揭祕中國年輕網絡作家的生存現狀
Writers used to have to approach publishers in the hope of having their work read by the public. Now they can simply post their offerings online and find an instant audience of millions. Liu Xiangrui reports.
After breaking up with her boyfriend in 2009, Bao Jingjing, then 22, started "making up" a love story simply to distract herself from her heartbreak. Her story progressed quickly, so she decided to post it online as a serial.
The story of a young girl dealing with the pang of a broken heart soon attracted many readers with its simple, humorous style.
When Bao started to write less as she reunited with her boyfriend, she was contacted by her readers who urged her to continue, as they were eager to find out what happened next.
Bao finished writing the story in three months. It became so popular online that she was soon contacted by a publisher who turned it into a best-seller.
To cap it all off, Bao's novel was later picked up by film director Teng Huatao and adapted into a movie in 2012. With an investment of only 9 million ($1.45 million), the movie Love Is Not Blind took in 350 million yuan.
Bao's story is only one of many Internet novels that have landed deals for films, TV shows and physical books.
Unlike traditional writers who toil away on their books for years in the hope of gaining recognition, many young writers like Bao have cultivated readers rapidly online and often find overnight success in the real world.
Bao admits that the success was unexpected.
"I just enjoy writing and the Internet is a good platform, because there are people who want to listen. What I was writing was nothing unusual," Bao says.
She worked as a copywriter for one month before quitting.
"I thought I would have to rely on my parents for the rest of my life," says Bao, who still remembers how surprised her parents were when she proudly gave them her copyright earnings.
Online literature forums are platforms for grassroots writers to realize their dreams, says another post-1980 writer who writes under the pseudonym Binglansha.
Binglansha was doing an ordinary office job when she started reading online novels. Back then, most online novels were free, she recalls.
Since her first attempt in 2008, Binglansha has authored a series of historical romance novels. Her awarding-winning work Beauty's Plan has been published and is set to be adapted into a TV series.
As literature websites began charging readers, popular writers like Binglansha started to receive considerable contribution fees, which are determined by how many hits they get on the website. Selling copyrights brings in additional revenue.
Binglansha says she now receives enough money to support her family and focus on writing.
Besides economic benefits, interacting with her readers on the forum is also exciting.
"It's something online writers do every day. It makes me feel so good to see so many readers enjoy my story and get immersed in the plots," says Binglansha, who often has heated discussions with her readers.
Writing can be a difficult and boring process. However, the support from readers gives her passion, says Liu Chenfeng, another young writer.
"They make me feel that I am not writing alone," Liu says.
Liu used to work in IT in Shanghai. She has posted over 5 million words on , one of the major literature websites.
Liu says it's hard to predict whether a novel will be popular.
"Sometimes I am very confident that people would love my story. However, it is really not something under my control," Liu says. "Gradually I became less concerned about popularity and focused more on quality."
She's working on a few modern love stories, and has plans to try some fantasies and historical novels, both genres favored by online writers.
In the past five years, Zhang Wei has racked up 177 million yuan ($28.53 million) by just moving his fingertips.
For two consecutive years since 2012, he has topped the list of wealthiest Chinese Internet novelists, with an income of 33 million yuan in 2012.
The 33-year-old Beijing native, better known as Tangjiasanshao online, was the only online writer to be listed on the 2014 Forbes "Chinese Celebrity List".
Zhang presumably has the biggest number of Chinese readers among all authors, but he admits that making a living as an author was beyond his dreams.
After graduation with a degree in law, Zhang had worked in several different jobs, including an IT position. He was laid off by his last employer before he "accidentally" tried online writing and eventually created a whole new world for himself.
Zhang had been reading online novels for six years when he started writing his own.
The first work was immature, Zhang admits. Yet it brought in a small income and for the first time Zhang realized it's possible to make money writing novels.
In fact, he spent eight years leading a life which is typical for most online writers. It has been an essential part of his life to sit before the computer, busy typing and posting. The readers pay cents for every thousand words, sometimes offering "tips". It's how such writers earn money.
