Back to 1997, I became the originator of online literature

Chapter 196: Like a Fan Meeting

Cao Sheng chatted with Huang Qingya for a while, and then asked her how the preparation of her new book was going.

Huang Qingya replied: "The outline is ready, and I have started writing the main text in the past few days. By the way, isn't it a bit too exaggerated to set the male protagonist as the most handsome man in the three realms? I still think this setting is too outrageous."

This is what Cao Sheng mentioned to her when they were discussing creativity before.

He remembered that when "Eternal Love" was made into a TV series and a movie, it was quite popular. Many people complained online about the actor who played the male lead, saying that his appearance was not qualified to play the most handsome man in the Three Realms.

Because he remembered this, when he talked to Huang Qingya before, he mentioned it casually - "You can set the male protagonist to be the most handsome man in the Three Realms."

As for this setting, if this book has the opportunity to be adapted into a TV series or movie in the future, is there any male actor qualified to play such a handsome role?

What does that have to do with Mr. Cao?

Anyway, he is not the one to act.

The person who gets criticized then won't be him.

"It's okay! Most of your readers are female readers, they won't mind if the male protagonist is too handsome!"

He replied.

He personally feels that movies, TV dramas and novels are similar in some respects.

For example: There need to be some points for the audience or readers to complain about.

There was a time when he would deliberately write some controversial content at the beginning of his novels, which might be considered poisonous in the eyes of some readers.

But it is precisely because of the existence of these toxic points that many readers can't help but post criticisms, and some readers will jump out to argue with those readers.

In this way, his book review section will become lively and show signs of being popular, which will attract more readers.

However, this way of writing suddenly became outdated.

Because more and more readers abandon the book without saying a word when they see such poisonous points. The key is that Qidian has changed the rules for calculating the popularity of a work.

The proportion of clicks, number of book reviews and other data in the total popularity of the works has dropped significantly.

The number of followers, which was never included in the calculation before, has become the most important factor in calculating the popularity of a work.

In this case, deliberately writing controversial content in a work will not be worth the effort.

Although a lot of book reviews will be added.

However, it will lead to a significant drop in the number of readers.

This is also the main reason why there are more and more purely formulaic works on Qidian later on.

But at this time, deliberately arranging some controversial content in works still has more advantages than disadvantages.

……

the next day.
January 1st of the Gregorian calendar, New Year’s Day.

The day when the first Internet Literature Award is held.

It is also the day when "One Man's Martial Arts" was officially released in mainland China.

Early in the morning, when Cao Sheng was still sleeping, the editors under the banyan tree came to the hotel and began to set up the award ceremony.

Not long after, the boss Zhu William also came.

Those authors who had arrived in Shanghai last night and did not stay in this hotel also rushed here.

Cao Sheng slept until almost 9 o'clock.

He reached out for the phone on the bedside table and checked the time. Then he got up from the bed, got his clothes, and went to the bathroom to take a shower.

Today, he hopes he can be in better shape.

Taking a shower and changing into clean clothes can make him look more energetic.

Sure enough, after cleaning up, he stood in front of the sink mirror, wearing a black suit with a burgundy shirt underneath, looking refreshed and handsome.

In the mirror, he has a clear facial contour, sharp eyebrows, bright eyes, and a slightly avant-garde 3:7 side-back hairstyle. After using some hair wax, he looks quite handsome.

He doesn't usually use hair wax.

I don't dress up deliberately, I don't wear a suit or leather shoes, and I try my best to look like a student.

But at today's awards ceremony, he felt it necessary to perform at his best.

At this moment, he looked at himself in the mirror and found that his condition today was a little too good.

He looked carefully at himself in the mirror.

Gradually he realized that it was not that his condition today was particularly good, but that his current energy and spirit had already far surpassed his peak state before his rebirth.

He remembered the last time Tan Lei praised him in the cafeteria.

He said he is much more confident now than before.

At this moment, he looked at himself in the mirror and found that this guy's eyes did not seem sharp, but seemed to be glowing.

Before leaving the room, he put on a long black down jacket.

The weather is quite cold after all.

Putting on a down jacket can also make him look more approachable.

Hiding his edge has long become his habit.

He did not rush to find the hall where the award ceremony was held, but first went to the restaurant on the second floor and ordered a bowl of shrimp noodles to fill his stomach.

While eating noodles, he sent a message to Wang Jing, asking her which hall of the hotel the award ceremony would be held in and how many authors had arrived.
When he walked into the award ceremony, he saw the staff still adjusting the microphone on the stage. He also saw a dozen men and women who were suspected to be the authors, sitting in groups of three or five around three round tables.

Some were well-dressed, some were plainly dressed, and some were shabbily dressed.

There were handsome ones, average ones, and ugly ones. He saw four women.

