My name is Wei Qing, and I want to fight the Xiongnu.

Volume 2 is finished, so I'd like to write a summary and share some thoughts with everyone.

Also, I'm not feeling well today. I slept around 8 a.m. yesterday and woke up at 1 p.m. Then I was busy with a bunch of trivial things, and now my head is all foggy.

Since I've just finished the second volume, I'll treat it as a break. I'll update 4,000 words today, go to bed early, and try to start updating the third volume this afternoon.

As for Volume Two, forty chapters are basically all about blocking doors, which is honestly a bit long. Eighty thousand words are just for showing off and slapping faces, and some readers are tired of reading it, let alone the one I wrote.

Fortunately, it's finally over, and a new chapter begins. Volume 3 will still be a fast-paced, enjoyable story, but it will be relatively lighter.

Actually, the second volume describes what happened in one day. Many of the subsequent effects and benefits will take at least a few days to unfold before they are revealed, which is when we enter the third volume.

This isn't my first time writing a novel, but it should be considered my first time officially writing a "feel-good" novel.

Especially in a place like Hedgehog Cat, writing lighthearted, wish-fulfillment stories actually carries a lot of risk.

The book performed poorly in its early stages. It only received 150 views per day during the trial period, and was subsequently abandoned after the trial period ended. It didn't even get any recommendations after being officially released.

Thanks to a reader who smashed a treasure chest, otherwise the results would have been even worse.

However, everything will be alright.jpg

The book's performance roughly doubled, from 820 initial subscriptions and around 700 average subscriptions on its first day of release to 1900 high subscriptions and 1500 average subscriptions after I published the chapters.

When I was earning 150 yuan a day, I told my friends that I wanted to continue writing this book. I had a strange confidence that I could write a masterpiece.

So even though many friends were pessimistic at the time, I still gritted my teeth and persevered.

At that time, my confidence came from the fact that I felt I had a good pace in reading the book and it flowed smoothly, so I thought I could turn the pages.

I still believe that I can write a masterpiece.

Moreover, I feel more confident than before, mainly thanks to all the readers for their continued reading and support.

There's not much I can do, except update more often.

The key to a good read is frequent updates; only a continuous stream of exciting plot points can keep the reader engaged.

So unless there are special circumstances, I will continue to try to update more while maintaining a daily rate of 8,000 words.

......

Regarding the story development, many people may be reading this kind of "feel-good" novel for the first time. After all, Hedgehog Cat mainly focuses on imaginative and trending stories, with sweet stories as a secondary genre. Pure "feel-good" novels are mostly infinite flow or fan fiction, and purely original "feel-good" novels are relatively rare.

If someone frequently reads novels on a certain platform, they should know that "cool" novels are usually very long. Two million words is considered short, and they often start at three million.

This book probably won't be short either. If nothing unexpected happens (like it being censored), it definitely won't be finished in a million words.

Well, if I write 8,000 words a day, and there are 365 days in a year, and I don't usually take leave easily, and even if I do take leave, I usually make up for it later, that means I would write about 3 million words a year.

Writing a book over a year isn't really that excessive, is it?

Actually, I've always wanted to write a three-million-word novel with a story-driven narrative, as a challenge and a form of training.

For non-infinite flow novels, the writing difficulty of one million words and three million words is vastly different.

Anyone who has written this knows that once the word count increases, the earlier plot points often become a constraint on the later plot points.

The ability to maintain coherence between different parts of the plot is a matter that greatly depends on the author's skill.

To say something that might offend some people, many authors on Hedgehog Cat have excellent performance before their books are published. They take off when they are published, with 5,000 subscribers, 8,000 subscribers, 10,000 subscribers, and then after writing for three or four months, their performance begins to decline sharply. Then they quickly finish writing 600,000 or 700,000 words and start the next book.

I've discussed this situation with them before, but many people think that making money this way is much better than struggling to climb the ladder with a book that has a thousand or so subscriptions, and possibly not even making it.

But I always feel that if it's just about making quick money, that's fine, but if you want to develop in the long run, writing long novels to hone your skills is the right way.

After all, in the current online literature environment, long novels (two to three million words or more) are still highly valued.

I am ambitious. I have thought about making money, but I am not limited to just making money.

I have my own dreams and my own ambitions.

I used to write fanfiction, but I gradually realized that writing fanfiction could easily ruin my own writing, so I stopped writing fanfiction starting with "Grand Goblin".

Oh, I think there was also a Type-Moon fanfic in between. It did pretty well when it reached 70,000 words, even making it into the top ten on the charts, but it just wasn't for me, so I cut it before it was officially released.

In addition, it's not like I've never abandoned a book before. However, the exception is "Grand Goblin," which I said before it was published that the outline would be omitted. In other cases, only unpublished books will have their outlines omitted. As for any book that is published, I will finish it even if I have to grit my teeth.

So far, I've succeeded.

I haven't written any fanfiction since then. Of course, I must emphasize that I'm not saying fanfiction is bad, it's just that everyone has their own pursuits.

For example, some people like fan fiction, so they write fan fiction. They enjoy it and can make money at the same time. Why not enjoy two kinds of happiness together?

Similarly, I simply felt that I didn't want to write fanfiction for various reasons, so I chose to write original works.