It took him six months to finish his second novel, a fantasy of 1.5 million words. The 2004 novel brought in 4,000 yuan, but made him well-known as an online writer.
Zhang says when he was writing the book, Wild God, he was so motivated by the flow of inspiration that he would write over 10 hours a day. The imagined characters kept talking to him in his head, and he sometimes had to take up to four showers to cool down and fall asleep, he recalls.
Now he has delivered 12 novels - more than 30 million words - on different themes. His works are read by hundreds of millions.
Zhang thinks his works, mainly fantasies, are interesting to young people and are suitable for making cartoons.
More than 10 million printed copies of his books and an equal number of cartoons based on them are sold each year. Besides the three existing cartoon books developed from his works, six others are being made.
Zhang's famously high productivity is also his secret to wealth. In his best year, he wrote 4 million words.
Over the years, he has followed a strict writing schedule and never fails his readers in updating the stories online.
He usually begins with a concept and develops the structure months before the writing. He skillfully paces the story according to his own understanding of readers' habits.
Zhang says his sensitiveness and curiosity have helped him find inspiration in daily life.
"A word or sentence that might well be neglected by others might spark a story in me," he says. Books and movies are other sources of inspiration.
Zhang admits that he is one of the few writers at the top of the pyramid while most online writers remain uncelebrated. However, he argues that his success can be achieved by others, as long as "they write hard enough".
The industry is still growing at a dazzling speed, and more online writers can find a bright future as the Internet continues to shape people's reading habits, he says.以前，作家如果希望大衆能讀到自己的作品，他們必須去聯繫出版社。現在，他們只要把他們的文章放到網上，立刻會有上百萬的讀者。
2009年，鮑鯨鯨與男朋友分手後（那時她22歲），開始“編寫”一個愛情故事，這僅僅是爲了轉移自己的注意力。她的故事進展得很快，所以她決定將其作爲連載小說放到網絡上。
這個關於一個年輕女孩對付分手痛苦的故事憑藉其簡單幽默的風格，很快吸引了很多讀者。
