Chapter 29: The Arrival of a Bottleneck
Outside the window, a cold wind howled.
The person inside the house was in a state of distress.
Izumi Chihiro had been sitting at his desk for several hours, typing out several paragraphs of text on the keyboard, but ultimately deleted them due to dissatisfaction.
"Alas..."
He couldn't help but sigh.
He hadn't expected the bottleneck to arrive even sooner than anticipated.
Ever since he painstakingly completed the second volume of 'demon slayer', Izumi Chihiro always felt a sense of powerlessness, constantly unable to find an entry point for the plot, his mind completely empty and unfocused.
Writing light novels, especially this kind of light novel, the important thing is to have a kind of 'realism', to create an immersive feeling.
For example, the passionate fervor, the frustrated, hesitant love, the joy of success, or even the simple happiness of everyday life—all kinds of desires depicted in the novel.
Whether these can be satisfied and bring the same feelings to the reader determines the level of immersion.
High-selling works usually have higher demands for immersion.
For example, 'otherworld harem' works satisfy the readers' desires in that regard; they don't need excellent writing, only need to figure out how to use ambiguous language to make readers fantasize, coupled with full-of-lust illustrations, and the sense of immersion directly comes up.
As for the main plot, it's very simple: just keep pushing forward, acquiring female subordinates, sisters, and even more outrageous things.
In novel works, the arousal of lust is much easier than the arousal of other desires, so naturally, sales are higher.
It's just that readers who generally like these works don't flaunt it, which leads some to mistakenly believe that 'harem readers' have decreased.
This is an illusion.
So, what kind of feeling should 'demon slayer' under his pen evoke?
The first element, of course, is still passion, because the main theme is a passionate battle-oriented semi-mainstream light novel.
The second element should be healing; both humans and demons have their own experiences, only taking different paths due to different reasons.
The demons' flashback stories are a relatively bright highlight in the work, using simple techniques to give people an alternative sensory experience.
Although the method is simple and crude, whether it can be used well is actually a very frustrating problem.
If you narrate a long story and the reader is unmoved, or even finds it boring, wouldn't that be awkward?
Therefore, telling the story well is an imperative process; if it cannot be done, the sensory impact of the third volume will be greatly weakened.
He had put effort into handling the previous flashbacks and tried his best to complete them, but they were only barely satisfactory because other climaxes diluted the emotions at that time.
However, the flashback of the Upper Moon Six siblings in the second volume, the Entertainment District Arc, is a very significant point, more important than previous inherent flashbacks, especially when comparing the plight of the Upper Moon Six siblings with Tanjiro's siblings, which is what evokes a sense of lament.
Furthermore, the emotional buildup before this is not that simple; besides the sense of desolation when all of Tanjiro's party is wiped out, there's also the passion of the Sound Pillar rising again to launch a counterattack, all of which need careful consideration.
Especially the detailed process of this battle and the psychological calculations are not perfunctory, compared to the simple fight scenes in the manga he remembered.
To flesh out the content, as a light novel, he would certainly provide more detailed descriptions, such as the use of breathing techniques, which would again test his abilities.
As a result, he didn't expect to be stuck for a whole month, with the plot barely progressing to the first fierce battle between Upper Moon Six and the Sound Pillar.
Regarding the obsession and delusion between humans and demons, he felt unable to write words that satisfied him at the moment; after several revisions, his mood became depressed.
"How can I overcome this bottleneck period?"
Izumi Chihiro muttered to himself, a hint of confusion flashing in his eyes, his heart even more anxious.
At this rate, when would he ever achieve his goal?
Five years, ten years, twenty years, or a lifetime of hopelessness?
For a moment, various thoughts appeared, yet they were so empty and dull.
"Why don't I just ask a professional?"
He suddenly remembered that he still had an editor he could use.
"Beep beep..."
"Hello, it's Izumi-sensei."
"This question, how should I put it, I haven't encountered it either, after all, Izumi-sensei is my first author... But I have heard that some creators, when they hit a bottleneck, usually go out for a change of scenery, listen to music, do things they enjoy, and maybe they'll suddenly figure it out."
"I'm sorry, I don't have a suitable solution for you, sensei..."
After chatting with Machida Sonoko, Izumi Chihiro didn't gain much insight, because he always felt that those people were just looking for excuses to rest.
Because he occasionally found such excuses to take leave in his heart.
But it seems there's no better way at the moment...
However, it's not like there's no way at all.
Izumi Chihiro had his legs propped on the edge of the wooden table, leaning back in his chair, with his hands behind his head, deep in thought, when a person suddenly appeared in his mind.
"If it's that pen pal, maybe she can give me some advice."
He got up in a hurry, almost falling to the ground as his chair slid back. Fortunately, he managed to support himself with his well-exercised core strength and moved the chair back to its original position.
After Izumi Chihiro let out a sigh of relief, he sat upright in his chair again, then took out a piece of paper and wrote to the person he called a 'fan' but was really a 'pen pal'.
If it's the future 'Senju Muramasa', then resolving this small matter shouldn't be a problem, right?
With this expectation, he sent the letter.
However, after about a week of back and forth, he received a reply that made him somewhat exasperated.
Because the other party's answer was: Sorry, Izumi-sensei, I have never encountered this situation, so I don't have any solutions...
Indeed, invincible geniuses don't experience bottlenecks, and besides, this pen pal hasn't become 'Senju Muramasa' yet, so how could she help him?
He was desperately seeking a cure.
However, the next sentence caught his attention.
[I asked my father, and he only gave me one answer—just relax and don't put too much pressure on yourself; rushing won't help anyway.]
"That's true."
Izumi Chihiro smiled at this, his mood relaxing a little.
He still understood the principle of 'haste makes waste'.
In this situation, it's all up to luck, I suppose.