>>25054496
fuck off

>>25054504
You dare!

What percentage of my audience could I get over to a direct spin off/sequel?

I got a core of 20-40 engaged readers collected over the past month and am closing in on 200 followers.

Buuut since I was a noob my writing was crap which got me review bombed.
I want a fresh start.

In between I had launched a test case if I can produce proper hooks and or concepts now
That one got on a fresh account 20 followers by day two but I had to stop and write for the longer serial which gained "passive" 3-5 followers a day at the time.

Any success stories from local posters here

>>25054516
I can think of maybe 2

>>25054514
Probably pretty high percentage. I'm surprised I'm keeping as many patrons as I am with a new series in a different subgenre. I'd guess you'll keep at least 50% of your engaged readers, probably more.

>>25054496
>I, Your Grandfather! Edition
this is my favorite cliche line

>>25054529
Thank you, mhh that is pretty cool.
For 4 days my traffic no longer comes from search which is wild. Two waves of review bombs following advanced search exposure.

The third review bomb wave after traffic influx did nothing for visibility. The retention is crap tho
because my style is/was bad. Trying to do better now.

>>25054516
how successful? akaso is probably the biggest who openly associates

>>25054561
arguably fortysixtyfour though it's more that he originated in the webnovel subculture of old /wg/

>>25054516
You gotta define successful man.
I consider my run last year a success but I'm fumbling this month. Gotta make the recovery before Monday.

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Thinking of changing my cover. Here's the new one I have in mind.

>>25054567
That's really good. Not sure if it would be suitable for RR but overall it's great.

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>>25054567
And this is the current one I have.

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Will people give me shit for using AI if I don't hide it?

>>25054570
Why wouldn't it be suitable? It's ink, not blood.

>>25054561
He renamed the Zanma story. Good for him.

>>25054578
Images? Nah. Text? I already filter it. Some morons don't filter and so you can catch them, I guess. I'll shit talk you if I see it though.

Just learn to write.

>>25054579
Not saying it's unsuitable, I'm just not sure if it is. It feels more like a real novel cover, not quite along the design paradigm of RR covers. Which may be a benefit or a detriment, but it's infinitely better than your current cover, so.

>>25054583
I really didn't want to. But I also knew that the argument FOR renaming was undeniable.

>>25054572
the black and white one is by my analysis better for RR
I rate it a 6-7 the eye gets 4-5

mostly because the eye one got no clear shape, is noisy with the text and got too much complicated textures that fade in the competitive tumbnail environment

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I've recently discovered it feels like the CN take every cultivator web novel and turn it into dramas that specifically designed to be played on phones ( see the portrait perspective).
Do you think western slop will ever reach this high? or is it multi million adaptions or bust?

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>>25054496
Witch and Mercenary Vol.2, JP: Kaeru Chohokiteki (2023) EN: L. Kino (2025)

Not all that much time has passed since Zig and Siasha arrived at the town in which they now reside, but they're personalities have already appreciably changed. Siasha has made a lot of progress in learning what it means to be human and how to live among them. Zig finds himself constrained by a culture that doesn't allow killing others to solve every problem, but even so he finds himself adapting to a life other than the battlefield. However, no matter how he presents himself, everyone believes him to be middle-aged at least, which irritates him. His network of acquaintances continues to grow, often because events force them upon him. In other words, those who Zig defeats become his allies, in the way typical of Japanese works. If he had his way, he'd kill them, but that'd be too troublesome.

It isn't evident in the manga, but apparently this series is written with a few long chapters rather than several smaller ones. The first volume had five and the second has four. Rather than having multiple chapters for a job, event, or adventure, each chapter covers it from beginning to end. That makes it easy to explain to others to see if they'd be interested. This volume covers: a celebration after a monster nest extermination; taking down human traffickers; a case of mistaken identity; monster extermination and hunting a serial killer.

From all this, much more of Zig's philosophy of life is revealed, which disturbs and surprises all who hear it. Whether the author will ever allow him to truly follow on what he proclaims as his beliefs is yet to be seen. Zig may be entirely sincere, but the author may only ever have it be a bluff. It may be for the best if it's only ever that.

Compared to the first volume, others take the character viewpoint more often, often because Zig isn't present and something interesting and/or important is happening. I don't mind that at all, but I know some prefer very limited or even sole POVs. Even so, Siasha is still kept mysterious to what she really believes or feels about most things and why that may be. There are a lot of implications. What is known though is that she loves learning as much as Zig loves equipment.

The Adventurer's Guild is a stickler when it comes to their regulations and thus even if the two potentially already have the ability to be among the highest ranks, they must work their way up the same as anyone else. The Guild even reprimands Siasha for being too determined to advance as quickly as possible and that they could even be penalized for trying to find workarounds.

The main difference I've noticed between the light novel and the manga is that the light novel has much detail and nuance, especially when it comes to Zig's interior monologues. There's more flavor to the light novel, but reading the manga is a similar enough experience overall from it being visually oriented.

>>25054585
I hate my writing. I spend a whole year rewriting a single sentence.

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Honestly identify
>something you're good at and how you developed it
>something that needs improvement and how you intend to work on it

I'll start:
>good
dialogue. I think I picked it up from working retail and hospitality
>needs improvement
I often overdescribe certain subjects (usually people) in that amateurish autism shopping list/fashion catalog kinda way. Trying to address this by learning to elicit more from the reader as opposed to listing exactly everything I want the reader to see in their mind's eye

WAGMI

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>>25054578
Images no.
Text people will turbo sperg if you don't announce it and they figure it out.
If you announce it people will filter your story so its hard to determine how much help it can be.
Most people are unironically using AI at least for spell checking if not grammar checking it's built into most word processors sometimes I wonder if novels I read intentionally fuck up so people don't suspect them to be AI or maybe they just write in notepad.
How people can figure it out I do not know, but these people are autistic so beware.

>>25054578
if you make it yes, disclosure will blunt pushback by about 80-90%
the most likely outcome will be that if you declare it openly Ai that you will not even get double digit readers
and you will face future roadblocks and different caps at different milestones than the undeclared, caught or fully human written stories

>>25054578
For images, no, people don't mind. For text generation, yeah no people hate that. Using AI for spellcheck is also fine, you don't need to tag or disclose that since it's not doing your writing for you.

>>25054607
>good
Marketing, system analysis. Autistic complex world design. Iterative improvement.
Character design, interactions, pacing. Set up and pay offs.
>needs improvement
Writing prose style. Delivery of plot for webnovel optimized readers. Delivery of complex homebrew systems without overburdening scenes.

>>25054565
i wouldn't say it's arguable at all. 64 has never posted in this thread once. maybe if anon asked for "/lit/ successes"

>>25054587
Oh, that's what you meant. Yeah, it might hurt, but like you said, it's better than the current. It also says more about what the story is about. Thanks for the clarification.
>>25054589
True, but it could also standout more because of how different it is. I don't think this is the story that I hit it big with either, so I don't mind just having a more fitting cover over a competitive one. Thanks for the analysis.

>>25054607
>something good at
character/environmental descriptions/design, action, dry humor that is seamlessly part of the story and only gets noticed by a few readers, long-ass climactic conflict sequences
>something bad at
self-marketing, keeping track of numbers, crossing large swaths of time. I genuinely struggle doing timeskips, I feel the autistic urge to procedurally write shit out. Been chipping away at it for years.

>>25054635
i think it's arguable because he was active before /wng/ had splintered off from /wg/ but he's inarguably a webnovel author

>>25054594
Chinese live action adaptations tend to suck (mainly because they adapt only garbage novels that were never about cultivation in the first place). Watch Immortal Ascension, it's a rmji adaptation and it's pretty good.