Another scenario is that if readers can guess how the story will unfold and accurately predict it in the interludes...

When faced with this situation, many authors choose to change the plot to forcefully avoid being guessed.

Let me state my position first, I won't...

My thinking is very simple. As I've said before, if my thoughts coincide with those of my readers, I usually just copy their ideas directly.

Conversely, if my ideas differ from those of my readers, I will continue writing according to my own plan.

In addition, it's quite normal for readers to guess what happens next in a wish-fulfillment novel.

It should be said that many authors want to write about ideas that readers can guess, because often readers' guesses tend to be in the direction they want to see.

For example, when the protagonist Wei Qing was directing the martial arts demonstration, some readers speculated that the protagonist would defeat the lecturer. I think that reader actually wanted to see the plot of Wei Qing defeating the lecturer, right?

So what reason do I have not to write the plot that readers want to see?

The purpose of writing light novels is to make readers feel good; there's no need for so much drama.

I write light novels for two reasons: first, to make myself feel good, and second, to make the readers feel good.

Therefore, there may be many predictable story developments later in this book. I hope you won't be surprised, but rather consider whether you enjoy reading it.

That was great, I'll continue subscribing.

I'm annoyed; this novel is garbage.

Readers are not fans of authors, and authors are not employees of readers; the relationship between the two is always one of equality.

Authors attract readers through their own efforts, and readers decide whether to stay or leave based on their reading experience.

In my opinion, this is a more healthy reading environment.

In addition, it doesn't matter whether the book review section is for criticizing the book or insulting the author, as long as it doesn't involve attacking family members, I will not delete any posts.

I may be a sensitive person, but thankfully I'm self-aware.

Hedgehog Cat doesn't have as many mindless trolls as some other bloggers. If my writing is bad, it's bad, and if I get criticized, it's usually because I'm not good enough.

If I don't even have the ability to face my own shortcomings, then I've wasted more than 20 years of my life.

Confucius once said: “The lack of cultivation of virtue, the neglect of etiquette, the inability to follow righteousness when heard, and the inability to correct wrongdoing are my worries.”

Self-reflection is a necessary process for growth.

But...on the other hand, things are tense lately, so I hope you won't write anything politically related in the book review section anymore.

Although many people disdain reporting a struggling author like me, it's better to be safe than sorry.

If you're going to write something, write it in the private thread; let's all stay silent in the book review section.

If any posts continue to appear that involve politics or are otherwise sensitive, I may delete them, so I'm letting everyone know in advance.

Well, I really hope to finish writing this book smoothly, and I also really hope that Hedgehog Cat will give me the opportunity to finish it.

......

Finally, let me share some of my personal thoughts on "cool and satisfying" novels. When people think of "cool and satisfying" novels, the first thing that comes to mind is probably "Battle Through the Heavens."

Then came a bunch of light novels where you could predict what would happen next just by reading the first chapter.

It's boring and tedious.

Actually, I think that truly enjoyable and satisfying novels won't leave readers feeling bored or tedious.

The reason why readers might have these two emotions is either that the novel is poorly written, or that the readers are not the intended audience.

Moreover, after writing a lighthearted, enjoyable story, you'll discover something strange.

The plot outline of a light novel isn't difficult to write, but after finishing the manuscript, it often needs to be revised three or four times, and I'm never quite satisfied with it.

This light novel, a fast-paced, action-packed story, was the one that took me the most time and effort to revise.

I used to write history. Back then, I felt that once I had a good outline for a historical novel, writing it would be a bit painful because I had to look up a lot of information. But once I finished writing it, I could read it through without too many typos or awkward sentences, and then I could just upload it.

But "cool" novels are different, because they need a sense of rhythm, which means they need to keep you entertained. But authors often find it difficult to achieve this, so what can they do?

Revise the manuscript, delete the parts that are dull and uninteresting, rewrite the parts that fail to evoke the reader's emotions, and add atmosphere and buildup to the exciting parts.

In other words, even with an outline, many novice authors still need to constantly revise their "feel-good" stories.

Of course, for seasoned authors of light novels, they've mastered the formula and can write with their eyes closed.

Isn't this a bit different from what everyone imagined?

Sometimes, many things in reality are quite counterintuitive.

That's all for now. It's 3:30. Time for bed. I'll try to fall asleep by 4:00 and wake up at 12:00. After lunch, I'll be well-rested to write and start the third volume!

Volume Three: By a Strange Twist

Chapter 1: The Three Wei Sisters

In the Di-character section of the Chang'an Royal City, a carriage was slowly moving along. Its ancient and dignified appearance, along with the large "Cao" character on it, indicated that it was the carriage of the Marquis of Pingyang.

The nobles who occasionally brushed past each other all had a question: Wait a minute, didn't Marquis Pingyang go to the Imperial Academy today?

"Zifu, I heard that Her Highness the Princess wants us to go? What is it about?"

Inside the carriage, a beautiful woman in her early twenties held a sleeping baby in her arms, her expression showing a mixture of anxiety and unease.

They were all born into slavery. As children, they were often hungry and cold, and as soon as they learned to walk, they had to do hard work with their mothers.

Back then, their thoughts were simple: they just wanted to be able to eat their fill, stay warm, and not be bullied. If they could eat meat, they would have no regrets.