Xianxia Writers, how hard is it?

[MakBow]

As the title says, how hard is it to write a xianxia novel as one day I want to write my own, but I barely know anything about it, so I've been reading up on xianxia novels and manhwas to get some level of understanding.

If you have things I should know, please post it here so that in the future, I can look back here.
(Which is literally everything)

 

[RepresentingSilence]

Xianxia writers literally write the same exact story over and over again at best the only things that change is the characters names

 

[MakBow]

Xianxia writers literally write the same exact story over and over again at best the only things that change is the characters names

Yeah, I've heard they do that. I want to write a simple one. Nothing too crazy, but not too boring. No system or anything like that set in a modern era if possible but with the same things like secs, young masters, and stuff like that but modernized

 

[pangmida]

I'd say the answer is like any other genres. Easy to write slop, hard to write well. Xianxia might be even harder as it is heavily rooted in Chinese culture, Daoism, and a dash of Buddhism. You'd need to do quite a bit of research if you want to write a good one. You must also take note that lots of values can clash with a Western POV due to different cultures and traditions. Of course, it depends on how faithful you want to be to the genre.

I guess in most xianxia novels, you can treat it like a LitRPG, where the protagonist "levels up" and gets higher stats. In most xianxia (non-systems), your protagonist levels up from a basic cultivator to an immortal. They can join a sect or be a lone wolf.

As for the cultivation levels, I'm not too sure about the English names since I read in Chinese, but this is the most standardized translation I found:

1. Qi Condensation
2. Foundation
3. Core Formation
4. Nascant Soul
5. Diety Transformation
6. Spacial Tempering
7. Body Integration
8. Grand Ascension
9. Transendant

Keep in mind, the level names can differ based on the novels.

An essential element of Daoism is Yin Yang, which is all about balance. Life, death, masculinity, femininity, hot, cold, violence, kindness... you name it. Lots of authors just write murder hobos and power fantasies in xianxia, forgetting that mercy and love are also core values. Hence why so much xianxia slop just reads the same.

These are just some basics I summed up for you. There's plenty more in the finer details, but I don't want to ramble too much. If you want to know more, you can message me. :)

Edit: here's a link I found that has a lot of helpful definitions and terms pertaining to the genre.

Glossary of Terms in Wuxia, Xianxia & Xuanhuan Novels

A glossary of terms which commonly appear in Wuxia, Xianxia & Xuanhuan novels. Table of Contents: Novel Categories Cosmology Beings & Creatures World of Martial Arts Martial Arts Cultivatio…

immortalmountain.wordpress.com

 

[MythicalForest]

Once my power system is filled explained in story s lot of readers would consider my story xianxia.
It's hard in the sense that you always grow in skill and getting your fully fleshed out ideas/emotion on the page but for say character dynamics or major plot points. I simply do what I beleive a character in this position with their ability and psychology would do.

I don't worry about the cliche mechanics lile qi or ascension bc those are tropes that by themselves arent horrible but I currently and will continue to try to make it different than others in the genre by having actual depth and planning of the system.

 

[Eldoria]

What reminds me of xianxia novels is when the young master complains over and over again until he reaches the ancestors and then repeats it to other sects with higher cultivation levels for thousands of chapters.

 

[PancakesWitch]

XIanxia can be the greatests action adventure novels ever written if they have SOUL to them, if they put MEANING to cultivation and PHILOSOPHY behind it, like the original cultivation myths from china.
However, 99.9% of Xianxia are no different than LitRPG/System novels, and most of the time they tend to mix together. "Cultivation" is just treated as leveling with no depth to it other than absorbing something from somewhere instead of actually pondering anything philosophical.
Great examples of what I am talking about of a Xianxia with SOUL are Gu Daoist/Reverend Insanity (for villain mc) and A Regressor's Tale of Cultivation (if you like righteous/good person mc)
Anyone that writes Xianxia as this mindless leveling for power and nothing else to it just never understood what made it good and are just copying trends. They cannot SEE the true meaning behind trends and money, they cannot see what remains once all is gone, they cannot see the SOUL and the MEANING of the author. It's fine though, you can write and enjoy reading non meaningful shit all you want, there are books for everyone. HOWEVER, you will one day get bored of it and will seek something deeper.

 

[MakBow]

XIanxia can be the greatests action adventure novels ever written if they have SOUL to them, if they put MEANING to cultivation and PHILOSOPHY behind it, like the original cultivation myths from china.
However, 99.9% of Xianxia are no different than LitRPG/System novels, and most of the time they tend to mix together. "Cultivation" is just treated as leveling with no depth to it other than absorbing something from somewhere instead of actually pondering anything philosophical.
Great examples of what I am talking about of a Xianxia with SOUL are Gu Daoist/Reverend Insanity (for villain mc) and A Regressor's Tale of Cultivation (if you like righteous/good person mc)
Anyone that writes Xianxia as this mindless leveling for power and nothing else to it just never understood what made it good and are just copying trends. They cannot SEE the true meaning behind trends and money, they cannot see what remains once all is gone, they cannot see the SOUL and the MEANING of the author. It's fine though, you can write and enjoy reading non meaningful shit all you want, there are books for everyone. HOWEVER, you will one day get bored of it and will seek something deeper.