>>25054644
It's a budget issue, effects are expensive. Only 3DCG ones ever actually do cultivation shit, like RMJI as you said. Even then most are trash. But at least they do the cultivation shit.

>>25054642
>i think it's arguable because he was active before /wng/ had splintered off from /wg/ but he's inarguably a webnovel author
the question wasn't whether there are successful web novel authors on /lit/ but whether THIS THREAD has any success cases. really don't see how 64 applies at all just because he posted to /wg/ years ago

>>25054642
>Crossing large swaths of time. I genuinely struggle doing timeskips.
I learned that over the past 4 month. It is like writing a sequel.

Sense of what I call linger. You need 1-2 chappies to spend on something else.
Character moments, actions. Setups for after the timeskip.

Timeskip 3 years in the future.

You create a scene in media res for your protagonist.
A personal dialogue to set the time. No big world building here.
Then you do the episodic travel the world/locations and scenes. Show how things changed.

That is for longer timeskips. Smaller ones you can handle with a fire going out, a construction being completed, passage of day night cycle, enumeration of things that come and go in the time.

>>25054647
The chinese genuinely can't tell stories that connect with western audiences.
The korean and chinese can. People don't even want to pirate it that is why some chinese pirate site disabled sorting by country for animated works as nobody wanted to watch their stuff and it pissed their nationalistic pride off.

The japanese learned how to do it from walt disney. They didn't just suddenly got good at it.

>>25054657
The donghua for A Will Eternal is fantastic. So they do get it right sometimes.

I'm struggling whether to give my next female Orc MC green skin.
My current tendency is to no... and I feel bad for it.

>>25054644
I started watching Way of Choices and it was barely an adaptation, just a live action show with some similar ideas

>>25054657
I've watched Chinese movies and read short fiction that I've greatly enjoyed. If you limit it to webnovels, then probably, yeah.

>>25054664
What color would it be otherwise?

>>25054676
Human obviously.

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>>25054657
I think the Chinese do have some good stories but yea I wouldn't bother with modern Chinese stuff.
The sentimental swordsman is an adaption of a serialized novel (what they called them before the web) and they've adapted this shit too many times.
It's just classic wuxia film with some wire effects.

>>25054657
There is cdrama stuff that is pretty much a china only thing, but the cultivation adaptations (which are mostly animations) are excellent. Rmji, renegade immortal, shrouding the heavens, and others are kino. Cultivation as a whole is way better than western fantasy, it's just that it's relatively unknown, but with time more people will discover it.

>>25054679
What's the difference then?

>>25054686
Small canine teeth, green eyes, hair and being named Orc.

>>25054703
All the most popular stick with green, but sure.

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>>25054640
if I had to maximize it

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>>25054731
seriousRaw

>>25054731
Why is there a dragon dildo on the cover

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>>25054731
cuteRaw

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>>25054731
more book looking one

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Can we discuss power systems? I'll include some animanga and maybe some games too just because I think they're worth studying

>Weirkey Chronicles
cultivation + interior design/architecture
>Street Cultivation
cultivation + martial arts + banking/finance?
>LOTM
cultivation + acting/identity + potions + occult stuff
>Reverend Insanity
cultivation + Gu (basically multi-purpose insects)
>Nano Machine
wuxia martial arts + nanotechnology
>Bleach
weapons + Jungian ideas + mythology/religion
>Virtuous Sons
cultivation + Greek mythology/philosophy
>Shin Megami Tensei
demonology + technology
>Persona
demonology + Tarot + Jungian ideas
>JJK
emotions + religion/supernatural + physics/mathematics

I know everyone says ideas are cheap and while I have endless ideas for stories and characters, my brain isn't producing any interesting systems. It seems like many of these good ideas are just 2-3 things the author finds interesting mashed together, with at least 1 of the components being somewhat esoteric. Am I just not widely read enough? How do I make my brain more... Systematic?

>>25054632
you mention being good at system analysis. Would you have any thoughts to share on this?

>>25054731
That dragon looks lame, is your book for kids?

>>25054740
Are you the same anon who was blogposting in /sffg/ last month using a final fantasy image for every post?

>>25054740
You want to study to replicate?
Principles the World runs on other than us + Type and Way of progression + Flavor Element (what I add is a narrative contract, don't use a power you can't showcase in three sentences in a party setting)

If you want to be edgy and complex you can add a downside to the powers.

>>25054747
The dragon is designed for attention. Cute, cool, threat, sexy.
Pick a marketing theme.

"The Author and The Dragon" sound pet/therapy like

>>25054740
Qi condensation -> foundation -> core formation -> nascent soul -> soul transformation ->soul formation -> nirvana/mahayma real -> tribulation -> immortal realms after ascending to immortal world

>>25054740
>Weirkey Chronicles
>cultivation + interior design/architecture
I don't like theo as a protagonist, but to focus on the power system I'd say it's more accurate to say it's cultivation + feng shui. I kinda like it better than cultivation in someways becasue it's much easier to grasp than unblocking meridians or swirling chi in your dantian in a specific direction.
>I'm going to add a room to channel KANTAY and use this artifact
>No that's bad energy circulation retard
it also helps really explain when people say, my soul is messed up and you can literally see it's a house that's been ruined.
When people say their foundation is shit, it's quite literal. I don't like the books but I think the system is good.
> It seems like many of these good ideas are just 2-3 things the author finds interesting mashed together, with at least 1 of the components being somewhat esoteric.
I agree with you sarah lins system can be boiled down to 2 things mashed together but I think there's a good story telling benefit and that fits into the world of cultivation becasue they still want rare resources they're just all carpenters also.

Here's one for free
>Fate/stay night
magical theory + historical/mythological figures

File: opening.jpg (1 MB)

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how's my start?

>>25054772
Fate/Stay = Pokemon + Highlander + Mythology/Heroes

>>25054775
edgy but unclear

>>25054775
>I
stopped reading there

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>>25054750
No, I only hang out in this general. I'm here to discuss and learn things. If my few words of context count as blogposting then I apologise

>>25054753
That's a really interesting framework and would be a good supplement to BrandoSando's Laws of Magic, thanks for sharing
>Principles the
I think I need to go into a documentary deep dive rabbit hole to acquire some more worldly knowledge, obscure/esoteric or otherwise

>>25054757
I have no serious complaints about the classic xianxia cultivation thing but I'm trying to reverse engineer systems like the ones I mentioned

>>25054772
For sure, I agree it's more like Feng Shui/geomancy. It's a really neat system that serves the story
>Fate
this is good too

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>be the best gamer on your entire planet
>ascend to become the strongest cultivator

>>25054607
>something you're good at and how you developed it
I think I've gotten better at starting and finishing a scene/chapter. I don't go overboard with purple prose anymore like I would've 6 years ago.
>something that needs improvement and how you intend to work on it
The editing. This first act is already finished and several chapters are edited to fit the new narrative, but it's just such a grueling process. I haven't started on the next chapter yet because I watched a friend play mgsv and figured I'd give it a try myyself (never played) but still diligently reading a few RR stories to study, and reading through Rendenvous with Rama. Clark's writing is easier to digest than Heinlein. Maybe I should look into getting some Clark's books since I liked his economic chapters in Rama. It's really hard to say where I need to improve since I don't get feedback at all. I'm hoping once I finish the rest of the editing (6/~20) maybe I'll start getting feedback for a full completed first act. But I'm not holding my breath.

