else to do but write, which made Gao Yuanyuan nod in agreement.

"Thank you so much, Teacher Xu. After talking with you, my thoughts are much clearer," she said at the end, her eyes sparkling with admiration, making her look exceptionally bright.

Xu Jiuyang frowned slightly, but considering that her subtle allure was natural, he didn't think about it any further.

"Where do you plan to publish the novel?" he asked. "As a fantasy novel, to go through the publishing industry, you have to finish writing it first, and even if it is published, you have to wait for word of mouth to spread, so there is a lot of luck involved."

“It will be serialized on Qingning Blog and Tianya at the same time. Of course, Rongshuxia is also an option,” Gao Yuanyuan continued. “Currently, these websites have very high traffic and a lot of people write articles on them. If the response is good, the publication will go much more smoothly.”

"Have you considered online novel platforms, such as Huanjian Shulian or Qidian.com?" Xu Jiuyang asked immediately.

He had previously suggested to Gao Yuanyuan when she established her cultural company that if she had enough funds in the future, she could try to acquire online novel websites to form a closed loop of serialization, publishing, and adaptation into film and television dramas. Moreover, he himself had initially planned to make some money through online literature, so he had always paid attention to Qidian.

To be honest, he had originally planned to try to infiltrate the Qidian Five-Person Group and become a founder, but as soon as he arrived in Beijing, he started hanging out with Gao Yuanyuan and Li Dabai, so he put that idea aside.

Qidian has been established, but it is still very rudimentary and its traffic is far less than that of Huanjian Book Alliance. However, once it develops a paid model, it will take off, but that will have to wait until next year.

In my previous life, was "Zhu Xian" first serialized on... Qidian or Huanjian Shulian? Anyway, serializing it online first and then publishing it after it gains popularity is a perfectly viable path at present.

Guo Zhenni's "Bixiao Lu" is almost being turned into a copy of "Zhu Xian" - Xu Jiuyang basically gave her ideas based on the plot of "Zhu Xian", and she absorbed most of them. It is foreseeable that the plots of the two books will be infinitely similar in the future.

Well, that's not entirely true. Some plot points in "Zhu Xian" that people didn't like will definitely need to be adjusted, especially the sequel to the second part, which is definitely not going to happen.

It's not fair to call it a poor sequel, but the beauty of some stories lies in their open-endedness, allowing readers to freely imagine. Once this imagination forms a consensus among readers, even if the author steps out and says it's not like that, they will be defeated and even despised by the readers, as seen in Jin Yong's several revisions of his books.

The most frustrating thing about the original "Zhu Xian" is that it never gives a clear answer as to whether Biyao actually died or not. If you say she died, her body is nowhere to be found; if you say she didn't die, she is definitely dead. This directly led to the Biyao faction gaining the upper hand in the battle between the Biyao and Xueqi factions. However, there's no such thing as admitting defeat in this kind of fandom behavior, so the Xueqi faction naturally launched various counterattacks, and the battle between the two sides never ended.

As a result, when Xiao Ding started writing the second part, he had to delete all the romance plots and directly write that Zhang Xiaofan and Lu Xueqi had several children.

Frankly speaking, this ending is inferior to even "Chinese Paladin," let alone "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber." At least the latter managed to provide a clear ending for the two women, without trying to create a tangled relationship that was ultimately unsuccessful.

Getting back to the main point, Guo Zhenni hesitated for a moment in response to someone's suggestion, and instead looked at Gao Yuanyuan.

“I personally think it’s feasible, but you can decide for yourself how to do it,” Gao Yuanyuan said. “Also, no matter where you publish it, you must keep all the copyrights in your own hands. That way, it won’t be too troublesome if you want to adapt it into a movie or TV series later.”

“I understand, Teacher Gao,” Guo Zhenni nodded immediately.

After a few more words of discussion, the girl immediately got up to say goodbye, remaining very polite throughout, addressing him as "teacher" repeatedly.

"So, what do you think of the girl I signed? Isn't she great?" Gao Yuanyuan asked with a smile after Guo Zhenni left.

"He has some potential and can apply what he's learned to other situations, but his writing still needs polishing. Compared to Sister Yuanyuan back then, he's still a step behind," Xu Jiuyang said.

"So, you quite like her." Gao Yuanyuan said meaningfully. "It's alright." Xu Jiuyang didn't think much of it. "Speaking of which, Yuanyuan, do you have any thoughts on this? Since Guo Zhenni is a student at the Central Academy of Drama, she hasn't graduated yet, right?"

“Yes, I sent her to training, and it was all arranged with the school.” Gao Yuanyuan nodded.

“Then we can let her learn some acting and directing skills,” Xu Jiuyang said immediately. “In this way, we can create the gimmick of an all-around beautiful female writer, who can publish her own books, write her own screenplays, star in her own films, and even… direct her own films!”

Gao Yuanyuan narrowed her eyes and then asked with feigned surprise, "Can it be done in such a fancy way?"

However, the person was clearly lost in their own thoughts and still didn't realize what was going on: "However, the premise is that one's writing skills must be excellent, and one cannot make a fool of oneself. As long as one is based on a beautiful female writer, it doesn't matter if other aspects are a little lacking."

Gao Yuanyuan sighed: "You wouldn't have this idea because I starred in 'The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber,' would you?"

"That's part of it, but it's also because of Bingbing and Yunxin," Xu Jiuyang chuckled. "Sister Yuanyuan, why don't you be the first to try it?"

"Let's talk about it later, we have important business to attend to." Gao Yuanyuan rolled her eyes at him.

"Okay, okay, let's get down to business," Xu Jiuyang sat up straight, "So..."

"Do you have any suggestions for the idea of ​​'Daughter in a Cage'?" Gao Yuanyuan asked.

"A daughter in a cage?" Xu Jiuyang was clearly puzzled.

Gao Yuanyuan sighed again and reminded her, "It's Fan Bingbing's custom script."

"Oh, oh, that..." Xu Jiuyang chuckled awkwardly, "Sister Yuanyuan promised to write it for her?"

“She came to me at first, but I refused. Then she came to me again, saying that you recommended her, so I had no choice but to agree.” Gao Yuanyuan spread her hands.

"Why is that?" Xu Jiuyang asked, puzzled.

"Since you've already recommended it, how could I refuse?" Gao Yuanyuan raised an eyebrow.

Xu Jiuyang was startled and thought to himself that something was wrong. Why did this sound like someone was saying "Am I better or is she better?"

I was confused before, but now I'm becoming more sensitive.

"If Sister Yuanyuan isn't interested, you don't have to accept it," he said cautiously.

"You've already answered the call, and now you're saying you won't answer it? Are you feeling guilty?" Gao Yuanyuan raised an eyebrow again.

Here it comes, even Sister Yuanyuan can't escape this rule. Xu Jiuyang, who maintained his composure on the surface, immediately gasped inwardly.

But before he could finish his internal monologue, Gao Yuanyuan spoke again: "Regarding the concept of 'Daughter in a Cage,' my idea is..."

Xu Jiuyang breathed a sigh of relief and immediately listened attentively. After listening, he gave a small suggestion: "Personally, I think it would be more appropriate to change the title to 'Daughter Trapped in Time'."

(End of this chapter)