FICTION · DRAMA · CREATIVE INTELLIGENCE
In brief
Who this is for
Vertical-drama screenwriters; authors adapting web novels; teams buying ads for short dramas overseas and working with Chinese partners. After reading you should not mix up "cut point", "paywall episode" and "payoff", and you will know what 付费点 or 爽点 means in a Chinese brief.
How to use this glossary
- Five groups, ordered from script to dashboard.
- Each row: Chinese | English | definition | note (source or practice).
- Use it with the [12-column beat sheet](https://news.shorstory.com/en/articles/short-drama-beat-sheet-template/): its "twist", "hook type" and "cut point" columns are defined here.
1. Format & industry
| # | English | 中文 | Definition | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Short drama / microdrama / duanju | 短剧 | Serial with ~1–2 min episodes, 20–100 episodes, made for phones | [S1] |
| 2 | Vertical drama | 竖屏剧 | Shot in 9:16 to fill a phone held upright | [S1] |
| 3 | Horizontal short drama | 横屏短剧 | Very short episodes shot in 16:9 | [Ed] informal |
| 4 | Episode | 集 | Smallest unit of play and payment | [S1]/[Ed] |
| 5 | Native short drama | 原生短剧 | Made for short-video platforms or apps, not cut from a long series | [Ed] |
| 6 | Mini-program drama | 小程序剧 | Played and paid for inside a mini-program (e.g. WeChat) | [Source pending] |
| 7 | Overseas short drama | 出海短剧 | Released outside China, e.g. ReelShort, DramaBox | [S1] |
| 8 | Dubbed version | 译制 | Chinese series dubbed or subtitled for export | [S1] |
| 9 | Local remake | 本土翻拍 | Reshot with local actors; 80% of top-20 international titles by revenue in Q1 2025 | [S1] |
| 10 | IP adaptation | IP 改编 | Turning a novel or comic into a script | Roots in Chinese web fiction [S1] |
2. Script structure
| # | English | 中文 | Definition | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Hook | 钩子 | The open question that makes you watch the next second or episode | [Ed] |
| 12 | Cold open | 开场黄金 10 秒 | Episode 1 opens on conflict, not backstory | Timing is [Ed] |
| 13 | Twist / reversal | 反转 | A flip in relationship, identity or situation | [Ed] |
| 14 | Payoff | 爽点 | The reward after pressure: comeback, recognition, face-slap | [Ed] |
| 15 | Pain beat | 虐点 | Humiliation or loss that sets up the payoff | [Ed] |
| 16 | Face-slap | 打脸 | Someone who looked down on the lead is proven wrong in public | [Ed] |
| 17 | Identity reveal | 掉马 | A hidden identity comes out | Major genre [S1] |
| 18 | Cliffhanger | 集尾钩 | Ending an episode at peak suspense | Nearly every episode [S1] |
| 19 | Cut point | 卡点 | Where the episode is cut; an editing choice | [Ed] not the paywall, see #38 |
| 20 | Beat | 节拍 | Smallest unit of story change | Wikipedia "Beat (filmmaking)" |
| 21 | Breakdown | 拉片 | Logging story and viewer emotion beat by beat | See evergreen-001 |
| 22 | Emotional curve | 情绪曲线 | Viewer emotion over time, scored -5 to +5 | [Ed] |
| 23 | Character setup | 人设 | Identity, want and flaw shown in the first scenes | [Ed] |
| 24 | Golden finger | 金手指 | The lead's unfair edge: power, memory, resource | Web-fiction term [Ed] |
3. Genres & tropes
| # | English | 中文 | Definition | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | Billionaire / CEO romance | 霸总 | Romance with a tycoon male lead | Top genre overseas [S1] |
| 26 | Revenge | 复仇 | Wronged lead returns to settle scores | [S1] |
| 27 | Underdog comeback | 逆袭 | Low-status lead rises | [Ed] |
| 28 | Transmigration | 穿越 | Lead lands in another era or body | [S1] |
| 29 | Rebirth | 重生 | Lead dies and restarts with memories | [Ed] |
| 30 | Live-in son-in-law | 赘婿 | Scorned husband living with wife's family, later reveals power | [Ed] |
| 31 | Sweet romance | 甜宠 | Low-conflict, high-affection romance | [Ed] |
| 32 | Secret identity | 马甲 | Lead holds several hidden identities | [Ed] |
| 33 | Rejected Mate | 被拒伴侣 | Werewolf trope: fated mate rejects the heroine in public; she rises | [Ed] |
| 34 | Fated Mate | 命定伴侣 | Mate chosen by the moon goddess or bloodline | [Ed] |
| 35 | Alpha | 阿尔法 | Pack leader, usually the male lead | [Ed] |
| 36 | Luna | 露娜 | The Alpha's mate; often the heroine's goal | [Ed] |
| 37 | Werewolf / Lycan | 狼人 / 狼王 | Shape-shifter setting; Lycan often a higher bloodline | [Ed] |
4. Monetization
| # | English | 中文 | Definition | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 38 | Paywall episode | 付费点 | First episode that costs money | Exact episode not published |
| 39 | Free episodes | 免费集 | Episodes before the paywall | Part of hybrid model [S1] |
| 40 | Unlock | 解锁 | Opening an episode with coins, ads or subscription | [S1] |
