Chapter 14: The Arrival of the Overachiever!

“Besides balancing literary quality and storytelling, there’s one more crucial point.”

“The subject matter!”

Enni continued to expound.

Puzo perked up his ears, listening intently as Enni preached.

“No matter the time, to succeed, you must adapt to your environment.”

“It’s like warfare—everyone’s using guns now; you can’t be stuck using a bow and arrow.”

“In short, if you’re suited for popular fiction, you have to adapt to the current market.”

“What does ‘popular’ mean? Simply put, it’s what the masses enjoy.”

“That means you need to focus on two aspects: first, storytelling; second, enhancing the erotic elements.”

As Enni spoke, an unmistakable smile played on his lips. An ancient saying from the East goes, ‘Food and desire are fundamental human needs.’ Since time immemorial, no one has disliked the sight of snow-white skin.

Enni smiled, but upon hearing the phrase “erotic elements,” Asimov and Puzo were stunned.

Both of them took pride in their novels and held certain standards, unlike Enni, a soul from the future who had fought his way out of the blood-soaked world of online literature with flexible boundaries.

What is integrity? Oh, just a passerby!

Especially Asimov, whose eyes widened like a robot’s. It was the first time he witnessed the other side of Enni, utterly unrestrained.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that. I’m simply stating the truth!”

Enni felt no shame. Smiling, he continued: “Add enough tantalizing erotic elements, and you’ll attract most readers to your story.

“Also, don’t think that novels with erotic content are necessarily inferior to erotic comics. Comics can only portray visual tension, but good prose allows the reader to immerse themselves in the characters’ thought processes.

“This kind of mental tension is something comics can never achieve.

“For example, most comics on the market love to feature a half-naked woman on the cover to catch the eye, highlighting certain special parts.

“But no matter how they emphasize those, the impact is purely visual. Humans have more than just sight—they also possess hearing, touch, taste, and so forth.”

This is where the beauty of words shines... soft, warm, plump lips, touching like cotton, tasting sweet as she utters...

“Hey? Why are you two both bent over like that?”

Without knowing when, Asimov and Puzo had both bent forward, their ears flushed red.

After a moment, Puzo straightened up and stammered, “I... I don’t want to become an erotic novelist!”

Enni smiled faintly and said, “I’m just saying you should add some appealing elements appropriately. The main focus is still on storytelling. For instance, as an Italian, you can write about the Mafia in New York!

“This isn’t discrimination—it’s about leveraging your ethnic advantage. Readers will surely find a gangster story written by an Italian author more authentic.”

“Besides, enhancing storytelling doesn’t mean abandoning literary quality.

“As long as the plot is reasonable and tense, with enough suspense and a focus on character development arcs to guide readers into the story, the novel’s ideas will naturally seep through and provoke thought.

“You’ve read Raymond Chandler’s ‘The Big Sleep,’ right?

“It’s full of violence and erotic scenes, which sounds vulgar, but actually, this long detective novel is strong in both storytelling and literary quality.

“For example, when Marlowe investigates the missing Geiger, he not only uncovers the desires and lies within the wealthy family but also exposes the coldness and moral decay of high society through dialogue and actions.

“This kind of gripping plot and suspense naturally leads readers to reflect on good and evil, justice and injustice, allowing literary value to integrate seamlessly with the story.”

‘The Big Sleep’ is Raymond Chandler’s detective novel published last year. Upon release, it sold remarkably well and skyrocketed Chandler’s reputation. This novel helped establish Chandler as the epitome of the “hard-boiled” detective genre in later times.

Thinking about it, Chandler’s life resembled Mario Puzo’s—both began writing novels out of poverty.

But Chandler was clever; his goal was to earn royalties, so from the start, he imitated the style of his favorite author, Dashiell Hammett. His first detective story, ‘Blackmailers Don’t Shoot,’ was published in the December 1933 issue of Black Mask magazine.

“I’ve read ‘The Big Sleep.’ It’s very well written!”

With this benchmark, Puzo’s creative direction became much clearer.

“That’s great. All this talk wasn’t in vain!”

“As far as I know, Black Mask, though a top-tier genre magazine, was also willing to nurture new talent.”

“Famous ‘hard-boiled’ detective writers like Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Carroll John Daly all started out publishing as newcomers in Black Mask.”

“If Black Mask proves too tough, try submitting to the lower-tier Dollar Detective magazine,” Enni chuckled.

When it comes to submissions, the key is persistence.

Puzo’s expression brightened; he suddenly realized this was the greatest takeaway of the night.

“I’m itching to write after all this talk.”

“How about this? Let’s each write a story over the next week and submit them to Black Mask. We’ll see who gets published first.”

During his earlier teaching, Enni had a sudden inspiration and came up with a pretty good story concept.

Puzo looked surprised but accepted enthusiastically with a smile.

It was the first time in his life he’d met someone who loved writing as much as he did. Such healthy competition would only improve efficiency and quality.

Nearby, Asimov, seeing the two settle on this “writing challenge,” couldn’t help but say, “This challenge sounds interesting. Count me in!”

Enni looked puzzled. “Isn’t science fiction your specialty?”

“You’re underestimating me. I can write any genre.”

“If you want, check out the December issue of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. It features a mystery story I wrote.”

Asimov pushed up his glasses, the lenses gleaming with the confident sparkle of a Conan anime character.

Enni suddenly remembered: Asimov was indeed a prolific and versatile writer, having authored over 500 books across nearly every category, even a joke collection.

Damn, this challenge just got a real contender!