Chapter 120 Study Class

January 20th, Thursday.

Cui Geng ate his lazy man's takeout while listening to everyone's chatter.

"Ugh, I got flamed again by readers for ending the chapter on a cliffhanger yesterday."

"What's the big deal? Isn't getting flamed for cliffhangers normal?"

"Exactly, cliffhangers are nothing."

"Really? Is everyone so used to it?"

"Nonsense. Look at TV dramas and anime; don't they always leave you hanging in the last few minutes? Readers might curse you for cliffhangers, but their actions speak louder than words. They rush over to read the next chapter as soon as it's updated, which is a great way to increase reader loyalty."

"If you don't use cliffhangers, readers will put the book down after finishing the chapter, and the next chapter's subscription will definitely drop!"

"So, authors who don't use cliffhangers aren't good authors!"

Listening to the discussion, many people nodded frequently, while some authors smiled slightly, noncommittal.

Cui Geng looked at the calendar. He had come to Jingzhou last Thursday, so it had been exactly a week.

In the beginning, everyone was unfamiliar with each other, so the topics of conversation were relatively superficial.

Now, most people knew each other, and some authors who were close to each other had no taboos when chatting.

Naturally, there was no shortage of discussions about writing techniques.

Cui Geng took out his phone and looked at the comments section of his novel.

"Too scary, this pigeon is updating five chapters every day this week! At first, I suspected he had been kidnapped, but now there's no doubt about it, he's definitely been kidnapped!"

"Feels a little more watered down, but still very satisfying!"

"Pigeon, hold on! Just one more week, and I'll give you my recommendation vote!"

Cui Geng looked at these comments with mixed feelings.

He had to admit that mass updates were indeed effective…

When the update volume increased, subscriptions, average subscriptions, and all kinds of votes all improved a lot compared to before.

From last week until now, Cui Geng had been averaging eight to ten thousand words per day, which was unimaginable for him before.

Moreover, the increase in word count was mainly due to the increase in working hours, rather than deliberately adding filler, so the quality of the updates was still guaranteed.

Of course, some perverts not only wrote during working hours in the daytime, but also went back at night and used their laptops to write another chapter and sort out the outline. They were simply animals.

Cui Geng certainly wouldn't do that. He honestly wrote for eight hours every day, averaging more than a thousand words per hour. This speed wasn't fast, but it was quite considerable for him.

Once he got into the habit, Cui Geng actually enjoyed this state.

He had to admit that under certain specific conditions, writing could be addictive.

However, Cui Geng was now encountering a few small problems.

While eating his lazy man's takeout, he raised his concerns on the table: "Everyone, I feel like the plot is progressing a little too fast lately, and I can't keep writing. What should I do?"

Everyone looked at him at the same time, and then said in unison: "Cut it."

Cui Geng: "…"

When it came to this kind of thing, this group of unscrupulous authors instantly became unserious.

Advising people with better results than themselves to cut their books was simply a daily occurrence in the author group.

Of course, this couldn't be blamed on everyone. It was mainly because there were too many authors who pretended to be struggling with writer's block.

So, when encountering this kind of suspected pretense, most people would choose to strike first and end the topic with the words "Cut it."

Cui Geng was speechless. He really had this problem, mainly because the outline of the book he was currently writing hadn't been done well from the beginning.

The results were okay, and the plot wasn't considered to be collapsing, but the initial framework was too small.

Originally, Cui Geng only planned to write two or three thousand words every day, so that he could write for a long time. But recently, with a sudden burst of eight to ten thousand words, he suddenly realized that the main plot of the story couldn't hold up.

He estimated that the book would be finished when it reached around a million words.

What should he do!

Of course, as an author who was habitually prone to bad endings, bad endings weren't scary. After cutting so many times, he was already familiar with the process, and he didn't even have to look down when wielding the knife.

It was just, what should he write in the new book after cutting it?

Cui Geng didn't have the slightest clue.

After lunch, Zhu Xing'an said, "Give everyone an hour to upload what they wrote in the morning and take a short break."

"This afternoon, according to the itinerary, we will be touring Jingzhou to do some activities, change our thinking, and also accumulate some material."

"Everyone hurry up. We will meet downstairs in the hotel in an hour."

……

……

In the car, Pei Qian was sleepy and drowsy.

The closed-book exam for that course was finally over.

He had been studying hard these past few days and hadn't been able to take care of the company's affairs too much.

But fortunately, cramming did have some effect. Pei Qian estimated that he should get at least 70 points or more, right?

If he passed by spending money, it would probably be a bare 60 points, but it would be quite proud to get 70 points by his own strength!

Pei Qian felt that his review during this period was finally not in vain, and he would try to be a little higher than Old Ma.

"There are three more open-book exams next, so I shouldn't have to work so hard."

"I can almost keep an eye on the company's affairs."

"Strange, I always feel like I've forgotten something."

Pei Qian tried for two seconds to recall it, but quickly gave up.

He had just finished the exam, and his brain was in a relaxed state, so it wasn't suitable for recalling.

What's more, there were a few too many industries now, and Pei Qian was a little overwhelmed and couldn't remember them all.

He yawned and decided to go back to his residence and take a nap first.

Xiao Sun drove very steadily, but Pei Qian was wearing a seat belt and it wasn't convenient to sleep, so he took out his phone, opened the Zhongdian Chinese Website App, and began to read novels.

