Chapter 1414 Inspiration Class's Creative Direction

Seeing the authors of the Inspiration Class looking at him like hungry chicks, eagerly wanting to get some creative knowledge from him, Cui Geng felt a little embarrassed.

Because he didn't know what to say at all!

If it were traditional online novel techniques, he could talk about those.

But the authors who could come to the Inspiration Class were all pretty good in traditional online novels, and each had their own set of skills.

Cui Geng's experience was more than enough for authors who hadn't achieved much, but the authors in the Inspiration Class were all at about the same level, so what was the point of talking?

What's more, these authors wanted to hear about Cui Geng's creative journey in writing *The Successor*. They wanted to know how to write specifically to get a chance to have the copyright adapted.

After all, they were all authors with some reputation. How many came to the Inspiration Class to slack off? They were all aiming for copyright adaptation.

Like Cui Geng, the success of *The Successor*'s adaptation not only increased the story's visibility by several dimensions, but the income from the series would also give him a considerable share.

The money he earned was far more than writing a regular online novel!

With the double stimulus of fame and fortune, these authors looked at Cui Geng with admiration, as if they were looking at a living God of Wealth.

But the problem was that Cui Geng himself couldn't explain this problem at all!

Cui Geng coughed awkwardly. "Ahem, well, to be honest, I really don't have anything to say."

"Everyone has successful works, and everyone has different writing skills. My experience may not be suitable for everyone."

"What's more, the story of *The Successor* was completely something I came up with on a whim. I didn't even have high expectations after writing it. If President Pei hadn't said it could be adapted, I would have thrown it aside long ago..."

Cui Geng said his inner thoughts very frankly, but the authors didn't believe it at all.

"Wow, he's showing off! He came up with such a successful work on a whim? I'm telling you, it's only because showing off isn't illegal in our country right now, or you would have been arrested long ago!"

"Hey, is this 110? Report, someone is showing off here, and the scene is about to get out of control!"

"Old Cui, don't be so modest. Is now the time to be modest? What did we say when we went to the internet cafe together? We share blessings and share difficulties. You can't forget to bring your brothers along when you become successful in the future. Have you forgotten that already?"

"That's right, don't be modest, just say whatever you have!"

The authors were still unrelenting.

Obviously, no one believed that Cui Geng "just wrote it casually on a whim," and all thought he was being modest.

Cui Geng was very helpless. In this day and age, no one believes the truth!

It's all the fault of those show-offs. Why do they have to show off for no reason? It has led to an increase in the cost of trust in the entire society, and people who tell the truth can't be trusted instead.

There was no other way but to just say something casually.

Cui Geng tried hard to recall the motivation and inspiration for creating *The Successor*. Don't mention it, he really remembered something.

Thinking of this, he nodded. "Okay, then I'll just talk about it briefly."

As soon as they heard Cui Geng say he was going to give a lecture, the authors immediately became excited.

The Inspiration Class had everything it needed, including a large conference table and an audio-visual room. Because there were too many people, the large conference table couldn't accommodate everyone, so they decided to go to the audio-visual room.

They turned on the lights and gave Cui Geng a microphone, turning it into a lecture site.

Seeing this kind of situation, Cui Geng was also a little helpless, but what else could he do? Let's talk!

Anyway, he just had to tell the process of how *The Successor* was born in detail. How the other authors understood it was their own business.

"The cause of this matter has to start from a certain morning not long after the Inspiration Class was established."

"At that time, President Pei came to inspect, and after continuously rejecting several of my creative directions, he pointed out a clear path for me..."

Cui Geng told the story of his communication with President Pei at that time in detail.

At that time, his first choice was to write a fan fiction of *Mission and Choice*, and the second choice was to write stories about those traditional domestic IPs purchased by GOG, but they were all rejected by President Pei.

President Pei pointed out a path for him: to write a superhero theme for Hurricane Comics!

Cui Geng felt that this was not realistic at all, because the superhero theme was the private domain of the top two comic companies in the United States. Only they could play it well, because this was a theme rooted in the Western liberal cultural background.

In short, the path pointed out by President Pei looked like a dead end no matter how you looked at it.

However, President Pei said a word: A superhero theme only for domestic readers may not necessarily fail!

Moreover, President Pei also said, why do readers have to like these superheroes? You can also write these superheroes to death, or make them live worse than death. Anyway, readers don't like these superheroes, doesn't this give you more room to play?

