Greetings. As a new author, I am crafting a xianxia tale that draws deeply from the wellspring of traditional Eastern culture. I have consciously set aside modern conventions such as intrusive "systems" and video game-inspired progression models. My aim is to frame the journey of cultivation through a genuinely Daoist lens. While the narrative unfolds at a deliberate pace, I pledge to persevere with regular updates for as long as the story finds an audience. I would be truly thankful if you might spare the time to glance at my work. Any wisdom you wish to share with an aspiring author is received with the utmost gratitude.
Cultivation and xianxia are really popular genres here, though I rarely see ones without a modern twist such as systems or LitRPG. So if you're writing a more traditional Daoism cultivation/xianxia novel, the English-speaking audience here may have a hard time understanding it. You could do what translated novels do and add "footnotes" that explain certain Chinese/Daoist concepts to help readers understand better.
Whatever you decide to do, just know to have fun! Welcome to SH! ?
I second pangmida. I don't think I have ever read a cultivation/Xianxia where a "western" system is in place. Usually the go to plot armor for those stories is some type of ghost/soul in a object(coin etc) that teaches the mc how to cultivate. Well that and almost them always starting out with wasted spiritual roots that are magically fixed.
My main advise for this type of story is to explain concepts in a way in which English/Westerns would understand. Descriptions and details will help you greatly. However, this is also a trap because you don't want to make it a word salad in which the reader just gets lost. Balance is key.
Second piece of advice would be to make the side characters feel more real. No face slapping young masters who act in a way that any intelligent person would avoid or girls that instantly swoon. Its hard to find a good cultivation story that doesn't make the mc edgy and everyone else an npc.
Lastly, I always hype up the concept of hooks. For myself the hook in cultivation stories is either the mc's personality or his cultivation/fighting style. It doesn't matter how well you write the Daoist concepts if no one is interested in continuing the Mc's journey.
I don't really like to point to stories when talking about advice but I will. There are only 3 cultivation stories I am currently reading. I'd like to point out that one of the big draws to them for myself is that I find them unique. The "uniqueness" themselves aren't special, but a good idea to stand that plus good writing makes them worth reading. And in a sea of Chinese translations of cultivation stories you need to stand out.
The stories that I currently follow in this genre: Immortality Through Array Formations(Scribble), Regressor Sect Master(Scribble), and A Sect Elder's Journey(RR).
I can say, the two things I dislike most about Xianxia novels would be dismissing characters that become too weak. At some point, everyone is a god, and mortals can be completely disregarded, which I find rather poor in terms of world-building if mortal influence just doesn't matter.
The other point that at least makes the original Chinese style difficult for me is how characters interact. First, the way they speak in metaphors, allegories, and idoms just seems weird for me as an observer. The whole time I think that normal people wouldn't speak so formal, all the time mention carmic retribution, or their social concepts.
This leads right into that probably a lot of Chinese concepts are coming about as pretty weird.
As an example, I started out reading "Immortal in a Dying World" here. Which is a cultivation story, and just thought that this feels very Chinese. The whole time, characters make assumptions about their neighbors based on concepts I can hardly grasp. How there's a form of social debt. If someone does something for you, you're basically oathbound to repay with a favor. How the characters basically ploy their diplomatic approach based on those concepts that are mostly based on a very foreign and stiff system of conduct.
Realizing that the person he was talking to was no longer the frail girl he remembered, Xue Yong quickly changed his attitude. “Lady Lynn, to be honest, the effects of your medicine are much better than the other detoxification pills. The other healers I’ve been to sell their pills for one contribution point for three pills. I can offer you a higher price—one contribution point for two pills.”
He had originally intended to pay the same price as everyone else.
But Lynn Naya wasn’t satisfied with his offer. She went right to the point. “If they’re both for detoxification, but you’d rather buy my more expensive one, it must be because my pills have other special uses.”
Seeing Xue Yong’s brow furrow, Lynn Naya stopped playing games. “I’ve heard that there’s a Peach Blossom Forest to the southeast, and it’s filled with miasma, so no one dares to go in.”
Hearing this, a look of shock flashed in Xue Yong’s eyes. He didn’t understand how Lynn Naya knew about the Peach Blossom Forest. He wanted to deny it, but the young woman suddenly said, “Brother Xue, I remember once last year when I was being harassed, you and your wife came to help me. I have always been grateful for that. Now, it’s finally my turn to repay you. When I made this medicine, you were the first people I thought to partner with.”
I mean, seriously, who talks like that? Is that really how people interact, by openly stating all the conduct points they scored so far? Always talking to each other by title?
I'd really prefer a more modern style in that sense. (And please, leave that "Brother" if not among monks)
I used read the genre quite a bit, they can do well, although I think other sites are better for them.