Pei Qian had a wide range of hobbies, including anime, dramas, games, movies, novels, and so on. He liked them all, but he didn't study any of them in depth.

After all, it was a purely entertainment mentality, and it was meaningless to study it so professionally. He was just doing it for fun.

Before, Pei Qian had been reading novels on the Infinite Chinese Website because the novels on the Infinite Chinese Website were full of categories and novel themes.

As for the Zhongdian Chinese Website…

On the one hand, it was because the novels on the Zhongdian Chinese Website were too trashy before, and Pei Qian couldn't read them at all. On the other hand, it was because he instinctively didn't want to support his own industry.

But recently, he had gradually started reading novels on the Zhongdian Chinese Website.

In the final analysis, it was still for work.

Pei Qian felt that he had to pay attention to the state of the Zhongdian Chinese Website more or less, because the Zhongdian Chinese Website was already profitable.

Before, Ma Yiqun wanted to hand in a profit, but Pei Qian decisively refused. But until now, Pei Qian had never asked Ma Yiqun where he had spent the money.

On the one hand, it was because he was too busy and forgot. On the other hand, it was also because asking too frequently wouldn't fit President Pei's persona.

Pei Qian felt that as long as he kept an eye on the Zhongdian Chinese Website's App, he would naturally be able to grasp the trend of this website very well.

He had to say that the Zhongdian Chinese Website had indeed recently produced a lot of high-quality content. There were a few books that Pei Qian could finally read.

It was now 2011, and the overall popularity was still the hot-blooded Xuanhuan (fantasy) trope of "Don't bully a young man for being poor." The top of the charts were mostly Xuanhuan and Xianxia (immortal hero) genres, and many great gods would forge their divine status in the next two years.

Of course, the name of the website had changed, and the specific books were different from Pei Qian's memories.

But whether they were the same or not, Pei Qian watched them the same way, because even those books he had read before, he had long forgotten them all.

The Zhongdian Chinese Website's library was basically following in the footsteps of the Infinite Chinese Website. These Xuanhuan novels could basically be seen as pirated versions of the Infinite Chinese Website's most popular books.

Pei Qian watched them quite casually. He would follow any genre that he was interested in on the homepage for a while, and if he got tired of it, he would silently delete the book. Most of the books he didn't follow to the latest chapter.

It was just that today, when he refreshed his bookshelf, Pei Qian suddenly froze.

The few books he had collected had been updated with a single chapter neatly, just two hours ago, around 12:30.

Pei Qian frowned, vaguely feeling that this matter was a little strange.

What could make so many authors update a single chapter at the same time?

A large-scale PR event?

He quickly clicked into a book at random to check the single chapter that this book had updated.

"Dear readers, there will only be two chapters today, because the website is organizing a collective activity this afternoon. We will be temporarily released from prison and visit Jingzhou to collect some material. We will continue to update more tomorrow!"

Below the chapter, there were already many comments from readers.

"Approved! I've seen that you've been updating a lot lately. Don't be too tired. Take a good rest. Just return seven or eight hundred chapters tomorrow."

"Sure enough, they were kidnapped by robbers! And so many authors were kidnapped at once!"

"Hahahaha, 'Temporarily released from prison' is okay?"

"Before, an author said that he was participating in a study class. I thought it was just an ordinary lecture. At that time, I said, what's the use of a study class? Hurry up and update! But now, it turns out that this is not a study class at all, this is an official small dark room! Well done!"

"Even some pigeons have been able to stabilize four updates these days. I strongly request that this study class continue to be held!"

"Can the study class add more people? I have a one-update beast that needs to go to the study class to receive further education!"

"To be honest, I think this study class is good in every way, but I don't know why it seems that the authors have been using cliffhangers recently? Did you receive professional training in cliffhangers in the study class???"

Looking at the readers' comments, Pei Qian was confused.

At the same time, he vaguely had a bad feeling.

Through these reader comments, Pei Qian quickly confirmed one thing. Ma Yiqun had indeed spent this money on middle-level authors. He had arranged for these authors to go to Jingzhou and organized a study class, which had obviously improved their writing efficiency!

As for how the efficiency was improved specifically…

It probably wouldn't be very in line with the Tendai spirit!

Pei Qian was a little speechless. This Ma Yiqun had actually made such a fuss under his nose!

It currently seemed that the state of this group of middle-level authors was getting better and better. Not only had the update volume increased, but many ideas had emerged in the process of continuous communication, and the plot and writing skills had also been improved to a certain extent!

If these people really produced a great god author and became popular, how much traffic would it bring to the Zhongdian Chinese Website!

You must know that the most important thing in the cultural industry is content. Without content, everything is useless.

For many consumers, the reason for downloading a live streaming platform client is often just because of a streamer they like. And the reason for becoming a loyal user of a novel website is often just because of a book they like to read.

Piracy was almost extinct in this world. If you really wanted to read a good book, you could only go to this designated website to read it. There was no situation where the author put in painstaking effort and all the popularity was earned by pirated websites.

Therefore, Pei Qian felt the danger behind this.

He called Ma Yiqun, asked about the specific address of this Zhongdian Chinese Website online author study class, and then said to Xiao Sun: "Turn around and take a trip to the suburbs first."