Tree Cultivation Edition

Previous >>24563536

>What is Web Novel General?
A general for readers and authors involved or interested in the growing phenomenon of 'web novels', serialized English fiction posted to websites such as: Royalroad, Webnovel, Scribblehub, Wattpad, Archive of Our Own, Spacebattles, HFY, various personal author websites, and more

>Why read web novels?
Not for prose or tight editing or deep themes, frankly. As a whole, web novels are infamous for content sprawl and pacing issues. If you enjoy having millions of words to sink your teeth into to get to know the world and characters, though, you may be interested. Keeping up with other readers on a weekly basis to discuss the story's events unfolding is another perk, in the same way discussing an ongoing TV show might be.

>Why write web novels?
Ease of access & potential for Patreon earnings. Many successful authors gain an audience on their website of choice and funnel their readers into a Patreon. See https://graphtreon.com/top-patreon-creators/writing for an idea of what some are earning.
Also, once an author has earned a fanbase, transitioning into an Amazon self-publishing career is several orders of magnitude easier than starting 'dry'.

> Advice for Noobs!
Running your story like the business it is:
https://www.royalroad.com/forums/thread/116847

On writing webserials:
https://alexanderwales.com/how-to-write-a-web-serial/

Sanderson's Writing lectures 2025:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEUh_y1IFZY&list=PLSH_xM-KC3ZvzkfVo_Dls0B5GiE2oMcLY

>Reborn as a tree
is it any good?
What are anons' favorite and least-favorite non-humanoid protagonist webslops

>>24568408
>is it any good?
Was desu, dropped since the last arc.
>favorite
Enjoying Bloodstained Blade right now, sword MC webslop.
>least-favorite
Draka; Dragon webslop but all the characters could talk about was sex, I don't want to hear about that, dropped before the end of vol 1.

>>24568306
>it's kind of crazy how many stories have asexual mcs
Hm. At a guess I'd say it leans more female reader popular? Or, maybe it's a reaction to all the erotica and intended for the younger audience.
>>24568315
>would readers on rr enjoy cs lewis adjacent literature...?
>>24568362
>Anyone up for some thinly veiled christian allegory? [paraphrased interpretation]
Some would be all into it. Crafted with some care you would find there is a whole mass market for it out there. Meanwhile, here on 4chan? Surprise. This reader has a taste for such where the delivery is, shall we say, hardcore. Not in the erotica or porn sense. Think: Graham Greene.

>>24568425
It's because most content on RR is written by amateurs of middling talent and amateur romance can be extremely cringe and bad. So royalroad readers avoid stories tagged as romance mostly because the low end of the bell curve is so bad and offputting.

That said pic related is a successful romance that's still in rising stars so it CAN succeed.

>>24568408
The only one that comes to mind is kumo desu, which I did like but it wasn't peak or anything. Vainquer is recommended a lot but I can't read any of Void Herald's stuff, there's something off about his prose. I would blame it on ESL but Mecanimus and Nobody are both ESL and I don't have issues with them. Something about VH's writing on a sentence level doesn't gel with me. I don't like his dialogue either.
>>24568425
>Hm. At a guess I'd say it leans more female reader popular? Or, maybe it's a reaction to all the erotica and intended for the younger audience.
Not from what I've noticed. Tons of implied asexual male mcs. Super Supportive comes to mind
there really aren't many female readers on royalroad in general dude. and from the stories that do seem female coded, romance is almost always a big plot point. women love romance

>>24568446
>>24568425
actually i can see on reread i clearly misinterpreted what you wrote lol
ill go put on the dunce hat real quick

>>24568408
tried chrysalis awhile ago. it was so bad that it put me off webnovels for awhile.
then i came back and tried DoTF and it was essentially the same thing. i'm still coping.

>>24568449
No, no. That's fine. Back in the day when I was searching for a platform to get started with I checked out RR. It was that, or, well. I settled on Ao3. Been there ever since.
I'm not familiar with how RR is now a days so the background is good to know.

>>24568461
chrysalis was a shameless ape of kumo ga with none of the schizophrenic vision
I read it for a bit but only because it barely fulfilled the void that kumo left
>>24568408
The Iron Teeth
Tenebroum is pretty good but it's S T U B B E D

>>24568408
Many of the reincarnated as a tree type stories are bad. It's similar to the issue with dungeon core. They always stray away from being a tree. It become some weird kingdom building resource management type shit where the protagonist has a dumbass system to exploit.

My favorite non-human protagonist is from "Ballad of A Semi-Benevolent Dragon". It's a story that stands far above most others on RR. Also, like that other anon said kumo is also good.

>>24568408
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/14396/the-snake-report
i remember reading this one ages ago. it's pretty light and quick, reincarnate into a snake and get absurdly overpowered really fast. I don't think it was that long but I liked what was there

>/wng/ approves of Kumo
Based. I still haven't read the last volume though.