Three of them were young girls in their early twenties, and one was a middle-aged woman in her forties.

As Cao Sheng walked over and looked at them, they also saw him.

Someone stood up reflexively and ran over in surprise.

Some people looked surprised and stood up.

Those who were a little slow to react, seeing everyone else standing up, also stood up hesitantly.

"A little gray in the Central Plains! I grew up reading your books!"

The first young man who ran over stretched out his right hand to Cao Sheng and joked with a smile on his face.

Cao Sheng was amused.

The man in front of him was clearly a few years older than him, yet he actually said that he grew up reading his books.

"Hello! Nice to meet you! Who are you?"

Cao Sheng held the hand that the other person extended, with a gentle smile and a gentle tone.

"Where are you now? I am where are you now! Do you know me?"

Jin Hezai held Cao Sheng's hand tightly, looking a little excited.

Cao Sheng thought of the book "The Legend of Wukong". Of course, he knew Jin Hezai. He still remembered the original time and space. In an interview, he saw Jin Hezai reveal that he liked to type in the bathtub. Facing the interviewer's surprise, he asked back: "If I don't type in the bathtub, then where should I type?"

While they were chatting, other authors gathered around.

When Cao Sheng looked around, he saw that everyone had a smile on their face.

The scene suddenly seemed to have turned into a fan meeting, with most of the authors coming forward to shake his hand and exchange a few words with him.

When everyone shook hands with him, they also introduced their pen names.

Only Cao Sheng did not need to mention his pen name.

Because he has been in newspapers and on TV news countless times in the past two years, there are already many photos of him on the Internet.

Maybe people in other circles don’t pay much attention to what he looks like.

But in the online writing circle, almost every author has seen his photo.

I can recognize his face at a glance.

It’s no problem to say that he is a star writer in the current online literature circle.

Next to the stage, Zhu William and others looked at Cao Sheng who was surrounded by a group of authors. Wang Jing smiled and said, "This is the influence of our President Cao in the circle! These authors should all be his readers!"

Zhu William nodded slightly.

Another female editor agreed: "Of course! Mr. Cao is not only the first person to write a novel online, but he is also the most popular new writer to date. Who among those writing novels now dares to say they haven't read his books?"

At this time, two men and one woman, all in their thirties or forties, walked in from the entrance of the hall.

They also came to attend the award ceremony.

Unlike Cao Sheng and others, these three people under the banyan tree are traditional writers who write poetry and short essays. Poetry and short essays were once the mainstream of Under the Banyan Tree, and they are still one of the categories of works under the Banyan Tree.

This time, the three of them were also invited to attend the award ceremony.

As soon as they walked into the hall, they saw a group of people gathered together, talking and laughing. The atmosphere was very harmonious, and this scene immediately attracted their attention.

The three of them subconsciously stopped and looked over there curiously.

The woman among the three had her eyes brightened and asked happily, "Zhongyuan Yidianhui? That's Zhongyuan Yidianhui, right? How come he's more handsome in person than in the photo?"

Her eyes lit up.

The two men beside him looked unhappy when they heard this.

They are not women, and they tend to find fault with people of the same sex when they see them.

Seeing a bit of dust in the Central Plains, they were so angry that they almost jumped up.

Back then, they were also celebrities under the banyan tree, and were popular writers and poets in the eyes of thousands of readers.

It was because of Zhongyuan Yidianhui that a novel took endless time to write, and the number of readers kept accumulating, and soon those who wrote short stories were left behind and stepped on.

The most hateful thing is that after Zhongyuan Yidianhui's works became popular, most authors imitated him and wrote novels, turning Under the Banyan Tree into a place for writing novels.

These short stories and poems have become niche authors under the banyan tree.

Even when they came to attend the awards ceremony this time, the three of them were not selected by readers' votes. Instead, the editors of Under the Banyan Tree discussed and felt that short stories and poetry should be supported, so they sent them an invitation.

When they received the invitation letter, they were very surprised. They didn't expect that they were also qualified to attend this awards ceremony?
But after the surprise, there was disappointment.

I think if there weren’t suddenly so many more authors writing long novels under the banyan tree, they would still be the mainstream when it comes to writing short stories and poems.

Such an award ceremony should be held for authors like them.

Now he has been reduced to a supporting role.

"Humph! Concentrated is the essence! A little bit of gray in the Central Plains? It just relies on the number of words to attract readers!"

The square-faced man among the two snorted coldly with a disdainful tone.

The long-faced man also sneered, "What's the use of being handsome? We writers look at talent! If he dares to write poetry, do you think he can still be so successful?"

The woman who had just praised Cao Sheng for being more handsome than in the photo looked at the two men in surprise, blinked, and subconsciously moved to the side.

(End of this chapter)