>>25054822
>gamer cultivator
Not sure about that, the gamer mentality isn't really compatible with cultivation

>>25054846
this is true as gamers do not have a golden finger and bow to the heavens

>>25054846
MMO Gamer Mentality is fully compatible with cultivation, after all xianxia novels were heavily influenced by MMOs

>>25054846
What part of cultivation is incompatible? The Dao part obviously is (grinding autistically). Challenging the heavens is. Seeking unlimited power is. Maybe gamers aren't psychopathic enough? Nah that can't be it.

Any random 2007 /v/irgin would have made a fantastic cultivator.

>>25054849
Gamers rarely (if ever) leave their mothers basements. Seclusion will only take one so far, one needs to go on adventure and experience their own fortuitous encounters in order to advance their cultivation base.

>>25054866
The average 2007 Xbox live voice chat is just the background story for a xianxia conflict

>>25054868
Why are you still pretending like this stereotype has any basis in reality post-Covid? Even women are avid gamers these days.

>>25054875
"I fucked your mom!" squeaked the 12 year old boy on xbox live chat.
"Camper faggot!" shrieked another.
"Junior, you dare?!" bellowed the thirty year old virgin with over three thousand hours in the game that just came out six months ago and a gamer score of over 9000. "You are courting death!"
The wizard, entirely in the right, filed a ticket with live support and got the foul-mouthed child banned for thirty days. He stroked the beard on his second chin.
"A thousand years too soon to challenge me..." he murmured, the cheeto dust on his fingers staining his neckbeard orange. "Ten thousand years, perchance..."

>>25054846
read ellimist

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>>25054884
>Even women are avid gamers these days.
In webnovels? Absolutely, sister.

>>25054875
>>25054889
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC5rlq8LXY4

>>25054731
>>25054734
>>25054737
>>25054739
>>25054754
I appreciate the effort, but you're missing the main point of why I made it the way I did: The dragon is tearing his way out of the story itself.

>>25054822
Man that entire book series is something else, JAKE would make a good cultivator.

>>25054903
I just disagree about what the point of a cover is.
Had the discussion yesterday here as well. The logic of why they are more attention grabbing is clear when they are small? Can we agree on that?

>>25054909
Yeah man, all of Animorphs was something else. Did you read any of Applegate's other series, like Everworld (my first isekai lol) or Remnants?

I should just rip off Animorphs but make it xianxia
transformation cultivators vs. demonic body stealer cultivators

>>25054932
There's a ~25+ year sci-fi collection of books within the same 'verse I follow, and the 'enemy' turned out after all this time to be shapeshifters.

>>25054903
I think if you just change the cover color to mainly yellow or green, and then use a larger font and high contrast color for the text, you'll solve all the issues and retain the look/intent. Black on red isn't great for fine details. You could also go for white, cream (or any other off-white), silver, or other high contrast colors with black (yellow is a bit of a gay color and may not match the mood of the story).

>>25054927
Oh for sure, and I get what you mean.

>>25054941
Great. Did you consider a sharp contrast of scratches over the entire length of the image?

When the core is to represent the "breaking out of a book theme"?

>>25054938
>>25054948
I'm going to have to wait for some more free credits to tweak it further, but I'm taking these suggestions to it (When I can wrangle the AI into making them).

>>25054963
I just finished tweaking the cover for my new launch and I gotta say after paying a human artist, $30 on midjourney was a lot easier and cheaper. You're not on any kind of time crunch but it took a lot of stress out of my life yesterday and today. Especially since I'm going to do a bunch of ads too, they'll be easy to whip up

>>25054609
I deliberately refuse to fix the one tiny grammar niggle. it even pops into my head at rough draft time. Now it's my proof of humanity.

>get DMed for a shoutout swap
my story is dead, are people just desperate

>>25055122
Yes. But the guys that do this through RR do it en masse. Shotgun approach.

>>25055122
It is a numbers game.

>>25055122
if you can give me 0.5 viewers I'd make a deal with you. thats just how far im willing to go anon.

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>feel too good to shoutout swap with someone worse than me
>feel too bad to shoutout swap someone better than me

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Should I use the cover I drew traditionally instead of the digital illustration I made for Mongol?

>>25055226
nothing quite like the random royalroad PM begging me for a shoutout swap to make me feel in charge

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>>25055122
>are people just desperate
no way

>>25055290
>3.52 MB
> Should I use the cover I drew traditionally instead of the digital illustration I made for Mongol?
just for shits and giggles, try feeding it in as the reference image for a good AI, and try many styles, adjusting all the settings ad nauseum. Nice sketch.

>>25055334
advice: clicked on it, it looked pretty neat. something different. Reminded me of a wooden "green man" gargoyle. That said though, in a thumbnail I thought you were making a joke and posted a image of poop. If you have any GIMP-fu, it could be saved. That said, I like the composition. nice top and bottom title/author space, room for subtitle or tag line, etc. It is odd though, to see the thing of interest dark and the background light. Again, GIMP-fu and see what you come up with adjusting that image.

>>25054884
>Even women are avid gamers these days.
Yeah, in fake statistics that consider you a gamer if you played a mobile game once in the past 12 months.
>>25054894
I find it funny that we have a bunch of female MC isekai'ing into their game avatar that was a top player in a video game. Have you ever played any MMO/ARPG where someone in the top 5 was a woman? I haven't.

I've seen good players that are women, but they're never the absolute best, unless they're a healer or support. But even then it's very rare.

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>>25055342
Better? Thanks for your help fren.

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>>25055350
Final, done, I'm at work atm. Dayjob n shiet.

Read some more slop. Not longform reviews because I'm too employed for those.

>Exlian Syndrome #1: Ascent, Seth Ring
Superhero setting where ayys invade. I don't think it's AI but the writing's bland as fuck.
>I'm Not the Hero, Tommy Kerper
I appreciated bland writing more than I appreciated this.
>Agent of the Wild / Second Life of Brian #2, Chris Tullbane
The protagonist is really bad at keeping anyone alive who isn't a quest objective. He's also still small and scrawny and he didn't actually get all that much out use out of his "speaks/writes/reads every language" trait. I'll give it a third book and then we'll see.

>>25055350
>>25055384
the typography is too juvenile
the dithering is too... dithered
the thumbnail is too fecal

I might be able to help later. What's the vibe you're going for?

>>25055384
more like mongoloid haha

>>25055384
>make first cover repulsive trash
>replace it with a pile of shit
>slap an eye-raping filter on the turd
How the fuck do you even have a job, damn blind schizo

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>>25055479
All right, I've got this. A new cover, the final-final Mongol cover :D.
>How the fuck do you even have a job, damn blind schizo
Disability hire. :')

>>25054567
The font needs to be bigger and clearer. Bigger! C L E A R E R

>>25055488
mongoldev...

>>25054640
>I don't think this is the story that I hit it big with either
Man, don't want to sound like a doomer, but you've been posting for three years and have 70 followers. You're applying makeup to a corpse. You make kino-tard look popular.

some of you are just writing bad tradpub and uploading it online while thinking that's enough to make it a web novel

>>25055535
No. I write bad web novels and upload them online.

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>>25055384
I'm not done, this is just a quick reference.
PIC RELATED
you can see how I dealt with the *bad* color distance between paper white and dark shadowed poop brown. Light colors go to foreground and dark is the background. That was reversed, it was problematic. The background was trying to come forward around the dark mask wants to fade back? But it cant. Also a very "busy" central mask and too much empty space doing nothing, except its trying to come forwards. Horrible aesthetic. Anyway, here's my quick reference before I try to do better and select titling; I don't see you trusted to do titling either (no offense)

>>25055587
You are not getting it. No one wants to look at an image that resembles poop. They will instinctively turn their eyes away.