| 41 | IAP | 单集付费 | Pay per episode (~$0.30–0.50) or series (~$10–15) | Dominant in the US [S1] |
| 42 | IAA | 广告免费 | Free, ad-funded | Overtook IAP in China by 2025 [S1] |
| 43 | Hybrid (IAAP) | 混合变现 | Free episodes + paywall + rewarded ads + optional subscription | Most common globally [S1] |
| 44 | Rewarded ad | 激励广告 | Watch an ad, get an episode or coins | [S1] |
| 45 | Coins / top-up | 金币 / 充值 | In-app currency bought before unlocking | [Ed] prices vary |
| 46 | Revenue share | 分账 | Platform and producer split income by plays or revenue | [Source pending] |
| 47 | Paid UA | 投流 / 买量 | Buying ads to send users to a series | [Source pending] |
5. Metrics & compliance
| # | English | 中文 | Definition | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 48 | Completion rate | 完播率 | Share of viewers who finish an episode or series | [Ed] definitions vary |
| 49 | Pay rate | 付费率 | Share who pay after reaching the paywall | [Ed] |
| 50 | Retention | 留存 | Share still watching after day N / episode N | [Ed] |
| 51 | Registration / filing | 备案 | Registering a title with regulators before release in China | [Source pending] |
| 52 | Piracy / copycat | 盗版 / 抄袭 | Unauthorized distribution, or rapid cloning of hit scripts | NRTA campaign, June 2026 [S1] |
What remains unclear
- Paywall position, number of free episodes, revenue-share rates: mostly unpublished. We give no numbers.
- Completion and pay-rate definitions differ by platform; do not compare across apps.
- Werewolf terms come from English web-fiction convention; no authoritative dictionary exists. Definitions are ours.
What it may mean for creators (editorial inference)
- Cut point and paywall episode are different. Every episode has a cut point; only one is the paywall.
- Overseas markets lean on IAP [S1], so emotion design before the paywall matters more there. Inference, not data.
- More local remakes [S1] means English terms will keep showing up in Chinese teams' briefs.
FAQ
- Cut point vs paywall episode? Cut point is where each episode ends. The paywall is where payment starts. Every paywall is a cut point, not the reverse.
- Is a payoff the same as a twist? No. A twist changes information; a payoff rewards emotion. A twist can make things worse.
- What does "Rejected Mate" mean? In werewolf romance, the fated mate (often an Alpha) publicly rejects the heroine; the story follows her rise and his regret.
- Which is more common: IAP, IAA or hybrid? Hybrid globally; IAA leads in China since 2025; IAP leads in the US [S1].
- How many episodes does a short drama have? Usually 20–100, 1–2 minutes each [S1].
- What is the usual revenue split? We found no public standard rate. Check your contract.
- Will this list be updated? Yes. New terms get new numbers; existing numbers stay.
Method & sources
Compiled from our breakdown practice, our own adaptation work (Not Your Luna Anymore), and public sources read on 2026-10-29: 1. [S1] Wikipedia, "Duanju" — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duanju (rolling; figures are secondary citations) 2. Wikipedia, "Beat (filmmaking)" — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_(filmmaking) 3. Not Your Luna Anymore — https://www.shorstory.com/book/1113/not-your-luna-anymore Source pending: mini-program drama, revenue share, paid UA, registration.
Method & limitations
Terms compiled from our breakdown practice, our own adaptation work and public encyclopedia entries; industry facts checked against Wikipedia's Duanju entry (read 2026-10-29).
Paywall position, free-episode counts and revenue-share rates are unpublished; mini-program drama, revenue share, paid UA and registration lack official public sources (pending); werewolf terms are our own summary.
Related research & methods
How to Break Down a Short Drama: A 12-Column Beat Sheet for Hooks and Paywall Episodes
Lycan Queen’s first three episodes: making hidden identity visible through conflict
Agent of Shadows, Episodes 1–10 Breakdown: How WWE's First Microdrama Builds to Its Paywall
Vertical Drama Script Self-Check Checklist: 30 Yes/No Checks Before You Submit
How to Write the Episode 1 Cold Open for a Vertical Drama: The First 3 Seconds
Sources & editorial note
These links identify the public sources. Third-party statistics remain attributed to their publisher; our studies state what was actually read or viewed. See the methodology for scope and limits.
Source published: Unknown; not confirmed by the source
Source published: Unknown; not confirmed by the source
Source published: Unknown; not confirmed by the source
- Published
- Oct 29, 2026
- Updated
- 29 Oct 2026, 11:40
- Verified
- 29 Oct 2026, 11:29