That is certainly true.

While I don't want to write the deepest novel, I do want to at least have good characters, good and strategic fights, and philosophical clashes as well as the costs of power.

Which is why I'm currently reading RTOC at the moment and intend to read Reverend Insanity to get more insight so that I can make a morally ambiguous MC, someone in the middle.

Not outright demonic, but not completely righteous.

 

[Hush25]

As the title says, how hard is it to write a xianxia novel as one day I want to write my own, but I barely know anything about it, so I've been reading up on xianxia novels and manhwas to get some level of understanding.

If you have things I should know, please post it here so that in the future, I can look back here.
(Which is literally everything)

Xianxia / wuxia writer here. While I focus on character driven stories rather than the cultivation side, I have a metric ton of information. If I posted it here this response would be super long. @pangmida put you on the right track with Immortal Mountain. But if you have specific questions or would like to have further discussion I'm always open to a DM.

Also...after a bit of thought, I low key object to the comment that all Xianxia authors write the same story. When grossly generalising...Silence is golden.

---

Stuff I write:
Secretly, I'm a Cultivation Genius | My Master is Too Dramatic | Scholar Song Goes on an Adventure | I'm Always Saving the Drunken Immortal
Short Story Collection: Peach Blossom Promise | Capturing the Lotus Heart | The Chrysanthemum Garden | Plum Blossoms In The Snow

 

[Wenlock]

My book also has cultivation as its power scale but I don't call it Xianxia because that's not a main plot device. So, for new readers of xianxia, the book might be hard to understand. However, people who read it all the time would be relieved that I am not re explaining the concepts they already know.

 

[PancakesWitch]

Xianxia / wuxia writer here. While I focus on character driven stories rather than the cultivation side, I have a metric ton of information. If I posted it here this response would be super long. @pangmida put you on the right track with Immortal Mountain. But if you have specific questions or would like to have further discussion I'm always open to a DM.

Also...after a bit of thought, I low key object to the comment that all Xianxia authors write the same story. When grossly generalising...Silence is golden.

---

Stuff I write:
Secretly, I'm a Cultivation Genius | My Master is Too Dramatic | Scholar Song Goes on an Adventure | I'm Always Saving the Drunken Immortal
Short Story Collection: Peach Blossom Promise | Capturing the Lotus Heart | The Chrysanthemum Garden | Plum Blossoms In The Snow

You write danmei, isnt that just yaoi with a coat of very vague xianxia? Ive never seen one where they actually take the world and cultivation itself seriously, its all about the two identical looking guys kissing and having sex.
I dont have anything against yaoi, i like it and i have even written it, but danmei is like the worst example of xianxia you can imagine

 

[pangmida]

You write danmei, isnt that just yaoi with a coat of very vague xianxia? Ive never seen one where they actually take the world and cultivation itself seriously, its all about the two identical looking guys kissing and having sex.
I dont have anything against yaoi, i like it and i have even written it, but danmei is like the worst example of xianxia you can imagine

Danmei just means BL, not necessarily xianxia. It’s just a romance genre. If a story is advertised as danmei romance, then of course you’d expect the story to be more focused on characters themselves rather than the cultivation system (as Hush said). I do get where you’re coming from, though! ?

But anyways, focusing on danmei romance in a xianxia world doesn’t mean the authors themselves don’t know much about xianxia. I’ve read Hush’s stories, and though they do not dive deep into cultivation itself, much of the story elements could not be written without having done extensive research. OP was asking for any knowledge of xianxia for his future story anyway. At the very least I’d trust Hush to provide lots of helpful information on this topic, perhaps even more than myself.

 

[tiaf]

You write danmei, isnt that just yaoi with a coat of very vague xianxia? Ive never seen one where they actually take the world and cultivation itself seriously, its all about the two identical looking guys kissing and having sex.
I dont have anything against yaoi, i like it and i have even written it, but danmei is like the worst example of xianxia you can imagine

There are ton of "pure" xianxia that has crappy power scale or go through a recycle circle of same plot, have cringe characters and can't even narrate a proper story and only aim for "MC overpowers everyone".

Most danmei xianxia are so slow burn that it only comes in the later third of the story. Just because it's a dual genre story doesn't mean the xianxia elements are weak or wrong. Rather, because the story is not 1+k chapters long, it's much more well thought through with their xianxia elements.