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>>25055384
there we go. better. Removed the titling, and I got to emphasize and keep the natural shadows to create a slight depth. I like the *slight* cubist making the background now. Now I got it looking like a grid of masks in a museum and we're concentrating on the one in the center. Notice how the thumbnail no longer looks like poop, you can tell its a hideous face.

>>25055607
That's really good, anon, thanks for helping me.

>>25055594
>You are not getting it. No one wants to look at an image that resembles poop. They will instinctively turn their eyes away.
I was given a turd to work with. This last one? Polished turd. I definitely solved the foreground background problem, and the composition problem. If the subject is poop, bit my call. Now lets see if I can get titling that does anything. Maybe a subtitle. Stay tuned, for the exciting conclusion of "anon polishes a turd", right after this quick message from our sponsors so we all know what brand toothpaste and beer to purchase. kek.

>>25055612
not done. taking a crack at titling.

>>25055607
you got anti taste, this is impressive

Finally got my cover art illustration completed. I was scared to even look at it. I was so worried something would be wrong. But it's perfect. I'm so happy. Now I just have to design the rest of the cover and I can submit it for Royal Road.

>>25055623
Congrats. A competent cover is a pretty low standard.

This one here I rate as 0/10
>>25055587

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>>25055612
Hows that for a rough pass, given what I started with, and how quick it went.
PIC RELATED

>>25055624
>This one here I rate as 0/10
>>>25055587 (You)
that was a quick r-e-f-e-r-e-n-c-e, not the cover. Also, remember what I had to work with. What looked like fecal matter sculpture, with reversed light/dark backgrounds. I did what i could, quick. The client beings you a photograph of dog shit on white paper? You work with that. The fuq I gonna do. The irony of it was, it was a high quality photo.

>>25055640
The top font is much better. But the image is still unacceptable and completely repellant. Go on https://perchance.org/pcf6n85voj and slopgenerate yourself a better cover, even if the concept (a demonic mask of some kind) is the same, it will be better.

>>25055642
>The top font is much better.
Yah. I liked the splattered blood aesthetic
>But the image is still unacceptable and completely repellant.
that's on him. but to be funny about it, you ever see pictures of mongols? They're kind of ugly, LMAO. I can imagine what a herd of the motherfuckers unwashed and living off the land looked like riding in. Christ. In that way, its almost appropriate. I mean, I took the liberty of assuming this isn't a love story.

>>25055646
Even if it's supposed to depict a grisly and not exactly attractive mongol warrior, it's not really fitting. That sculpture is more like a ngubu bix nood type tribal shit

>>25055647
agreed. I thought it had some kind of african look.

>>25055640
big improvement but the typography for the author text is cheesy wordart tier

also, why not use a Mongol war mask or something rather than this weird shrunken head looking thing

>>25055642
>Go on https://perchance.org/pcf6n85voj and slopgenerate yourself a better cover
you must be the anon that recommended that free AI. thanks! its unlimited usage, and it did NSFW titties. Plus, it had great realism on many. much less fingers and toes problems, too. *when* will someone solve the fucking fingers and toes bullshit, you know? They have 8k AI now, you can see realistic faces and you can zoom zoom zoom in on the *hairs* on the lower lip? Still gotta work with extra fingers. Its unconscionable. but thanks, thats my goto AI now until further notice. I appreciate it. Does it take reference images?

>>25055653
>also, why not use a Mongol war mask or something rather than this weird shrunken head looking thing
it *does* look like one of those potato head carvings you shrink for a month in a light bulb box, doesnt it. kek

Guys, I don't think his story is even about Mongolians......

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>>25055640
Stefan here, thanks, edited it a bit in Photoshop :D. Thanks for your help, again. Pasted a few of my drawings on top of it. Is it all right?

>>25055656
yeah I gave it a half-hearted skim and all I've retained is that some guy gets painfully transformed into a fungal mushroom saviour or something

Will you stop giving the mentally ill attention whore the (you)s he desires and report the spam?

>>25055660
and to think we once all bitched there were too many "boy meets girl" stories being done, LMAO

>>25055664
>Will you stop giving the mentally ill attention whore the (you)s he desires and report the spam?
its not spam, my impression was just some teen/young adult working on his cover. Covers are part of the web novel experience, anon. thread is "all things web novel". he asked for cover help, we did what we could. Its called being friendly and helpful, you should try it. Gives you a warm fuzzy feeling all over, that you were a force for good in this otherwise dark world we inhabit. Now toss up a short sample of your writing so we can see if (you) cut the muster to be here.

>>25055657
not only are web fic readers judging books by their cover, they're judging by the thumbnail too
and this thumbnail just looks like an indeterminate brown blob

>>25055657
Not that anon, but: Vague and muddled, but an improvement. For the actual main title, I would suggest, instead of this, doing
BASE TEXT - RED
HARD DROP SHADOW OFFSET SLIGHTLY TO THE RIGHT AND DOWN - DARKER RED (BLOOD RED)

That's all for real novels, though. Like this cover, in a book store, would have promise.

The problem is, this isn't a normal novel. As >>25055670 said, this cover just won't attract webnovel readers.

>>25055670
All right, >>25055640
This one it is, thanks frens.
>>25055673
Thanks.

why are you guy encouraging a guy who makes a cover that looks like a turd.....

>>25055669
Help yourself to suicide, newfag redditor. Mr stefannicuchristian has been haunting /lit/ and /wg/ with his autism for years and doesn't need any more enablers

>>25054884
What does covid have to do with it?
People who spend their entire free time playing video games still exist today

>>25054866
The part of actually going outside to do things

>>25054862
>A person who was the laziest shutin in life got isekaid into another world, given op powers and is now going on adventurew and reliving his fantasies.
You probably mean the japanese isekai genre. Isekais are completely unbelievable and would not work in real life (even if magic was possible).

>>25055682
>shutin isekai etc
that's not what I meant by MMO influence
the systems of xianxia novels, the grind, the retarded clanwars, the auctions, etc.
the worldbuilding of xianxia novels has MMOs in its foundations

How do you know if what you want to write is even marketable did you do focus group testing or something like that

>>25055690
Focus test groups won't tell you that. You just had to more or less make an educated guess.

>>25055674
hold on! I *just* got realistic stone background. wait. plus I can tighten/crisp up perfect centering on the author name. couple minutes.

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Has a webnovel ever moved you or given you the satisfaction of reading as deeply as a non-web novel, maybe even to tears.

I cried reading Moby Dick, and Blood Meridian. But no webnovel has ever moved me, only entertained me, sort of.

>>25055690
You don't. That's why so much media fails to find an audience. It's also why there are so many sequels and extremely derivative works.

My stats this week
500 chapter one views
50 followers = 10% conversion rate
8 favorites = 1.6% conversion rate

>>25055690
by not being an outsider to the scene.
it's why corporate can never force memes or certain types of media in particular fandoms no matter how many focus groups they're running with media think tanks
if you aren't already immersed in web fic, you won't be able to write a good web fic that others want to read

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>>25055674
PIC RELATED
added realistic stone texture to the background, and centered up the author name (it was misaligned). GIMP-fu, hwah!

>>25055714
don't use this, it looks like a turd as in physical and psychological repulsive and it looks like feces in the direct sense

>>25055714
best so far but that author text is still cheesy wordart
keep it simple

>>25055717
why are you giving this person horrific advice?

>>25055675
>why are you guy encouraging a guy who makes a cover that looks like a turd.....
first off, I feel better about myself doing something for a stranger that was polite, than throwing cat shit at him. He'll do something nice for someone this weekend, on karma alone. Also, "haunting" /wg/ and /wng/, while perhaps not optimum for us, is objectively better than him hanging out in the bars. He might not be setting the world on fire, but at least he can be trusted with his free time. You wont find dicks in his refrigerator and decomposing bodies in a vat of acid like Dahmer. Whats the harm. Plus, I got an exercise rushing to whip up a AI cover *quick*. I had fun.

