"An outline isn't necessary. Many great authors don't make outlines." In Qiu Wuji's room, Chu, the "Father God," author whose fans ask for autographs, disciple of immortal cultivation, writing mentor, and open admirer, sat down next to her on a small stool and began to instruct her:
"The greatest significance of an outline is actually to help you clearly define what kind of story you want to write, what the protagonist does, what they experience, and what the outcome is. A concise outline of this process is the initial outline. If you have a clear storyline in mind, you don't need this thing. So, what kind of story do you want to write?"
Qiu Wuji's eyes welled up with tears: "I want to write a story about a female knight-errant slaying demons."
"…That's not a story. Recall what I just said?"
The circles in Qiu Wuji's eyes… The circle began to spread: "What does the protagonist do...? My protagonist is going to slay demons and monsters. What did she go through...? She went through slaying demons and monsters."
Chu Ge: "What was the result? Successfully slaying demons and monsters, right..."
"Ah, yes."
"This isn't a story, it's just a genre." Chu Ge said, "If you wanted to write a story about a female protagonist who jumped out of a book, that's just an idea, a setting, not a story. What happened between Qiu Wuji and Chu Ge, that's what makes a story."
Qiu Wuji seemed to come to her senses a little: "What do you want to happen between me? You're so lewd!"
Chu Ge covered his face: "I can't teach this disciple."
Qiu Wuji glared at him angrily: "You even touched my hand."
"...Okay, okay, I'll try again." Chu Ge grabbed her small hand and touched it twice.
Qiu Wuji reacted instinctively and punched Chu Ge in the face.
End of the first stage of teaching.
"...Let's put the story aside for now if it doesn't make sense, and talk about the characters first. We can build the plot from the characters. For example, what kind of person is your female lead? What are her pursuits and ideals? What experiences shaped her personality?...From her ideals and pursuits, we can build the next step..." Qiu Wuji clicked the mouse.
"What are you doing?"
"Looking for your Qiu Wuji character design draft."
Chu Ge: "I'm so angry..."
"That's not right. Your character design doesn't mention what I've been through, just this personality."
"Because the background and focus are different, your past is just a powerful label—a prodigy who led the sect to prosperity. As for how you cultivated and overcame obstacles, that's left to the readers' imagination; it doesn't need to be explicitly stated. This way, I have room to develop the character later, like drawing on a blank sheet of paper. I can add something like, 'Qiu Wuji has a literary air,' or 'Qiu Wuji has the attributes of a virtuous wife and loving mother.' Since people don't know your past experiences, it's easier for them to accept it."
"Then why did you ask me to do this kind of character design?"
"You're writing a female protagonist."
"Isn't your Qiu Wuji the female protagonist?"
Chu Ge covered his face: "I can't teach this disciple."
"You've already touched..." Chu Ge took a defensive stance first.
End of the second phase of instruction.
"...Alright, let's do this: first, we'll build the character relationships. We can also weave the plot from those relationships. For example, your female protagonist encounters the male protagonist after leaving the mountain. Who is this male protagonist? What situation is he facing? Whether the female protagonist helps him or misunderstands, that's the first plot point. Then we can develop the male protagonist's background, who he's connected to, which forces he's associated with, and what their demands are. Then we can delve deeper into the female protagonist's own background and see what connections they have. Weave all that together, and a plot network will emerge."
"I don't even know what your family does, not even you yourself, and we're living our lives just fine."
Chu Ge: "...You're making up a story. Can you forget about our reality for a moment?"
"I just feel that what you're saying is different from what I've experienced."
"You're experiencing life. Life is mundane and boring, just the daily grind. What we're doing is creating a story, requiring various plot twists and turns. It's not the same thing." "Isn't it said that stories are based on real life?"
"...When I was your apprentice, were I as talkative as you?" Chu Ge paced around the room angrily, finally grabbing a pig-shaped pillow and slamming it onto Qiu Wuji's head: "Keep it on!"
Qiu Wuji, with the pillow on his head: "Is this how you practice balance?"
"No, the old folks say 'like cures like,' this is to help you improve."
"Chu Ge, you think you're so great?"
