Since the beginning of seventh grade, I’ve wanted to write a novel and had already thought of a pen name.
Each time I procrastinated, I suddenly came up with new ideas but got too busy with other things. As a result, by the time I graduated from high school, I hadn’t produced anything substantial (the biggest reason for giving up was writing the emotional storyline). Writing a book/novel sank to the bottom of my long-term to-do list.
However, this can’t go on; different age groups see things and have different ideas. I must start writing now. If I can’t write about love, then I won’t.
Recalling when I first thought of writing a novel, I was naive, considering settings only found in enjoyable reads: the protagonist leveling up and defeating anyone in the way, being invincible and never experiencing setbacks. I tried to establish a core idea but wanted my child (the protagonist) to have the highest aspirations.
Is it naive? I’m not sure, but it reflects my desire to become strong, earn others’ praise, and reveal my ignorance and confusion.
Now, it might not necessarily be a bad thing. I decided to write about a strong female protagonist’s growth. While writing, it became a story of two female protagonists. As I continued writing, knives were held against both protagonists’ throats. Then more knives were stabbed into other characters, and so on.
Cough, I don’t know when, but I began to think that “knives” are indispensable. What is:
“Deep love can’t be kept,
only a knife can win one’s heart.”
Perhaps only after experiencing setbacks and unforgettable pain can one truly grow (laughs).
When writing a character’s background and life experiences, they will have regrets, big or small. If their name remains in the world, people will only know their reputation: either immortalized in history and deified over time or vilified for eternity, regardless of the truth back then.
The more I try to portray a character, the more I admire Mr. Jin Yong. From linguistic descriptions to character images, the more I try to understand, the more I realize the shallowness of my literature.
Alright, I won’t set too many flags; the outline isn’t even finished yet (expected to exceed 20,000 words). I won’t consider submitting or disclosing my content and themes before it’s done. If you see this passage in a novel someday, it’s probably the afterword of one of my chapters:
“Not all stories have happy endings.”
“The outcome is the answer given to the world, only those involved know the process of writing.”