>>25055694
>Has a webnovel ever moved you or given you the satisfaction of reading as deeply as a non-web novel, maybe even to tears.
I *just* looked at a sample asking for feedback on my (not RR) WN site. That thing? He had a k-i-l-l-e-r emotional tug going. I think that one has a chance. I hope someone is showing him the precepts like you guys share here. LIke how when you read "white fang" you think the "blessed wolf" gave his life fighting off the murderer that broke in? Like that kind of emotion. It took me by surprise.

>>25055721
I don't throw cat shit at him. I would even give him a mongol cover but as it stands I recommend using the default one.

>>25055718
my advice that his author text is wordart shit is valid
nicuanon seems dead set on using this weird turdy shriveled mask for whatever reason, doesn't seem to care about getting an audience or any money from his slop, knows his work won't appeal to anyone in the web fiction scene but just wants to park his writing somewhere, etc etc etc.
no harm in meeting him where he's at and humoring him on whatever weird demented passion project this is if he's having fun.

>>25055717
>best so far but that author text is still cheesy wordart
>keep it simple
yeah. now that the stone totally solves the negative spave reversal problem, and the extra masks gibe some sense of composition... i could go left to right and bigger, more traditional with author name. Good eye, anon. I wonder if hes still here. I could whip it up. I got my click-flow down after several of these now.

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>>25055714
>>25055728
lets try it

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>>25055733

>>25055733
the story. isn't. even. about. Mongolians!!!

>>25055735
mongoloids?

why is it called mongol then
what is it even about

>>25055740
see >>25055660

>>25055740
it's about mycology

>>25055744
mongolian mushrooms?

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Here's a sample of the later Mongol chapters.

>>25055747
Call it a wild stab in the dark, but that looks like AI and not a good one.

>>25055735
relax. I recently endured a lecture about how cover art need not and many times even should not, reflect exact images that are in the book. Being honest, a story about Mycology (study of fungi) need some kind of cover hook. Now, you *did* name this puppy "MONGOL". The hell did you think cover art would have on it. What image does that word conjure up? Honestly, mushrooms was pretty low on my list when you say "mongol". PLus? I like that mongol warrior face. Its like, samurai but more steppes of asia.

>>25055750
Looks too wonky for Ai to put this out.

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>>25055750
>Call it a wild stab in the dark, but that looks like AI and not a good one.
It's not A.I., I'm just an ESL. I also wrote about pedo kikes, niggers and butchering children.

>>25055753
AI then MTL'd.

>>25055747
Why is all of that a single sentence?

>>25055733
anon. post the base image, with no lettering.
I wanna try something. I just made my "mongol" blood splattering lettering? go 3-d and looks kind of pro. let me put it on this. If nothing else, I like the stone I came up with, now this lifted up look? this was productive just for me.

>>25055757
>I also wrote about pedo kikes, niggers and butchering children.
I award style points if nothing else, there.

>>25055757
Good, you've broken enough rules that I can report your retarded ass

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>>25055766
base image got lettering

Lads, I'm working on a web novel called AZTEC and it will be mostly about sea anemones. the cover art will depict a taxidermy jackalope

thoughts?

I think I might have ADHD, can do other stuff but the moment I try to focus on writing I can't

>>25055707
I analysed my stats for the first 10 ish chapters.

I drop 1/4 between chapter 1->2, post mortem

- high wishfullfillment gets me to keep 75%
- little to no action
- no emotional hook
- no protagonist clear goal/agency

I drop another 20% on the 3/4 on 2->3

- lower wishfullfillment but still a positive
- pure action that keeps them
- no emotional hook, again other than direct survival
- no protagonist clear goal/agency,

I keep constant until chapter 6, then 6->7 I drop another 20%

- respite chapter
- world building
- new side characters
- first pause


My analysis is. Better imediate hook, don't rest for the first 20 chapters.
Character must always have direct agency and goals. Even if it is not realistic or restricts the types of stories I can tell.

>>25055781
I think you're riffing off low quality material and producing similar.

>>25055781
I planned a story called "Hitler" it will be about the consumption patter of venezuelan tree moss the cover will feature a bowl of fruit.

>>25055802
It's not working for me. The associations are too on the nose. Hitler escaped to Latin South America while both moss and fruit are plant-adjacent. You need to obscure these elements more thoroughly

>>25055806
Sorry for being cliche and predictable.

>reading my writing back
>it's actually pretty good
fuck I don't have an excuse to not commit to this

>>25055775
>Good, you've broken enough rules that I can report your retarded ass
fuck that bullshit. This was a very slow night, this was almost passing for entertainment. I accidentally learned something cool making his cover.

>>25055781
>Lads, I'm working on a web novel called AZTEC and it will be mostly about sea anemones. the cover art will depict a taxidermy jackalope
>thoughts?
kino

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>>25054496
Witch and Mercenary Vol.3, JP: Kaeru Chohokiteki (2024) EN: L. Kino (2025)

Characters in fiction are often accused of being a mouthpiece for an author's views, though it's not clear whether that's the case here. I feel there's instead a considerable divergence between the views of the characters and the narrative choices. Zig is about as neutral as it comes, regularly reminding allies that he may one day have to kill them if the circumstances arise that require it. He's changing though and the question remains of how long he can remain true to his mercenary ideals. Siasha is far simpler. There's her and everyone else. As long as there's no friction, there aren't any problems. When people frustrate her by blocking progress in her advancement, her first thoughts are still to murder everyone doing so regardless of the consequences.

By comparison, maybe I'm looking at it wrongly, but it doesn't seem value neutral for the author to continually include and functionally approve of everything while the characters deny doing so for the apparent reason or claim neutrality. In the second volume, Zig saves demihuman immigrant children from human traffickers, but also claims to have worked for human traffickers in a different circumstances. Will something like that ever be shown? Probably not. This volume has an even stronger focus on treating demihumans the same as everyone else. Those who are against them are portrayed very negatively and it doesn't end well for them. Maybe the author doesn't intend much by it, but there's also that the continent they came from is homogenous and wartorn because they can't accept differences between each other. They escape to a multicultural land where all people are in relative harmony and the the idea of war is unknown. There are also monsters though.

Should the characters and narrative be in agreement or does it not matter? I'm not going to pretend it doesn't matter to me at least somewhat, or I wouldn't be writing about it. That isn't say I want them to be either. The best outcome for my preferences would be that their beliefs eventually align with their actions. I don't know how much this is noticed, let alone something worth considering.

Glimpses of Zig and Siasha's life are provided, but whether anything that happened before they came here will matter is yet to be seen. One activity that has continued for Zig is visiting brothels, but it's only mentioned in passing and I doubt there will ever be more than that. As for the content, this volume is mostly monster extermination and life outside of that.

There's still not the slightest hint of an overarching story, unless Siasha trying to reach the top guild rank can be considered as such. For Zig it's living day to day and seeing what jobs it brings. He lives knowing that one day he'll die by something far beyond his power and he's made peace with that. Until that day though, he'll live life the way he wants to.

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Hello Darkness my old friend...

>>25055847
what got nuked and why should /wng/ care

>>25055849
mongol story about funghi

>>25055851
man that's kinda sad
i criticized the sculpture cover >>25055673
but i wanted that guy to do well

>>25055933
that one anon likely reported him?

>>25055933
he was writing pol schizo babble

>>25055775
curious what specific rule was supposedly broken. talking about a web novel project, I suppose. high treason right there.