(Not sure where they do best, I just haven't seen them get all that popular here.)
I guess I recommend you read other stories written in the genre?
Cultivation and xianxia are really popular genres here, though I rarely see ones without a modern twist such as systems or LitRPG. So if you're writing a more traditional Daoism cultivation/xianxia novel, the English-speaking audience here may have a hard time understanding it. You could do what translated novels do and add "footnotes" that explain certain Chinese/Daoist concepts to help readers understand better.
Whatever you decide to do, just know to have fun! Welcome to SH! ?
Also, was reading a translation of journey to the west (西遊記) and asked my Chinese friend to explain some of the stuff. Things like "Heavenly dragon god" have different meanings in western culture. So if the words are not chosen carefully it'll come across as offensive to certain groups.
Also, having to explain it defeats the point. Show, don't tell, is the name of the game. It is even more important for web serials where the audience wants short chapters that keep a faster pace.
If you're writing Chinese cultivation fiction, you'd better not rewrite the young master trope, because I (and other readers) have read enough of it to get my fill of the plot patterns—we can guess the plot without blinking. Especially if you create a stupid, cartoonish villain, and rely solely on a family name, it's a truly cliché (someone else might like it, but I don't).
Cultivation and xianxia are really popular genres here, though I rarely see ones without a modern twist such as systems or LitRPG. So if you're writing a more traditional Daoism cultivation/xianxia novel, the English-speaking audience here may have a hard time understanding it. You could do what translated novels do and add "footnotes" that explain certain Chinese/Daoist concepts to help readers understand better.
Whatever you decide to do, just know to have fun! Welcome to SH! ?
Cultivation and xianxia are really popular genres here, though I rarely see ones without a modern twist such as systems or LitRPG. So if you're writing a more traditional Daoism cultivation/xianxia novel, the English-speaking audience here may have a hard time understanding it. You could do what translated novels do and add "footnotes" that explain certain Chinese/Daoist concepts to help readers understand better.
Whatever you decide to do, just know to have fun! Welcome to SH! ?
Thank you for the reminder. I personally dislike inserting too many modern elements, especially 'systems,' into classical-style novels. So while writing, I've been consulting traditional source materials. In terms of translation, I'm also trying my best to use accessible language to annotate the terminology from classical Chinese cultivation.
I second pangmida. I don't think I have ever read a cultivation/Xianxia where a "western" system is in place. Usually the go to plot armor for those stories is some type of ghost/soul in a object(coin etc) that teaches the mc how to cultivate. Well that and almost them always starting out with wasted spiritual roots that are magically fixed.
My main advise for this type of story is to explain concepts in a way in which English/Westerns would understand. Descriptions and details will help you greatly. However, this is also a trap because you don't want to make it a word salad in which the reader just gets lost. Balance is key.
Second piece of advice would be to make the side characters feel more real. No face slapping young masters who act in a way that any intelligent person would avoid or girls that instantly swoon. Its hard to find a good cultivation story that doesn't make the mc edgy and everyone else an npc.
Lastly, I always hype up the concept of hooks. For myself the hook in cultivation stories is either the mc's personality or his cultivation/fighting style. It doesn't matter how well you write the Daoist concepts if no one is interested in continuing the Mc's journey.
I don't really like to point to stories when talking about advice but I will. There are only 3 cultivation stories I am currently reading. I'd like to point out that one of the big draws to them for myself is that I find them unique. The "uniqueness" themselves aren't special, but a good idea to stand that plus good writing makes them worth reading. And in a sea of Chinese translations of cultivation stories you need to stand out.
The stories that I currently follow in this genre: Immortality Through Array Formations(Scribble), Regressor Sect Master(Scribble), and A Sect Elder's Journey(RR).
Thank you for the reminder. Having read online novels for over a decade, I'm quite concerned about the current landscape where identical wish-fulfillment tropes dominate the market. As you noted, I particularly dislike those brainless 'face-slapping' plotlines or swooning female characters with no substance.
I'm striving to develop nuanced characterizations in my novel - even for briefly appearing roles, I aim to reveal their distinct personalities through dialogue and actions.
I can say, the two things I dislike most about Xianxia novels would be dismissing characters that become too weak. At some point, everyone is a god, and mortals can be completely disregarded, which I find rather poor in terms of world-building if mortal influence just doesn't matter.
The other point that at least makes the original Chinese style difficult for me is how characters interact. First, the way they speak in metaphors, allegories, and idoms just seems weird for me as an observer. The whole time I think that normal people wouldn't speak so formal, all the time mention carmic retribution, or their social concepts.