"Bang bang bang!" After a chaotic scene, Chu Ge, eyes swollen, collapsed to the ground: "Qiu Wuji, you've betrayed your master!" "!"
"I'm your master too!" Qiu Wuji huffed. "I won't learn from you. You're only half-baked yourself. I'll write it myself. I refuse to believe I can't!"
Chu Ge nodded sadly. "Believe in yourself..."
"Yes!"
"I mean, if you believe in yourself, you'll come back to ask me to teach you." Qiu Wuji opened the group chat: "Go write your words. I'm going to read the group chat. They know everything."
Group member: "Qiuqiu~ My Qiuqiu..."
Blue Pill was muted for an hour by the administrator Qiu Wuji.
Even her group chat friends were unreliable, and Qiu Wuji was filled with frustration with nowhere to vent. Suddenly, she remembered her profile picture had been waiting for days, so she went to ask for it: "Meow, is my profile picture ready yet?" There was a long silence on the other end, then a group chat was created, pairing Qiu Wuji with an unfamiliar artist: "This is the artist we found."
Then a form was posted: "Please fill out the 'Third-Rank Character Profile Picture Form'."
Qiu Wuji: "?" She was furious: "It's been so long! You only just found an artist? And what's with this form? You didn't say we had to fill it out last time, and now you're asking for one! I gave you the picture, just draw it, why are you filling out this form?"
"Emmmm, sorry, it's the rule..."
Qiu Wuji: (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻
She finally understood the distance between Panda and her friends. Feeling like she was about to beat someone up online, she turned and went to Chu Ge's room: "Contact Panda and have him beat someone up for me!"
Chu Ge: "?"
"As long as he does it, I'll unban him!"
"Are you out of your mind? I place an order for him, and you unban him in the group? Isn't that just telling him who we are?" Chu Ge said speechlessly, "Who provoked you to be so angry?"
"The one who used Dianping as their profile picture."
Chu Ge thought for a moment, then logged into his main QQ account and privately messaged "Blue Little Pill": "Panda head, getting banned every day, do you want to be an admin? Then she can't ban you anymore."
Panda was overjoyed: "Chu Ge, you're my eternal light!"
"Yeah, mainly because I see you're online for a long time..."
"Right, right, I'm always online! I'll definitely keep an eye on this stupid group for you. Anyone who dares to make a suggestive comment, I'll beat them to a pulp!"
"Not that, help me with Dianping..." "Deal with Mother, those people over there are so annoying and drag their feet."
"No problem!" Blue Pill was promoted to administrator.
Qiu Wuji privately messaged: "They're so infuriating! My profile picture's been up for over ten days, and they only just added me to the discussion group. And now they want me to fill out this stupid form!"
Blue Pill: "Don't worry, Sect Leader Qiu, I've got it covered!"
Qiu Wuji invited Blue Pill to join the discussion group: "Chu Tian Wu Ji Character Card Discussion Group."
"Everything has its counter." Chu Ge turned to Qiu Wuji and smiled: "I can foresee our character cards will be the most efficient in the world." Qiu Wuji's mood improved, and he smiled: "Writers are indeed all cunning."
"Hey, you're a prospective writer now too." Qiu Wuji's eyes darted around, and his voice suddenly became somewhat alluring: "Master~" Chu Ge shuddered. Ling: "What?"
"I've been thinking about it, and what Master said earlier actually makes some sense. Hmm, his logic is quite impressive... Could you teach me a little more?"
Chu Ge's expression was serious, his tone righteous and stern: "If you can balance that pig-head pillow on your head, I'll reluctantly give it a try."
This husbandly authority was definitely going to be asserted!
"Fine, I won't teach you then!" Qiu Wuji's face changed, she snorted and turned to leave: "Wait until I write it down, it'll scare you to death!"
Chu Ge watched her retreating figure leave the room, his heart still pounding.
That fleeting allure... truly captivating.
He suddenly remembered something, carefully pulling up the character design section of the outline, finding the "Qiu Wuji" section, and hovering the mouse over what appeared to be a blank area, revealing a word hidden in white text, normally invisible: "Inner allure."