109: I love the feeling of creating worlds 109: I love the feeling of creating worlds Notice: Launching with ten chapters, extra chapters based on initial subscriptions, adding one more chapter for every additional 1K monthly tickets.
I love the feeling of creating worlds.
It’s unrelated to words, techniques, or themes; I relish the sensation of creating something.
As a child, I enjoyed playing with mahjong tiles, stacking them into castles and spaceships; or using sand, drawing imaginary borders on the beach.
As I grew older, I liked to paint, trying my best to depict towering mountains, castles, soaring dragons, and some bizarre machines that even I couldn’t quite identify.
Getting even older, I found joy in reading novels and playing games, immersing myself in worlds and environments that might or might not exist, absorbing nourishment from worlds created by seniors, filled with things I had never thought of and that brought me wonder and joy.
Before I’d fully grown up, I had already picked up the pen.
The first time I took up the pen was in elementary school, right after I had finished “The Apprentice Sorcerer’s Observation” and “Lost Continent.” Due to pirated printing, the actual titles on the books were “Half-Blood Prince” and “Eight-Eyed Demon King,” but the main title for both was Harry Potter.
The name was unimportant; shared among them was a brand new world, different logic, unprecedented human culture, and stunning scenery.
These were the classics of that era.
After reading those two fantasy books, I felt a surge of creative passion like never before.
At first, I used a pen to draw, attempting to replicate the images of characters and battle scenes from the novels, along with the splendid magic and majestic settings that had astonished me.
I might not have had the talent for drawing…
or perhaps I never learned it systematically; the outcome was terrible, childishly abstract, indescribable, and meaningful only to myself.
Not long after, I gave up on drawing and tried to replicate with words.
To put it simply, it was translating Chinese to Chinese.
I began writing, imitating other novels’ structures, attempting to write a novel I loved.
On second thought, it was predictable.
What could I write before the age of ten?
Although I wrote essays pretty well back then, essays and novels are entirely different.
I burned that embarrassing history clean.
Now, it seems a pity, but back then, I lacked the courage to face failure.
So, it was only ten years later that I picked up the pen again.
Failure, failure, always failing…
Before An the King vanished, I had several names, and the worlds created under those names were mostly destroyed by my own naivety and laziness, with irreparable and significant flaws because their creator was full of impatience and assumptions from the start.
Most importantly, I stopped updating after just a few chapters.
This time, I couldn’t deceive myself with the excuse that I was still young.
If it’s not good, it’s not good; if it looks bad, it looks bad.
Mistakes had to be corrected, and what I didn’t know, I had to learn.
I had to read more, see more, write more.
I have made progress, having written two completed books of over four million words, perhaps even five million.
I’ve learned how to tell stories and how to create worlds; I can now earnestly write not just stories and characters that I like.
I have learned to persist, no longer the person I once was.
Of course, I still can’t consider myself successful now, and perhaps that moment will never come, but every time I write, I try to defeat my former self.
And to fulfill the dreams I had as a child.
Therefore, at this very moment, I am going to write.
About a world, a group of characters, and a vista.
About different skies, different lands, and different civilizations.
About a distant future, dim glimmers, and lost years.
About yearning, hope, and the stars.
About a determined youth and a forgotten history.
A story about curiosity.
My friends, thank you for staying with me until now, for reading through this lengthy speech, for listening to the unrestrained outpourings of one person.
Because I truly love the feeling of creating a world, it always fills me with overwhelming emotion.
“Above the Sky” is launched in the fantasy section, indeed due to reasons like the fantasy section having fewer scrolls, but more importantly, I have always wanted to write a fantasy because my introduction to web literature was through fantasy.
Of course, some old book friends might say, Ian, your “Raging Steel Soul” and “Monsters Die When Killed” are either fantasy or contain fantasy elements!
You’re totally a fantasy person!
All I can say is that there’s also an importance to the ceremonial feeling of categorization.
As a cultivation-fantasy, “Celestial Abyss” is about transcending after enduring hardships in an infinite darkness.
As a game-like Otherworld, “Raging Steel Soul” is about miracles shining in an endless conflict within a bottomless Abyss.
As a mixed-genre “Monsters Die When Killed,” it’s about expectations, blessings, and innovations sprouting within the heart after browsing through countless truths.
So, as a fantasy, “Above the Sky” will have a slower pace compared to other books at the same time in the starting point, as I try to describe a whole world from Ian’s perspective, as well as the desires and dreams of everyone.
What “Above the Sky” wants to portray is just such a story about curiosity, about yearning and dreams.
I’m not the same as my past self; I am aware of what readers want to see after so many words, so the current me will draw a clear line from my past laziness—launching with ten chapters, with additional chapters to be provided later.
If initial subscriptions exceed 4000, I’ll add one more chapter for every additional 1000.
For every 1000 monthly tickets, one more chapter will be added.
Tips will also result in more chapters, but please consider your own capacity, as my manuscript reserve really isn’t plentiful…
I want to complete this book with both quality and quantity, so reserves are very important.
I sincerely thank every book friend who supports this book, and all friends who support me.
I appreciate all the love and belief that comes from you.
Dear readers, I am An the King in hiding.
I am writing a story, describing a world.
“Above the Sky” will launch on April 1st at 00:05, with at least ten chapters assured.
Let’s not miss each other.