I have nearly 600 followers yet my story doesn't feel popular. it might just be silent readers at this point. Or maybe there are readers that just wait for a significant story milestone to be hit, like a volume finishing, before diving in. I've got sone patrons (7) so there are people willing to pay for paywalled chapters.

>>24568481
based lurkers reading your work

>>24568481
prob because 600 isn't popular
I went and found a random 3000 follower story and clicked into the most recent chapter and look:
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/94449/reborn-as-a-demon-hat-a-monster-evolution-isekai/chapter/2446003/148-rise-of-the-archon
It has 3 comments, 3 responses from the author for a total of 6
You need to have a LOT of followers to be getting consistent discussions in the comments.
Congrats on the 600 but 600 is only 'a lot' from an amateur perspective, not on the scale of 'real stories' (you know what I mean). I wouldn't even call 3k popular tbdesu

>>24568408
Favorite is 我变成了女精灵 by a mile, haven't read anything that has managed to come close to it
I don't really have a least favorite. I particularly dislike Overlord, though.

>>24568481
Maybe they don't have something to talk about or speculate? You could try prompting some reaction or making a poll, like "What's your favorite character so far?".
>>24568490
Could also be this, remember that 90% of the internet are lurkers, 9% change content and only 1% creates. So you could at best expect ~6 comments?

I liked Kumo a lot initially but after she comes out of the dungeon it feels like an entirely different work. The students weren't really eased into the story that well and I couldn't bring myself to care about them aside from the bully dude who dies thinking everything was a dream, which was bittersweetkino.
I also wanted the hero (either of them) to kick some ass which how much buildup the author poured on them but instead they were just useless cannon fodder foils to convey how much the protagonist and her allies were sociopaths.
There needs to be mermaid or harpy story written...

>>24568490
That actually makes me feel better about it thanks. Also the onslaught of goofy names in that chapter is vomit inducing.

>>24568496
I've tried engagement stuff like that and it hardly gets responses. I wouldn't respond to that stuff for the most part so I get non-engagement.

if you want a protagonist that women also enjoy reading, you must have your mc suffer and lose agency in some form.

>>24568499
there is a harpy in Everybody Loves Large Chests but she's just a moderately relevant party member late in the book. the main character is a chest mimic

Greetings, anons.

I come here to share System Under Siege.

https://archive.org/details/system-under-siege

It's a techno thriller about malware infecting a home computer in the early 2000s from the point of view of inside the computer.

>>24568505
You are right fellow sufferCHAD/GOD/SAMA, thank you for opening your mouth and pouring words of wisdom onto this thirsty, thirsty thread.

>>24568514
why's this on archive

>>24568514
anon, "web novels" doesn't mean "novels on the web"

>>24568505
What if I hate women and want them to be miserable?

>>24568525
then do nothing, that is their default state

>>24568543
Seriously. A man on his own can be meloncholy, but he can just entertain himself with some dumb stuff. Women invent problems and get offended when you don't get worked up and participate in those problems with them.

I have come to announce to my fellow /wangers/ that I have yet again added another log to my hoard. That is all.

>>24568591
How many words can you write per day, loganon? I'm struggling to find motivation for 1k daily and I've been skipping.

what's the deal w/ webnovels on RR that don't even have a cover? what is the author doing?

Would there be any sense to putting my first volume of my novel on Amazon if I'm still putting out content on RR? It wouldn't be kindle unlimited obviously.

>>24568633
writing

>>24568595
I'm not the anon that typically posts about backlogging. I average around 3-4k a day though.

>>24568672
Absolute chad writer.

>>24568670
i'm going to take a leap and assume they live in filth and/or have some sort of 'ism

>>24568633
makes sense to me
writing as a hobby, 0 art talent, not making any patreonbux so not worth paying a commission, too morally pure to use AI

there are surprisngly many high rated stories on scribblehub with the default cover image too

Shill me some harem sloppa please

>>24568445
I did not expect to find a man's attempts and failure to avoid sex with his hot alien wife so compelling.

>>24568641
plenty of authors do this. your most dedicated RR autists will throw you an extra 5bux just out of loyalty and a few kindle only people with no idea what royalroad is will buy too, especially if the popularity bump from RR readers buying it gives you an algo boost.

reading isekai sloppa has inspired me to write my own story. I'll post it here once I get a few more chapters done
do you guys like pathetic self insert protags? cuz its gonna have that. the theme will be suffering. No system bs, though I might make dnd char sheets for the MC and yandere heroine to work with

Is there any point to ads if you already have a couple hundred follows and decent reviews?

>>24568738
I don't, but don't let anyone tell you to not write it if you really want to.

last night i wrote 1500 words of lesbian ntr porn instead of working on my novel, please forgive me

I don't normally read webslop, but I just finished Worm. Ending was very moving. There's a 9/10 novel (trilogy at most) somewhere in those millions of words.

>>24568796
it has lulls but its pretty good overall

>>24568796
i have a feeling you don't read much of anything.