>>25055978
You broke site rules by trying to publish rape erotica dumbass

>>25055762
>Why is all of that a single sentence?
he heard that's web novel style. Single sentence paragraphs. He just misunderstood execution, that's all. A perfectly understandable lapse in judgement, these things happen from time to time to all of us, I'm sure.

>>25055940
>that one anon likely reported him?
for what. if lack of skill was an offense there would be nuked projects all over the web going off like firecrackers at a chinese new year's parade, anon. Quality and skill are the exception rather than the rule.

>>25055984
>You broke site rules by trying to publish rape erotica dumbass
what site was he on he got mushrooms nuked

according to that one anon, apparently he's a /lit/ oldfag who's always stinking up wherever he goes
everyone fell for his smelly scheme and gave him so many (You)s... so much attention...

will an anon ever post a normal web novel that clearly belongs on RR? it's always some weird niche shit if not outright schizobabble, or barring that, tradpubshit

>>25055985
What would Spectral Soul do in this situation?

>>25056013
No because there's like 3 people here who actually like web novels (and one guy who keeps posting reviews of light novels) and the rest are from /wg/ and /sff/

>>25056037
All I've posted about originate from webnovels. I'll eventually move on to English ones.

>>25056013
Define "normal web novel"

>>25056070
only tourists need a definition for that, so no. go away

>>25056077
You don't think any listed in the OP qualify?

>>25055533
You could look at it that way, but it's about perspective. I haven't done any ads, my posting schedule has been far and away from the precepts, and I've just been working on it when I can.
Despite this, I have a group of dedicated readers that genuinely enjoy what I write and I've become better as a writer. It's the first real long term project I've done and sticking with it is a victory of it's own. I can always write something more appropriate for market after.
As a side note, I actually have almost 100 followers when you add in Scribblehub.

>>25056080
i don't look at the OP or care much about it, only the posts being made. and i haven't seen an anon post "I'm launching my story" where the story is normal web novel fare in what feels like months

>>25056013
Anyone sensible enough to do that is also sensible enough to not be tied to the site.

>>25056013
i started writing on my own years ago and then found RR and realized it was easier to upload there than emailing documents to people while begging them to read it. Sorry I didn't know there was a specific format I was supposed to follow.

a (tradpub/litfic/etc) work that happens to be posted online =/= webfic

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>>25056007
I've actually become a lot more cautious about providing feedback for writing samples after a troll started using them and "rate my idea guis" style posts to fish for engagement.

I'm thinking anything even remotely sexual or scatological I'm just going to ignore.

>>25056013
I feel some responsibility for contributing to this by not posting my own work in this thread, but obviously look who I'd get lumped in with. I don't want the taint by association.

Rest assured a fair bit of what you're seeing is trolling, and likely by just one or two people. Reporting does work by the way, mods and janitors seem responsive and certain personalities do disappear after enough hassle.

Finally dropped Demon Princess. Deluded myself into thinking it would get better. Glacial pace, directionless, writing getting worse, chapters overlap in different PoVs, and is for some reason trying to push in some lesbian love triangle.

>>25056150
>writing samples
yeah unfortunately this isn't really the place for feedback, just somewhere to noncommittally shoot the shit
I'm not even an anti-general 4chinz purist but leaving anything identifiable here just doesn't make any sense

>>25056086
>I actually have almost 100 followers when you add in Scribblehub.
All of 30 followers on scribblehub? No way. He is going to places

>>25054496
How's this prose:
>What once stood on the high hills was now buried in a bog. Such times had fallen on their beloved town. To the barbarian occupiers, only one thing mattered: order. And that they wanted everyone to know, hence the number of rotting heads on the walls outnumbered the residents who still had theirs. Everything but order was of little interest to their kind.
My primary goal here is to be interesting and give the reader just enought to visualize it.

>>25056209
you are telling instead of enacting the barbarians bullying the townspeople

is that supplementary or load bearing?

>>25056216
I'm trying evoke a hook.

>>25056217
not character driven enough for a hook in my humble opinion

>>25056217
worldbuilding/setting hooks are extremely weak. go for a character, power, or plot hook

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>>25056224
WRONG

>>25056224
Dunno. Isn't the world the main hook of LOTR? Characters are just tour guides to explore the world.

>>25056209
>Such times had fallen on their beloved town.
This doesn't really make sense.
Like I can tell what you're getting at but it isn't proper English because the "such" isn't connected to anything from the prior sentence.

>>25055694
anon's kaiju mecha one made my eyes water, it was good; shame he deleted his account.

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Fuck, I just physically can't do litrpg. The instant I start to put in numbers and stats, the whole thing, the characters and the world, start to feel fake as fuck and paper-thin, I lose all motivation to keep going. There's no more life in it, only polygons. I want to have fun with it, but it doesn't work

>>25056255
I somehow always minimize their role by instinct even if I go through the motion. Here some level, there some. Ohh you must that for the next evolution. Then they gained that skill and only irrelevant ones past 20 chapters.

>>25056229
LOTR is not a web novel anon
hooks change by the audience, yes. generally, people reading web sloppa don't give a shit about worldbuilding hooks
see the thread lolcow as proof >>25056228

>>25056255
just don't then lol

>>25056255
Write xianxia

Why is there not a single litrpg that incorporates stats (strength, speed, constitution etc.) well? The systems are always incoherent.

>>25056272
Because that'd take actual planning and effort, while the true purpose of the whole shit is to just quantify how much better the MC undeniably is than everybody else

>>25056272
The only good litrpgs just use the stats as an excuse to pace out the perks which have actual narrative power.

you can just write progfan without litrpg and stats and all that other stuff
this isn't controversial

>>25056263
270 followers.
You lost

>>25056299
why do you think 270 is a "gotcha, I win" amount of followers? it's not even impressive by other thread namefag standards

>>25056296
it's been a long, long time since i've seen a plain progression fantasy pop off from a new author
you have to write slop first to get your audience

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>>25056272
Unlucky Antagonist does it very well

>>25056253
it was that good? damn Why'd he wipe it

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I'm beginning to become addicted to these trashy c-dramas that have the plot of web sloppa.
surprising amount of blatant rape or rape attempts though. I really expected it to a xianxia only thing due to it being a niche but no these dramas have no problems with doing that to heroines something i think modern western studios would balk at or find too uncomfortable.

>>25056309
Are you suggesting litrpg elements with all the stats and skills and numbers (and stat screens) that entails are now compulsory to get any recognition? I'm not sure it's that severe yet. This hypothetical progfan would still have a power/magic system and all that, I just dunno if stats are as indispensable for prospective readers as you're saying

>>25056238
So, what you are saying it needs a semicolon?
Either way, I think it's proper English, just kinda archaic.
You can find comparable use in Moss' translation of ROTK:
>Away from the capital, a part of the Five Mountains collapsed, leaving a mighty rift in the flank. Such were some of various omens.
But maybe I'm missing something.

>>25056323
>Are you suggesting litrpg elements with all the stats and skills and numbers (and stat screens) that entails are now compulsory to get any recognition?
when you said "and all that" I assumed you meant any other topical trends like cultivation systems, isekai, reincarnation, time loops, etc. litrpg isn't the only thing that works
but if you mean a completely trad fantasy novel with a heavy focus on progression - yes I do think that's not something that works, generally speaking. when is the last time a new author wrote a story like that and did well? (got several thousand followers?)
established authors can, but I haven't seen a new author do it in forever. i think orellen is the last one i can think of

>>25056319
c-dramas can unironically be good study material for learning storytelling in a general sense, structure, and character interactions etc without the time commitment you'd need to read an equivalent number of badly translated web novels. you then study the craft of writing itself in better written material; realistically, you'll only retain a fraction of good style through osmosis anyway but that'll already be enough to know when your own writing is shit/how to improve it.