It was these two requirements that drove Cui Geng to analyze President Pei's deep-seated demands and finally finalized the "anti-superhero theme," which led to the story of *The Successor*.

The authors in the audience nodded frequently.

So it turned out that there was such a tortuous story behind *The Successor*?

Listening to Cui Geng's words, the story of *The Successor* was never his first choice, but the third choice! It was President Pei who insisted on Cui Geng writing in this direction that led to *The Successor*.

If President Pei hadn't intervened, Cui Geng would most likely be writing a fan fiction of *Mission and Choice* now.

Of course, the fan fiction of *Mission and Choice* may not necessarily fail, and may even get the opportunity to be adapted and appear as a DLC for the game *Mission and Choice*.

But in that case, the work *The Successor* would not have appeared.

In comparison, *The Successor* is obviously more successful because it created a new IP instead of relying on the existing IP of *Mission and Choice*.

Some of the authors in the front row showed obvious disappointment on their faces.

After all this fuss, it turned out that the theme of *The Successor* was designated by President Pei?

Then a large part of the success of this story should be attributed to President Pei!

However, this kind of treatment is not common. Cui Geng, as an old author, and one of the first members to join the Inspiration Class, can get President Pei's guidance, but other people can't!

Then this is completely useless as a reference.

As if seeing through the thoughts of these authors, Cui Geng changed the subject: "However, after a period of reflection and deliberation, I suddenly had some inspiration and had a relatively deep understanding of the creative direction and creative concept encouraged by President Pei!"

"I can share this with everyone."

The authors in the audience cheered up again.

This is good! This is pure, unadulterated knowledge!

Although everyone can't get President Pei's guidance, but after Cui Geng analyzes, interprets, and re-transmits President Pei's creative direction and creative concept, it is almost equivalent to getting President Pei's guidance!

As long as they create according to President Pei's ideas, then the content created will definitely meet Tengda's adaptation standards!

Cui Geng smiled slightly and said, "I think the three works adapted this time were not randomly selected by President Pei, but represent the two creative directions encouraged by President Pei."

"The first type is like *Eternal Reincarnation* and *Proxy Academy*, which are based on Tengda's existing IP content and derive the theme to other fields."

"Novels, games, and animations, the cross-border between different art forms has a very positive significance for expanding Tengda's cultural industry territory."

"Of course, this is a simple way to play. In the future, there should be many authors in the Inspiration Class who choose this path, so the competition will be more intense. Only relatively excellent works have the possibility of being adapted."

"And the second type is the type of *The Successor*. Considering that President Pei once personally guided me, he obviously prefers this creative direction."

"And this direction, in simple terms, is to create content that meets the preferences and tastes of young people based on the traditional cultural heritage and social phenomena of the Chinese people!"

"There are two key elements here, both of which are indispensable."

"If you only create based on the traditional cultural heritage and social phenomena, but do not meet the preferences and tastes of young people, then it will become empty preaching and cannot be widely spread."

"Moreover, we must correct our attitude and clarify our positioning. We are not traditional writers. The content we write must ensure that young people can read it, and even enjoy reading it. On this basis, we can pursue other things."

"If we do not base ourselves on the traditional cultural heritage and social phenomena, but blindly cater to the tastes of young people, then we may fall into a situation where the content is empty and without substance."

"As a general online novel, this is of course no problem, after all, you can also earn royalties. But for the Inspiration Class, it is to be adapted into other themes, which requires a lot of investment, and only works with rich connotations have the need to use such huge resources for adaptation."

"*The Successor* happens to meet these two points, so it is possible to reverse the reputation in the end."

"Everyone should also pay attention to one point, the first impression of works that meet these two conditions at the same time is likely to be unpopular and unlikable."

"On the one hand, it is because these two are relatively difficult to balance, and on the other hand, it is because the cultural invasion of the Western world is all-round, pervasive, and subtle. Many of our habits may have been changed inadvertently, and no one thinks there is anything wrong."

"At this time, a work that depicts content that is completely different from what people usually know will inevitably lead to resistance and opposition from these people."

"Just like the content described in *The Successor*, if it weren't for the results of the Youkelaia election, how many people would think it is reasonable? They are all scolding, saying that this is deliberately smearing."

"So, as long as everyone chooses this path, no matter how many people are not optimistic about it at the beginning, they must persevere."

"Everyone must believe that as long as you stick to this path, even if everyone is not optimistic about it, President Pei will be optimistic about it; and as long as President Pei is optimistic about it, the work can be adapted, and it will definitely be successful after adaptation!"