"Killing the author of the script is no different from other professions, if you do a good job, you can earn millions of dollars a year, and it is difficult to eat if you don't do well. Mr. Zhu is the owner of 4 script killing stores, he once tried to write a script, but in the end he could not complete it, "writing a good book is not so simple". Mr. Zhu said that as the script killing industry gradually matures, players have higher and higher requirements for the quality of scripts, and the threshold for this industry is getting higher and higher.
In the past few days, the reporter interviewed a number of script killing authors, and learned that most of them were transformed from other professions, and there were many part-time jobs, some of them were network writers, and some were male part-time script writers of science and technology...... Due to the different popularity of the scripts created, there is a large income gap. However, in the face of the new format of script killing, young people continue to join in, try to create new employment opportunities, and find value in struggle.
Entered the industry because of love
Fantu is a well-known author in the script killing circle, and is called "Fantu God" by many players and peers. Since she entered the industry in 2017, she has created a total of 8 scripts, and the most popular one has sold five or six thousand sets on the whole network. At that time, 1,000 units were sold.
"I think most authors joined the industry out of love. Fantu said. At the beginning of 2017, the script killing game had just begun to become popular in China, and Fantu, who had just graduated from college, was fascinated after playing it once, and often pulled his friends to "play the book" together. At that time, there were almost no script stores on the market, and players needed to find resources on the Internet to print out and play, and there were very few scripts that could be played, and gradually, she came up with the idea of writing her own script.
Fan Rabbit introduced that at the beginning, she wrote the script just to have a game to play, but she didn't expect her friends to think she wrote well and encouraged her to contribute. Her first screenplay was set in a martial arts novel, and the story revolved around the treasures and beauties in the rivers and lakes, which was completed in a week, and was later bought out by the distributor for 7,000 yuan. The following year, she wrote two more scripts in her spare time, both of which were bought out.
At that time, Xiao Qinglong, who later became the author of the script killing, was studying in Switzerland. After a vacation, his Chinese friend excitedly shared with him a new game he had played after returning to China, called Script Killing, which he called exciting and brain-burning. This made Xiao Qinglong very curious about the script killing, and soon returned to China to experience it once, and quickly fell in love. "At that time, we were about to graduate, and there were not many script killing stores in China, so we partnered to open a script killing shop. Xiao Qinglong said.
At the end of 2017, his store opened in Haikou, and business was very hot for a while, but he soon discovered that most of the scripts were not of high quality, which greatly affected the player's gaming experience, and in his words, "anyone can write scripts". "Then why don't I write it?" Xiao Qinglong graduated from a 985 college with a bachelor's degree and an overseas college with a master's degree, and his experience and literary literacy are good, and he is confident that he can write a good script. In 2019, his first work, The Wizard of the Moon, was released. In the following years, he wrote 3 more scripts one after another, and became a part-time script killer.
A hit script can make the author millions of dollars
"A popular script can make the author earn 500,000 yuan ~ more than 1 million yuan. According to Mr. Zhu, the income of the script is usually not owned by the author alone, and it needs to be shared with the distributor, but as long as the author can write a hit, he can get a lot of income. He introduced: "If you sell it in a box, it is okay to sell 1,000 sets, more than 3,000 sets are small hits, and more than 5,000 sets are big hits." ”
In 2019, Fantu created her fourth screenplay "Kite Flying in the Sky", which quickly became a hit at the time after its release, selling a total of five or six thousand copies. The reporter searched on a script trading platform and saw that the lowest retail price of the script was 469.7 yuan per set.
Fantu told reporters that when the fourth work was released, she and her husband were traveling in Yunnan, and they received a reminder every ten minutes, and the mobile phone rang all the way, and the mood of the two slowly became calm from the initial excitement. "I still remember when I climbed to the top of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, my husband asked me, 'Do you know how much money you earned today?
"When I was creating, I didn't think about how popular it could be, I just wanted to write a story that satisfied me. Fan Rabbit introduced that this year, her clothing company closed down, and after leaving, she decided not to look for a new job for the time being, and concentrated on writing the fourth script. "Before, I had limited time to write, and each script was not long or detailed enough. The success of the fourth script made Van Rabbit decide to become a full-time script killer.
Unlike Fantu, Xiaoqinglong has always been a part-time author. In 2020, he closed the script killing store he co-opened with a friend and joined a food company, but whether he is a boss or goes to work, he has always maintained his creative habits. It only took a week for Xiao Qinglong to write the first script, and he earned more than 100,000 yuan after its release. Later, he wrote three more plays, including "Notre Dame de Paris" and "The Shadow of the Order of the Phoenix". He earned more than 400,000 yuan from this part-time job.
Get used to coding words in the middle of the night
"Writing can be accumulated, but logic is innate. Xiao Qinglong believes that for a script killing author, the most important thing is to have a strong logical thinking ability. He introduced that there are usually six or seven players in a script, and the background and behavior logic of each player need to be repeatedly considered by the author to ensure that there is no contradiction between themselves, and to promote the development of the plot in an interlocking manner.
"When there is no inspiration, I cry with anxiety, and when I am inspired, I don't sleep all night. Fantu told reporters that like many writers around her, she is also used to coding words in the middle of the night, and always feels that she can't calm down during the day. Over time, a black-and-white lifestyle was formed, and although she lived in the same home with her husband, she often stayed at opposite ends of the house. "He sometimes gets unhappy, but he can't help it, that's my job. Fantu said helplessly.
"Fighting" with bad reviews is also part of Fantu's job. None of the scripts will satisfy all players, but she still cares about every bad review, especially the ones that make sense. After the release of "Kite Flying Sky", some players felt that the murder was too simple, and Fantu remembered it in their hearts. In her later work, "Cloud Messenger", she spent a lot of time adjusting the murder case, but was criticized for designing it too hard. "What should the author do?" Fan Rabbit once asked in the circle of friends.
The author claims to have "insecurity"
"How long can I still do this job?" is a question that Fantu thinks about every day, she calls it "insecurity", when she was a fashion designer before, although she didn't earn as much as she does now, but her heart is steady. Since she has been working full-time as a script writer, she has been worried every day, what should she do if the industry is declining? What should she do if she can't write something? What should she do if her next work is not recognized by the market? In this regard, Xiao Qinglong also deeply agrees: "This profession is not a drought and flood to ensure income, and it cannot be all pressed on it. ”
In order to create black and white reversal, I hold my head and cry when I am not inspired, I am anxious because of the instability of my career, and I am afraid to write because of the bad reviews of players...... These seem to be the current state of the profession of most script-killing authors. Making more money is the biggest advantage of this industry, but is this true for every author? Fan Tu told reporters that there are many authors who cannot send out scripts. Since 2020, she has been invited by the publisher she works with to review the manuscript in her studio, and so far only 3 authors' submissions have been approved.
"Some new authors have also been cheated out of money by unscrupulous publishers. Fantu explained that the quality of the current distributors in the industry is uneven, and the old big distributors are very reliable, not only bearing all the upfront costs of script distribution, but also sharing the authors in strict accordance with the contract, but the review is also relatively strict. However, it is difficult to ensure the regularity of some small releases, and it is common for new authors to be deceived into paying out of their own pockets to release scripts and end up losing all their money, or being squeezed by the distributor. "If you are really interested in the profession of script killing authors, it is recommended that you have a certain degree of judgment ability before entering the industry as an adult. Fantu said.
Text/Fan Youhan
Editor/Ni Jianing