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>>25056272
Stats are hard becasue
>Strength:18
is useless unless you add a text descriptor via a snarky system
>strength: 3 (system note: you are as dangerous as a toddler)
You gotta assume that despite using a system inspired by DND none of the people, author and reader included have played DND.
in DND the max stat of strength is 20, if a guy is 20 you know he's as strong as a human can possibly be, but 20 seems low for a progression story right? these guys are getting stats nearly every other chapter.
so now you've got 1 to infinity, how do you make each additional point convincing you don't, you just give your protagonist skills or equipment that lets him kill foes you've written to be intimidating.
the only exception I've seen to this is when the joke is that this person is minmaxing a stat.

>>25056331
seems like a misunderstanding then.
I agree that you still "need" to leverage some of those web fic trends; I was only expressing doubt that stats/numbers are compulsory for success.

>>25056328
NTA, but it's a bit silly, because saying "such times" in the context gives the impression that hilltops sinking into bogs is just a familiar, recurring thing, even though it should be geographically a deal of once in ten thousand years. Meanwhile, in the example you posted the linking is clear: part of the mountains collapsing is seen as an omen. But I think the overall stiff, monotone pacing is a much bigger issue.

>>25056336
Meanwhile, in everyone's favorite story by MysticRhythm, the MC starts off with whopping 162,196 points in Strength, but can somehow walk around without making the world explode. In which case someone with the STR of 10 shouldn't even be able to open doors.

>>25056348
this assumes both that stats are linear and that in mystical magical world people dont have the ability to perfectly control their strength
if youre gonna be autistic about stuff like that at least be sensible too

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>>25056217
My attempt after a while and procrastination.
>What once stood on the high hills was now buried in a bog. Such times had fallen on their beloved town. To the barbarian occupiers, only one thing mattered: order. And that they wanted everyone to know, hence the number of rotting heads on the walls outnumbered the residents who still had theirs. Everything but order was of little interest to their kind.


Warden Riat overlooked the thick ooze of rotten plants drag another brick and the oaken beam attached to it down into its foul embrace. A grave of mud for a better past. Once Istamar had been a town on high hills, now it was a daily reminder to him that not even high hills could protect what he loved from falling down into the dirt and that everything perished in rot.

He pushed another head onto a pike, encircling what was left. Houses numbering less than twenty, the bandits heads were thirty.
Finished with his work and measuring the perfect symmetry of his warning he praised the old god of order. "Thank you Lady Divine, protect us from the chaos of the wild and the lances of the barbarians."

"Riat are you all done?"

Who is the strongest cultivator of all Eastern wizardry, and how hard would they get buttfucked by the strongest Western wizard, Raistlin Majere?
RIfag, you need not respond.

>>25056356
It's absurd bullshit. You could just say the MC is omnipotent god and there are no stakes

>>25056365
Anybody who can't juggle universes casually doesn't make medium tier xianxia cultivator.

>>25056367
That's the point of MLA albeit

>>25056367
Why doesnt Goku destroy the world when he walks around, as you complained about? I dont see a difference in logic just because a number is defined

>>25056364
Too much unsolicited worldbuilding.
If lore, worldbuilding etc is given before a reader cares/actively wants to know more about those things, it isn't working.

>>25056367
That's literally in the blurb. It's not a story about fighting, it's a mystery story with a power fantasy coat of paint. Of course paint-chip eaters are only there for the thin layer of power fantasy, which is why OPMC Archmage became a fad for some months.

If you want progression fantasy read actual progression fantasy like Azarinth Healer.

>>25056378
Yeah I don't even know what that anon is crying about anymore, he's fighting a non-issue.
a regular person has the strength to easily crush an egg but that doesn't mean we can't just pick one up

>>25056380
I know that this doesn't work as webnovel. This was an attempt to improve it. To tell it better not to tell something else entirely.

>>25056385
It doesn't work as a regular novel either. Start with the heads.
+ I'm not the original anon who pointed it out but that "Such times..." line still doesn't work.

>>25056385
>I know that this doesn't work as webnovel.
Why are you asking in the web novel thread then? There's a writing general and a /sffg/ for trad books.
This thread is for web novels.

>>25056390
Why not start with the combat?
>>25056392
I'm not asking. I'm demonstrating how I would improve it, not how I would make it perfect.

>>25056398
You didn't start with combat either. You started with a vague indeterminate mushy lore drop about something (i.e. the settlement) on the hills now being buried in a bog, followed by a badly written musing, followed by more unsolicited lore drops about the barbarians' aims. This isn't interesting because you haven't given a reader reason to care about anything yet. You haven't fulfilled your end of the bargain. This isn't some anti-tradpub complaint; this excerpt is simply badly written.

>>25056328
No, I'm saying such is the wrong word to use.
In the example you give they use "Such" because the previous passage lists the omens it's referring to.
In yours you have a single event that isn't what we'd refer to as a "time" so saying "such times" doesn't make sense.

To me if you're gonna say "such times" it's usually to illustrate irony. i.e.
"When London's walls were built, King John proclaimed that they would never be breached. Such times had now befallen the capital."

>>25056409
I can't invent some motivations for a protagonist that is not mine.

The One True Decider of All Things Web Novel and Determiner of Opening Content in General.

>>25056414
These were only two of their most known titles. The name That One was best known as was The Arbiter of What Readers What.

the tourists are getting uppity again

>>25056367
The point of OPMC stories is that they're non-omnipotent gods.
It's been something literature's been exploring since the classics.

>>25056420
Every mf say they wanna be [authors] until it's time to do [author] shit (receive critique)

>>25056409
I have to agree with anon's assessment. It took me a lot of lectures (here) to learn it. Opening chapter should have something. Either action, or shocking imagery, something. Then you can go slow and build up. But only after that burst at the beginning. It makes sense, too. Think of any James Bond movie and many others. You *always* get that action and danger montage, or the bad guy you can't see creeping around in the shadows, something dangerous. That's the opening. Then, you have your slow p[lot build up. But its necessary up front to do that. As I said, it took me many lectures to get it thru my head, anon is being nice beating it into you, that you have to do this. Its tough love, but its still love he's giving you. Know it, learn it, then live it. Most action movies do this. Pro tip: change 1st to 3rd or vice versa, for this *short* introductory chappie. It sets it apart.

>>25056427
>It's been something literature's been exploring since the classics.
lol. lmao

>>25056392
/wg/ is insufferable. I get better writing tips for my trad here than anywhere.

>>25056437
That anon is right. Of course, Homer actually tells an interesting story by making Achilles' shitty attitude lead to bad things happening to him

>>25056336
>in DND the max stat of strength is 20, if a guy is 20
t. was hard core ad&d fag when young.
3 to 18 was STR. (3d6) if you rolled 18 triple 6, you then rolled 2d10. the highest # came first (EG, 82, not 28 regardless) and 18(82) was your above 18 STR. maximum human STR was 18(00) which was "100" on top of your 18. That was "maximum human strength". Only deities and special monsters (such as high arch devils or demons, storm giant strength, etc) could get above that. Spells and deity grants could temporarily p[lace you above your 18(100) but temporarily. Above max human STR was shitr like "storm giant STR" and "godlike STR" usually reserved for certain deities. Some DM's played fast and loose though and let people bring their OP characters. But it wasn't technically legal, nor allowed in competitions. Thanks for the fond memories to go with my miller high life, anon. Was fun to reminisce.