當鮑鯨鯨與男朋友複合後，她開始寫得少了。她的讀者們聯繫她，催她繼續寫，因爲他們很想知道接下來會發生什麼。
鮑鯨鯨在三個月內寫完了這個故事。這個故事在網上十分受歡迎，很快就有出版商來找她，將這個故事變成了暢銷書。
更加厲害的是，鮑鯨鯨的小說之後被電影導演滕華濤選中，並於2012年被改編爲電影。投資僅900萬元（約合145萬美元）的電影《失戀33天》共吸金3.5億元。
很多網絡小說都被改編成電影、電視劇，或出版爲實體書，鮑鯨鯨的小說只是其中一個。
傳統作家多年致力於他們的書中，爲的是能得到認可，與他們不同，包括鮑鯨鯨在內的很多年輕作家快速地在網上發展了一大批讀者，因此在真實世界中經常都是一夜成名。
鮑鯨鯨承認，成功來得太突然。
“我只是享受寫作的過程，網絡是個很好的平臺，因爲有很多人想要傾聽你的故事。我所寫的只不過是稀鬆平常的事，”鮑鯨鯨說道。
她當了一個月的文案後就辭職了。
“我本以爲我的餘生都必須依靠父母了，”鮑鯨鯨說道，她還記得當她自豪地把版權所得交給父母時，他們驚訝的表情。
另一個筆名爲“冰藍紗”的80後作家說，網上文學論壇對草根作家來說，是一個幫助他們實現他們夢想的平臺。
冰藍紗開始寫網絡小說時，做的是普通的辦公室工作。她回憶說，那時候，大多數網絡小說都是免費的。
自從2008年她的第一次嘗試至今，她已經寫了一系列歷史浪漫小說。她的獲獎作品《美人謀》已經出版，並且計劃改編成電視連續劇。
當文學網站開始向讀者收費，和冰藍紗一樣的受歡迎的作家開始收到可觀的稿費——這是由網站上的點擊量決定的。出售版權還會帶來額外的收益。
冰藍紗說，她現在賺的錢足夠養活家庭，她也能專心寫作。
除了經濟上的收穫，在論壇上與讀者互動也是令人興奮的。
“這是網絡作家每天都做的事。看到這麼多讀者喜歡我的小說，沉浸在情節中，這種感覺很好，”冰藍紗說道，她經常和讀者有熱烈的討論。
另一個年輕作家柳晨楓說，寫作是一個枯燥困難的過程。然而，讀者的支持給了她激情。
“他們讓我覺得我不是一個人在寫作，”柳晨楓說道。
以前柳晨楓在上海的一家IT公司上班。她已經在“紅袖添香小說網”——國內主要的文學網站之一——寫作超過500萬字。
柳晨楓說，很難預測一部小說是否會紅。
“有時，我非常自信人們會喜歡我的小說。然而，這真的不在我的掌控之中，”柳晨楓說道。“漸漸地，我減少對小說受歡迎程度的關注，增加對小說質量的關注。”
她現在在寫幾部現代愛情小說，同時計劃嘗試寫一些奇幻小說和歷史小說，網絡作家很喜歡寫這兩種題材。
在過去的五年裏，張威僅僅通過“敲擊鍵盤”就賺了1.77億元。
2012-2013連續兩年裏，他登上中國網絡作家富豪榜榜首，2012年他的收入爲3300萬元。
今年33歲的張威是地道的北京人，在網上以“唐家三少”著稱，他是唯一一個入選2014福布斯“中國名人榜”的網絡作家。
張威可能是中國擁有最多讀者的作家，但是他坦承，靠寫作謀生確實超乎他的想象。
法學學士畢業後，張威曾做過幾份不同的工作，其中包括IT職位。他被最後一任老闆解僱後，“偶然”嘗試了網絡寫作，最終爲自己創造了一個全新的世界。
張威在自己開始着手寫網絡小說前，讀了六年的網絡小說。
張威承認，第一部作品是不成熟的。然而，它帶來了小額收入，張威第一次意識到靠寫小說賺錢是可能的。
事實上，他有八年的生活是和大多數網絡作家一樣的。坐在電腦前打字和發帖是他生活必不可少的一部分。讀者每看一千字付費幾分錢，有時還會付“小費”。作家就是這樣賺錢的。
他的第二本小說花了他六個月，是一部150萬字的奇幻小說。2004年的那本小說雖然只帶來了4000元的收入，卻使他成爲一名知名網絡作家。
張威說，當他在寫《狂神》時，靈感源源不絕，一天超過十小時都在寫作。他回憶道，虛構出來的角色不停在他腦海裏與他對話，他有時最多必須衝四次澡才能冷靜下來、進入夢鄉。
現在他發表了12部不同主題的小說——超過3000萬字。千百萬的讀者都讀過他的作品。
張威認爲他的作品——主要是奇幻小說，很吸引年輕人，也十分適合製作成卡通動漫書。
每年，他的書銷量超過1000萬本，以他的作品爲藍本的漫畫書也售出超過1000萬本。除了現有的三本從他的作品發展而來的漫畫書，另有六本正在製作中。
張威以井噴式創作出名，這也是他成爲富豪的祕訣。最多的一年，他寫了400萬字。
多年以來，他嚴格遵守寫作時間表，在更新網上故事時從未使他的讀者失望。
在開始寫作的幾個月前，他通常從一個構想開始，並發展爲全文的結構。他根據自己對讀者習慣的理解，有技巧地調整故事的發展速度。
張威說，他的敏感和好奇心幫助他在日常生活中尋找靈感。
“被別人忽視的一個字或一句話，我卻可以從中獲取靈感寫成一部小說，”他說道。書和電影是其他的靈感來源。
張威承認，他是爲數不多的處於金字塔頂端的作家之一，大多數網絡作家仍不爲人所知。然而，他認爲，其他人也可以取得成功，只要“他們足夠努力地寫作”。
他說，這個行業仍以驚人的速度發展着，更多的網絡作家可以找到光明的未來，因爲網絡持續塑造着人們的閱讀習慣。
