Free Web NovelThrough countless stumbles and rewrites, the first volume has finally come to an end.
When I typed the words “End of Volume One”, my hands were shaking even more than the first time I got the notification that the novel would go on shelves.
Thank you to everyone who clicked into this book — especially those who have followed it all the way to this point.
It was your comments and feedback, those short notes in the section below each paragraph, that made me realize — while crying and revising at two in the morning —
“So... there really are people reading this.”
... freewēbnoveℓ.com
Now for the rookie’s tragic record of self-destruction (a complete blood-and-tears pitfall log):
1.
Probably karma for my “my destiny, not my outline” arrogance.
Before writing: Outline? That’s blasphemy against inspiration!
After ten chapters: Wait, why did the heroine suddenly turn evil??
After twenty: Crap, I forgot to resolve that foreshadowing!
— Conclusion: next volume, I’ll obediently write a detailed outline. (Already bought a “Web Novel Outline Template” off Taobao.)
2.
“The late-stage literary-pretension outbreak.”
I kept trying to write 800 words describing the philosophical meaning of a single falling leaf,
and readers were like: “Padding the word count — reported.”
(But that passage really was fun to write, sob sob sob...)
3.
Updating? What updating?
Confidently promised 10,000 words a day, then sat staring for three days without a fart of inspiration.
When binge-updating: Look at me! I’m a tentacle monster!
When missing updates: [Family emergency. Updates resume soon.]
— Confession: next volume, even if the protagonist gets constipation, I’ll still write 3,000 words a day!
4.
Delusions about the future (painting cakes, but sincerely).
After worrying that “the supporting girls all feel like tools,” I read The Classic Character Arc Writing Guide cover to cover.
Next volume, one of them gets a plotline where she “gets drunk and smashes her guitar after failed love.”
Tool character? No — I want them to tear the script open themselves!
5.
Final confession (fragile heart, but not giving up).
I know my writing still feels like a foot-cloth dipped in chili sauce —
stinky and eye-searing.
But every time I see someone say,
“Love it, please update faster,”
it feels like finding an old photo of the person I secretly loved ten years ago on a broken hard drive.
“So I can still feel my heart move.”
6.
Please walk with me to the end (kneels and bows).
If in the next volume you notice that—
the villains finally have IQ,
the fights are no longer “horrifyingly bad,”
the main character has stopped being the poor little thing everyone hates wherever she goes...
Then that’s because —
I’ve copied every single one of your criticisms into my notebook of mistakes!
End of rant.
...
And finally, back to what matters.
Honestly, I just wanted to create something.
To write a story outside of my work routine — and to know that someone out there is reading it.
That feeling is truly happiness.
Just as I’ve said many times:
I want to write a story — a real story.
That’s why I picked up the pen.
I know this book has been in my heart for a long time — dreamed up back in college, only started after work life began.
But I’m not afraid it’ll be abandoned halfway. The ending has long been set in my mind. The worldbuilding fits together; the main character’s life path is planned. Only after knowing all that did I dare start writing.
Of course, my storytelling skills are still clumsy, my writing uneven. The emotions I want to convey don’t always come through; the characters I want to build don’t always stand on their own; the foreshadowing I try to plant often just confuses readers.
A truly good story should have clear emotions, vivid characters, and even when it hides clues, it shouldn’t harm the reading flow.
I read every piece of feedback. I know my flaws, and I’ll keep improving.
Looking back, these 300,000 words haven’t been perfect, and I’m sorry if they caused frustration during reading.
But I’ll take responsibility for this story.
Starting tomorrow, the update schedule returns to normal — three chapters per day.
Author’s message board:
“The story has only just begun.
I’ll turn the bugs of Volume One into the foreshadowing of Volume Two,
turn my clumsy writing now into my badge of honor later —
because I want to walk with all of you,
and witness how this imperfect world bleeds, and blooms.”