>>25056328
on some level? screw autistic grammar rules. If it sounds good, it is good. I used the line "and peace descended upon the land, such as peace was thought of in those days". I don't care if it violates some rule; it fucking sounds old time-y and epic retelling language. we're in WN land, anon. You tell me *what* fucking english professor would let you get away with all one sentence paragraphs? I'm waiting. Exactly. It sounds good, it is good. Sound and flow, matter most.

>>25056323
numbers are an extremely common trope. not much bad can come from ticking that checkbox off.

>>25056469
>and peace descended upon the land, such as peace was thought of in those days
this doesn't sound good thougheverbeit...
you're just huffing your own farts

>>25056457
Even ancient sumerians understood perfect gods were fucking boring characters. The actual gods themselves were very flawed and capable of fucking up.

>>25056469
I agree with your sentiment but that line isn't good. It's bad.

>>25056309
if I ever do lit RPG one day, its gonna be old school autistic adherence to all AD&D standards. Retro can be a thing.

>>25056255
i thought that way about isekai. But once I got started trying it, I ended up finding it satisfying to play with. PS cool image, liked the movie.

If you didn't need to change anything else in your story but could add one of the following for guaranteed success, what would you choose?
>stats
>isekai
>the MC has some kind of cheat/exploit/System™ etc

>>25056485
all three, then forgot or orphan it

>>25056155
by demon princess do you mean demon princess loves to paint? always wondered about that one.

>>25056365
>His health, while never robust, was ruined further, leaving him weak and subject to frequent bouts of coughing blood.
Lol, strongest western wizard can't even conjure a fucking heal spell on himself, while at the same time average nirvana tier eastern cultivators have indestructible bodies made out of literal star cores and if they do happen to get destroyed (by even more powerful cultivators) their powerful souls just possess another body or at worst travel to yellow springs and from there undergo reincarnation. Eastern cultivators literally wipe the floor with the western wizards.

>>25056485
isekai is easy to implement and forget about after the beginning

>>25056492
Calvin ball means western top characters are stronger tho.

>>25056070
>Define "normal web novel"
primarily one sentence paragraphs. zero descriptions of anything around you beyond that. no internal monologue. Short direct sentences. if it doesnt *directly* support the purpose of the chappie, kill your darling. quick dialog or action, nothing else. in and out under 3k per chappie. basically picking a spot between comic book and traditional paperback novel? Closer to comic book in complexity.

>>25056029
>What would Spectral Soul do in this situation?
I'm not sure. but would it be similar to what Fang Yawn would do, LMAO.

>>25056364
Your style is certainly conventional and easy to read.

>>25056500
these are incidental characteristics rather than defining traits. i.e. web novels often have these elements but these elements don't make them web novels

>>25055996
>>You broke site rules by trying to publish rape erotica dumbass
and just like that? (you) outed yourself. Had *one* reader, who read for a couple days. Then? *poof* reported for explicit sexuality on Wattpad and nuked that book. Now. I reported here that I was nuked for explicit sex. I never *once* said anything about what type. You, were obviously the person that read it, then reported it. No other way for you to know. Now. Get it right. it wasn't "rape erotica". you must have been skimming. it was a loving couple that role played in private. no rape. The only "rape" was a rape victim survivor IN THERAPY getting help. That couple? Went on to *kill* and basically assassinate? all the people responsible for the horrific rape she endured. It was a revenge noir. it was a couple that role played in private for fun. But. More importantly? I've twice now run across an anon from here, out and about. BOTH times, I read chappie one, and awarded five stars. You know, good looking out for a brother anon. But you? Well, it has to suck going through life like you. Being a backstabbing little bitch. Not only did you do that and then outed yourself? You didn't even read it correctly. I'm not mad, I actually feel sorry for you. Here's me, Tina-anon. I meet *any* anon out and about? I give you love. I gave MLA 5 stars and praise review. Same for Kinoman. What did you do. And remember anon. I have every right to be vindictive because of how many of you treat me, yet I don't do that petty shit. So you? Are less honorable than Tina-anon. That's sad that I conduct myself with more dignity. Get a life.

>>25056506
those aren't even incidental traits of web novels, more than half are outright wrong. prose and style isn't universal in web novels. just tina babble
realistically speaking the core traits that 98%+ of popular web novels share is (in order of universality):
- serial releases
- a power fantasy aspect (in that MC is super special somehow)
- heavy trope usage (rarely, in deconstruction)
- long-running/intends to be long running

at least that's my quick thoughts on the topic

File: isk.png (238 KB)

238 KB PNG

Here (pic related) is an example of a well written first chapter of a successful webnovel.
Study it so that you can improve your own writing.

>>25056506
>these are incidental characteristics rather than defining traits. i.e. web novels often have these elements but these elements don't make them web novels
thanks. I'll pick up more traits by osmosis as time goes on. But other than the things I said, tropes and tags to be touched base on, seem essential. Isekai, OP MC, LitRPG, etc.

>>25056520
names drop slop

>>25056517
>- a power fantasy aspect (in that MC is super special somehow)
you cant do underdog somehow figures out a way? you know, underdog comes out on top.

>>25056528
underdog is a cousin of traditional, more straightforward power fantasy

>>25056517
>- a power fantasy aspect (in that MC is super special somehow)
this does seem quite essential. and in trad, flaws are the mark of the mature more advanced character. so when i complain about comic book hero MCs, I'm unknowingly complaining about one of the core concepts of the whole genre. thanks for engaging me, anon. I'm coming around the horn on this stuff.

>>25056520
>Here (pic related) is an example of a well written first chapter of a successful webnovel.
>Study it so that you can improve your own writing.
no. MLA is the standard "do it this way" first chappie.

>>25056537
>MLA
What's that?

>>25056550
[Mai Raifu Azu A] Makkusu Reberu Ākumeiji

>>25056517
>- serial releases
I'm ashamed to admit it, but I never did releases scheduled. Never saw a point since I had no clicking power anyways. I started doing it for a lark? I started picking up clicks. not a lot mind you, but some accumulating is better than none. And to do it with totally non-WN style shit, it shows the usefulness of that. The precepts, always follow the precepts. They exist for a reason. I did releases, and I picked up a rabid fan. Just the one, but it was a rush. I get PM'ed and he wants assured I have more coming. I told him theres more chappies, and my schedule is months long on that project. One dedicated reader of trad style means there are others out there, somewhere. Trad's simply what I been training myself to do, for years now. thanks, anon.

File: Screenshot 2026-01-30 232709.png (199.1 KB)

199.1 KB PNG

Here (pic related) is an example of a well written first chapter of a successful webnovel.
Study it so that you can improve your own writing.

>>25056537
>no. MLA is the standard "do it this way" first chappie.
dude. Max Level Archmage. the stanbdard by which patreon success, is judged. This motherfucker writes a WN? He can buy a new TESLA every year. no sweat. If that ain't how its done, I don't know what is. and if a resident schizo knows that much, that's bad on you.

>>25056469
TINA, that doesn't sound good at all

>>25056563
kinoman. you know I love you, brother. but you know you're just asking for it. hope you got your flame-proof suit on, lol.

>>25056570
I thought it was funny.

>>25056567
>TINA, that doesn't sound good at all
music composition rules. First learn all the rules. Then, decide what rules you are going to break in your composition. another. if it sounds good, it is good. Both of these rules apply to writing. if the sentence flows and sounds good? It is good. also. you think I don't know the proper usage of its and it's? I do. But i deliberately use its instead for both. For one, i don't have to wonder or think. For another, its a tiny error almost no one complains about. For yet a third thing? It marks me as 'human', not AI. I mean seriously, are you telling me you parse each and every participle phrase? Come on.

>>25056575
it mightve been funny if you didn't do it four times a thread
it's just begging for attention with the rate you do it