This leads right into that probably a lot of Chinese concepts are coming about as pretty weird.
As an example, I started out reading "Immortal in a Dying World" here. Which is a cultivation story, and just thought that this feels very Chinese. The whole time, characters make assumptions about their neighbors based on concepts I can hardly grasp. How there's a form of social debt. If someone does something for you, you're basically oathbound to repay with a favor. How the characters basically ploy their diplomatic approach based on those concepts that are mostly based on a very foreign and stiff system of conduct.
Realizing that the person he was talking to was no longer the frail girl he remembered, Xue Yong quickly changed his attitude. “Lady Lynn, to be honest, the effects of your medicine are much better than the other detoxification pills. The other healers I’ve been to sell their pills for one contribution point for three pills. I can offer you a higher price—one contribution point for two pills.”
He had originally intended to pay the same price as everyone else.
But Lynn Naya wasn’t satisfied with his offer. She went right to the point. “If they’re both for detoxification, but you’d rather buy my more expensive one, it must be because my pills have other special uses.”
Seeing Xue Yong’s brow furrow, Lynn Naya stopped playing games. “I’ve heard that there’s a Peach Blossom Forest to the southeast, and it’s filled with miasma, so no one dares to go in.”
Hearing this, a look of shock flashed in Xue Yong’s eyes. He didn’t understand how Lynn Naya knew about the Peach Blossom Forest. He wanted to deny it, but the young woman suddenly said, “Brother Xue, I remember once last year when I was being harassed, you and your wife came to help me. I have always been grateful for that. Now, it’s finally my turn to repay you. When I made this medicine, you were the first people I thought to partner with.”
I mean, seriously, who talks like that? Is that really how people interact, by openly stating all the conduct points they scored so far? Always talking to each other by title?
I'd really prefer a more modern style in that sense. (And please, leave that "Brother" if not among monks)
I completely agree with your perspective. In my xianxia writing, while the main plot showcases divine powers capable of overturning rivers and seas, I always emphasize that such abilities cannot easily alter the grand tides of human affairs.
I used to worry that the unconventional techniques in my novels might fail to engage readers accustomed to fast-paced tropes. Yet, abandoning my core principles to produce formulaic works would betray my creative integrity.
I guarantee you'd never predict my plot developments — precisely because I refuse to write stereotypical, predictable stories that even I myself wouldn't enjoy reading.
I used read the genre quite a bit, they can do well, although I think other sites are better for them.
(Not sure where they do best, I just haven't seen them get all that popular here.)
I guess I recommend you read other stories written in the genre?
Cultivation and xianxia are really popular genres here, though I rarely see ones without a modern twist such as systems or LitRPG. So if you're writing a more traditional Daoism cultivation/xianxia novel, the English-speaking audience here may have a hard time understanding it. You could do what translated novels do and add "footnotes" that explain certain Chinese/Daoist concepts to help readers understand better.
Whatever you decide to do, just know to have fun! Welcome to SH! ?
just...make sure when you have your protagonist or antagonist throw insults, that they are not 'direct translations'. Have another writer come up with a better, more western way of building social tension, because translated xianxia idiom is uniformly terrible when directly translated.
井底之蛙
This makes perfect sense in Chinese, because it is deeply into Chinese culture and is a way of saying that someone is ignorant and is insulting. But in English? It's kind of a xianxia joke, and the idiom about the frog and the scorpion is more relevant.
Calling yourself someone's father or grandfather? That is not an insult; it just makes you look deeply confused or stupid.
But, for years, translators have just converted these directly, and in direct translations? Chinese stories are very poor, just like American 'badass' military or cop fiction makes little sense in Chinese.
just...make sure when you have your protagonist or antagonist throw insults, that they are not 'direct translations'. Have another writer come up with a better, more western way of building social tension, because translated xianxia idiom is uniformly terrible when directly translated.
井底之蛙
This makes perfect sense in Chinese, because it is deeply into Chinese culture and is a way of saying that someone is ignorant and is insulting. But in English? It's kind of a xianxia joke, and the idiom about the frog and the scorpion is more relevant.
Calling yourself someone's father or grandfather? That is not an insult; it just makes you look deeply confused or stupid.
But, for years, translators have just converted these directly, and in direct translations? Chinese stories are very poor, just like American 'badass' military or cop fiction makes little sense in Chinese.
Thank you for your suggestion. I will go through what I’ve written again and try to express it as much as possible in a way that English native speakers can understand.
This is actually what I’ve been doing all along.
I really appreciate your support, and please feel free to post any questions you might have in the comment section.
Thank you for your suggestion. I will go through what I’ve written again and try to express it as much as possible in a way that English native speakers can understand.
This is actually what I’ve been doing all along.
