Lu Chen: The Mad Genius Of Creativity-Chapter 24 - Are You Crazy? Writing Such a Complex Plot Live!
Chapter 24: Are You Crazy? Writing Such a Complex Plot Live!
“It’s got that crime-drama vibe!”
At the headquarters of Aiqiyi Entertainment, CEO Gong Yu had already gathered the top executives to watch this grand event that only happens once every four years.
As one of the fastest-growing platforms in the entertainment industry, Aiqiyi has always prioritized high-quality storytelling.
Moreover, during its development, the company had indeed reaped the benefits of this competition, producing several successful works inspired by the ‘Scriptwriting Contest’.
The returns on those projects had been remarkable. The only exception was the previous contest, which had been underwhelming overall and had caused the company its first loss. But this didn’t mean Gong Yu was giving up on the competition.
It simply meant that they were being more cautious with their selections this year! Right now, Luo Chen’s story was leading with a landslide in popularity among the 64 contestants. Naturally, Gong Yu was taking it seriously!
The same thoughts ran through the minds of executives at Youku, Huanyu, Xinli, and other companies.
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Inside a room, Luo Chen walked over to the coffee table, picked up a cigarette, and lit it. Now, he had already introduced Li Weimin and the protagonist, Li Fei. The next step was Zhao Jialiang’s storyline.
Once Zhao Jialiang’s arc was developed, the overall framework of The Breaking the Ice would be complete.
As for other important characters like Ma Yunbo and Cai Yongqiang, they didn’t need separate arcs but could be woven into the narrative during specific plot points.
Zhao Jialiang was crucial not just because of his unique relationship with Li Fei and Li Weimin, but also because he was another dagger pointed at Tazhai!
As an informant for the police, Zhao Jialiang was indispensable to dismantling Tazhai. Without him, Li Weimin couldn’t gradually uncover the truth,
let alone reel in Lin Yaodong, the big fish.
Therefore… designing Zhao Jialiang’s character was critical for Luo Chen!
Looking at the entire plot of The Breaking the Ice, it actually revolved around four key characters—Lin Yaodong, Li Weimin, Li Fei, and Zhao Jialiang.
So, Next, Luo Chen needed to focus on introducing Zhao Jialiang!
As for how to introduce him… Luo Chen already had a plan!
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He scribbled the following on the whiteboard.
[The current situation is that Tazhai is impenetrable like a steel fortress. On Li Weimin’s side, even with the backing of the government, there are infiltrators and protectors working as shields, which puts him at a significant disadvantage overall.
He operates in the light, while Lin Yaodong hides in the shadows. So, how can I strengthen Li Weimin’s position and turn the tide? That’s what I need to focus on!
Since Lin Yaodong is in the shadows, could I also give Li Weimin a covert line of support to counter Lin Yaodong?
For instance, let Li Weimin have an informant? Someone working in secret against Lin Yaodong! That’s one direction to explore!
However, planting an informant within Tazhai is unrealistic, because Lin Yaodong wouldn’t be foolish enough to let a spy stay close to him. Moreover, it wouldn’t fit with the heavily clan-centric cultural setting of Tazhai. So, the idea of an internal informant is not feasible.
What about from the outside? Lin Yaodong has drug-trafficking routes, selling drugs worldwide.
This is an area where I can make a big move! I could create a storyline where this informant opposes Haoyu Group and ultimately impacts Tazhai!
But how should I design this informant’s identity?
There are three common design options.
The informant is a police officer who has been monitoring the Haoyu Group’s activities for a long time.
The informant is a turned drug dealer who provides intelligence to Li Weimin.
The informant knows Li Weimin and has a certain purpose, determined to dismantle the drug network.
Since this informant must later return to Dongshan City to investigate Tazhai and become one of the key breakthroughs, there’s a major flaw in making the informant a drug dealer.
Drug dealers are driven by profit and cannot fully cooperate or follow instructions. They might even betray Li Weimin in the end. Thus, this option is ruled out. I don’t want any risks concerning loyalty on this line!
