Cataclysm System (Completed) - Chapter 135：Author's Final Note

This is taken from the RRL chapter which I wrote 5 months ago. I know a lot of you hated the axed ending, but that was ultimately the original ending as well, only I had to rush to it due to exams around the corner.

I didn’t want to come back to this story afterwards just because I realised how mistake-filled it was. It just had too many flaws for me to carry on with a clear conscience and I hope that you guys understand how I felt then. If you want an idea at what the flaws highlighted to me were, check out the fiction at RoyalroadL.

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/15594/the-mad-one

Look at the top review by TheAgeoftheYak. While a few of the points he makes are purely due to bias and preference, and while a few others are just plain nonsense, most of it is legit criticism. Anyway, without further ado, here’s my final message,

[I had to end this early due to exams this month, and I wanted to start a brand new story afterwards instead of returning to this mistake-filled hovel. I’d rather start on a clean new slate if that makes sense. Of course there are also other reasons but I won’t bore anyone with those.

Flaws with ‘The Mad One’

You guys already know it’s flawed. In fact, I’ve written a whole 2 page document on all its flaws, but I won’t be going over many of those. Instead, I’ll just be focusing on the main ones here.

Lit-Rpg: I don’t like the status screens anymore. At first, I loved them and they were such a cool idea for me. But as I kept writing, as I’m sure most of you noticed, I fell out of love with them. The problem with stats and massive lists of skills (like that in Randidly’s (no hate)) is that the fights, especially the ones later down the series, get so boring and cheerless to write, and boring and monotonous to read.

Fights become (A has this stat higher than B. A wins) or (A uses wacka macka, B uses dicka wicka, A uses racka lacka and backa jacka, overpowering B with a final seasoning of Fuck,thisisboring. It either becomes a stat comparison contest or a listing competition, both of which I find boring to write.

Too many spices makes that curry taste shit: On RRL, the top rated review on my fiction is by THEAGEOFYAK. Yes, I asked him to roast me. Yes, he did just that. But at first, I didn’t accept most his roastings (even now I don’t accept all of them). But the biggest point I read in his review, or maybe imagined, is how I add too many ideas into the pot.

Basically, whenever I get a good idea, I’ll just add it in, knowing that it tastes good. The only problem being that good+good doesn’t always equal good, especially being the case when it’s good+good+good+good…

This led to so many plot points being forgotten, so many good paths being left untrodden, so many mistakes being made.

Planning: Linked to the one above, I basically do not plan. I at least tried to at the start but around chapter 70-80 I think, I finished Stephen King’s book on writing. And I just so happened to read his message about Not planning and resonate with it. The only difference being that he edits his whole book before releasing it, whereas I release a chapter per day, meaning his method just cannot work for me, especially when you add new idea after idea without keeping track of anything.

I have so many other flaws, especially technical ones, but I don’t want to bore you in a pity(ish) party kinda thing.]

[New story

Will start writing new story somewhere in June (hopefully). I’ll hoard up 25 chapters before release so that I can begin with a rapid release and offer ******* straight-afterwards. This should be done by mid-July to August.

So, what will it be about? Not a status-filled Lit-Rpg for sure. I’m thinking traditional fantasy type without the Elves, Dwarves and stuff. Instead, something closer to a mix of the Witcher 3 Wild hunt game (awesome game, play it), the Stormlight Archive series(awesome series, read it), and my own sick mind (don’t read or watch it). It won’t be as dark as this one (on the whole, at least) because I’ve matured over the course of writing this. Heck, I feel Nefarious is such a cringy name now, but hey ho!

I’ll be putting a lot more focus into relationships between characters and an engaging plot (hopefully), and planning the thing out. I’m also just going to choose a few genres/ ideas I want to hit, instead of adding all of them willy-nilly.

Most likely two main characters, possibly three (although I don’t know if I want to stretch my amateurish skills that far). And a whole lot of other details that I don’t want to spoil.

I’ll write pieces testing different writing styles before I begin on this, so watch out for them on RRL. Other than that, all I got to say is (genuinely, despite how trite and overused it is now) Thank you for your support, and that my new fiction will be a thousand times better than this one, if not a million.]

That’s the end of the note from RRL. If you guys haven’t already guessed, The Pale Orphan is the new story I’m talking about here. I feel I’ve kept to many of my promises from my note which is why, for the final time, I’ll put the link to it here in hopes you guys give it a read at least.

https://www.webnovel.com/book/11575841405440205/The-Pale-Orphan

or

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/20337/the-pale-orphan

Still, to this day, I regret how I handled the ending of ‘The Mad One’, also known as ‘Cataclysm System’ to you guys. It’s for that reason, and because I’ve grown as a writer, that I will never post such an unsatisfying ending for any of my future ones (at least that’s the consensus I got from the readers on RRL since all of them hated it)

Either way, if you decide to read ‘The Pale Orphan’ I hope you have fun. I’ve put a lot of time and work into creating a story I’d like to read and a world I’d like to live in. So, hopefully you guys get to sense that as well.

If you decide not to, and our paths never cross again, I wish you the best of luck in your lifes.

Peace 🙂