I still haven't figured out what the hook is, and maybe I don't want to. I'll do my best to give an honest introduction to what I've written so far and its characters:
Most of the story will probably take place in a fictional ancient cultivation world, with righteous and villainous factions and a bit of plot. A friend of mine once gave it this glowing review: "Put positively, your writing uses your own style to paint a lovely vision of an ideal society, one with gender equality, open and liberal thought, and a rich blend of different cultures." (Though that might not actually be what I'm aiming for...)
There should be quite a few characters in this novel, and some may be more vivid and fully realized than the protagonist, so I added the "ensemble cast" tag.
Next, a few thoughts on some of the characters (some may not have appeared in the text yet):
Feng Yun should be the first female lead, though so far I haven't put much effort into developing her character. Here's what I'm considering: In her previous life, she was clever, but avoided "serious matters." She didn't study hard or work hard, though she explored and even excelled in certain other "fields." But perhaps because of тоска, or weltschmerz, or a growing difficulty in loving herself, she suffered from depression in secret.
Nangong Yan should be the second female lead, a bit like a Feng Aotian Mary Sue. She is actually very free-spirited.
Many of the supporting characters came to me while I was writing. The following few are exceptions:
Tong Ming and Luo Qinghe are friends of Feng Yun's from her previous life here. They appeared several times in some of my more serious novels from the past (though I never published those; I only showed them to a few friends).
Feng Jingtang is Feng Yun's older brother from her previous life here, and is also a character I came up with much earlier. But the way he is portrayed here may be very different from how I imagined him before.
I can see for myself that my ability to come up with stories and plots still has a lot of room for improvement. Maybe I'll rewrite this novel someday. Maybe I won't write it anymore.
Theme: Love and all that