That leaves the first and third designs as viable options.
If the informant is a police officer, loyalty isn’t an issue! However, considering that this informant is going up against the Haoyu Group, they must have significant power, which might even raise concerns of blackmail or corruption. Designing them as a police officer could harm the image of the police, so it’s not ideal!
On the other hand, if the informant is an ordinary person, these concerns are eliminated, as we wouldn’t need to worry about tarnishing the image of the police.
But another question arises—What kind of motivation would drive an ordinary person to risk their life to dismantle Tazhai?
A common approach is to give this character a strong belief or personal reason, such as their family being killed by drug dealers, driving them to seek revenge. This makes their pursuit of drug dealers reasonable and logical.
However, there are two paths here.
Option 1: The informant doesn’t know who killed their family and continuously investigates until they discover it was Tazhai.
Option 2: The informant knows it’s Tazhai from the start. However, this design lacks suspense.
Comparing the two, I believe Option 1 is more effective! It also better connects to Li Weimin’s storyline.].
As Lu Chen wrote all this in one go, the live stream viewers were stunned.
[Viewer Comments].[Oh my god, just reading this is frying my brain. How does Lu Chen even think of all this?].[Every step of this deduction is beyond my expectations but still makes perfect sense!].[Respect. This is what professional screenwriting looks like. No wonder he’s ranked first in the division!].[This level of deduction is insane. Not just this season—this would stand out even in the first season!].[I’m rooting for Lu Chen to win the championship!].[If he’s creating this level of story in the Top 32, what will he bring to the Top 16, Top 8, and Top 4?].[Don’t get too optimistic. He’s set up such a big plot. If he can’t deliver, it’ll be embarrassing.].[Exactly. Honestly, I’m not confident in this. The design is too complicated.].
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In the judges’ room, seeing Lu Chen’s design made Liu Heping and the others visibly concerned.
“Isn’t this plot a bit too ambitious?” Yan Geling muttered.
Shu Ping nodded.
“Most contestants are just writing simple stories, but this kid is designing a script like it’s a full-fledged production. He’s so dedicated!”
Although Liu Heping didn’t say anything, his furrowed brows showed his concern. As Shu Ping mentioned, Lu Chen’s story was indeed too ambitious. If the main storyline about Lin Yaodong wasn’t about drug trafficking, his growth arc alone could already be a complete story meeting the program’s requirements.
But unfortunately, it is a drug-trafficking story, and it won’t pass censorship. Now, he has to redesign the drug-busting storyline, a challenge even Liu Heping found daunting.
Lu Chen, aware of the risks, was still charging ahead—straight into the fire. But concerns aside, Liu Heping couldn’t help but admire Lu Chen’s courage.
If all young screenwriters held themselves to Lu Chen’s standards, the future of Longguo’s film and television industry would be unstoppable!
Meanwhile, Chen Sicheng, sitting nearby, seemed to have switched roles with the others. Earlier, he’d been skeptical and resistant, but now he looked calm and smug, his smile growing wider.
Heh, so this is how you’re writing it?
Now I’m really not worried!
With so many intertwined storylines and characters…
Does Lu Chen think he’s some kind of screenwriting god?
Even if you gave this plot to Liu Heping, he couldn’t write a good story in just three hours.
Th𝗲 most uptodate novels are published on ƒгeewёbnovel.com.
Let alone Lu Chen.
This one’s in the bag! No question about it!
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Inside the room, having successfully introduced the characters Li Weimin, Li Fei, and Zhao Jialiang, Lu Chen’s next task was to deduce the relationships between them.
He wrote the three names (as codenames) on a whiteboard.
Li Weimin
A Certain Person (A)
The Informant
Then he added.
“What kind of relationships can they have?”
“How can these relationships be crafted to better fit the anti-drug theme?”
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At this point, countless viewers were convinced.
No way, dude!
It’s not that we don’t believe in your skills…
But with so many complex character designs—can you really pull this off?