>>24568913
worn is 1.6 million words long
even if it's theonly thing they've ever read they'd be more well read than 90% of the human population

anyone else written in Scrievner and posting it on AO3? Holy shit it's so irritating getting it to work with italics in particular

>>24568931
i feel you but, we are on lit. anyone who doesnt read doesnt exist. just like some anon who works at mcdonalds isn't considered 'rich' just because most of the world lives in fucking huts.

my comment was sort of mean, but they were talking down on their webslop while praising it. fuck 'em
worm is shit
and/or
they wouldnt know better

>>24568944
this is true for loads of sites and programs. the copy paste function isn't standardized so there's like a million functions and duct tape solutions under the hood
this is true for all copy paste issues: use word as the middle man. everything works with word. so X to Word, copy from Word to Y
Patreon has this issue too, notably

>>24568967
I managed to find a hay with markdown to HTML, only drawback is of course it rapes my beloved em dashes into three en dashs, but it's bearable.

Forgive me father for I have begun enjoying reincarnation slop

>>24568976
>3 en dashes
big...

Thank you paba for teaching the barbarians in your fantasy world about faggots having buttsex and their own internal and external bigotry. This recent chapter with ching chong earth girl brow beating her pussy whipped noble knight boyfriend about it was so powerful. We need more of these chapters and more with that tranny drake. This is what fantasy has been needing for so long.

What is this nigger melting down over

>>24568982
erm... sir this is a wendys drive-thru

>>24568979
reincarnation as in isekai or reincarnation as in regressor

>>24568987
Nice reddit-tier joke anon. Let's see Paul Allen's.

>>24568991
[laugh track]

>>24568772
hope you get lots of ao3 kudos

>>24569001
*bows to the crowd*

just rambling:
so, litrpg is essentially a single trope, yea? it serves a purpose; it's the step-sister of progression porn. expectations easily managed. a foundation to not waste time. the readership wants to skip the cinematic and play the game
BUT,
i think we undervalue the autistic-coded hyper fixation comfort factor it provides, and we can utilize this aspect in new (ancient) ways.

im talking world building where one 'thing' permeates reality, and is accepted unquestioningly. not just a litrpg subgenre. this is super common in anime/manga/japshit. think POKEMON. no one is opting out, it is what it is. im not too familiar w/ onepiece, but everyone lives in a port town and it's all pirates and marines. probably. etc.

in the west, this might be something like harry potter (muggles aside) or 40k.
you could argue something like hunger games, but the line quickly begins to blur.
you could give endless examples, but it has to have an unhinged suspension of disbelief factor to it, imo

MY POINT IS, the 'market' will evolve beyond litrpg and cultivation eventually. this is probably how. some extension of this, anyway

>>24569025
What is the "thing" that permeates reality in 40k in your opinion?

>>24569027
war

>>24569027
>>24569029
to elaborate. war is so universal, that the absence of war essentially doesnt exist, or would be a ridiculous thought in-universe

>>24569031
The setting is vast enough that there are peaceful places but yeah those places usually serve some purpose towards the war machine that's about right. The setting slogan is 'there's only war' anyhow.

>>24569025
You're basically just dancing around the idea that all these settings are built around their magic system, with the waters heavily muddied by trying to fabricate connections with series you don't have knowledge of beyond vague cultural osmosis.

>>24568944
>>24568967
Nothing for nothing, but this is why we have regex and Perl. It pays to learn a little scripting to roll your own converter.
Why is this still a thing in the 21st century? Who knows. Ask an AI.

>>24569025
should note that this can also be achieved just through narrative, without ridiculous worldbuilding. ir s tennis webnovel could just be the fixation of that character you follow closely... but having it be a universal theme seems to resonate w/ a lot of people reading slop

>>24569038
see,
>>24569042

>>24569047
>>24569038
in other words, it wouldn't have to be magic adjacent. it's more about everyone in that universe being autistic for one thing. and at very least, everyone you focus on

>>24569025
I'm still a bit weirded out by so much emphasis on rpg systems shown in detail in a narrative. I'll happily use a system to resolve action and guide plot, but I describe effects, happenings, results, not the mechanics of how. A more traditional way of writing, that is.
But, hey, modern gaming is what people do, what they experience, so it bleeds into the writing. People want the autistic mechanics as it's presented in a computer game. At least people are reading. Some will expand outward later and maybe keep trad-lit alive.

>>24569025
This post is a great argument against weed.

>>24569062
cut myself off before getting into the psychology behind it. i am in control

>>24569058
yea this is why i drew parallels with the stepsister thing. priorities, comfort, laziness. i don't know. it really is weird if you extrapolate 99999 litrpg series to like, how people work in general

>>24569058
>But, hey, modern gaming is what people do, what they experience, so it bleeds into the writing. People want the autistic mechanics as it's presented in a computer game.
That's the thing tho.
They don't.
The key issue with LitRPG is that it's a completely misunderstood approach to game mechanics. It's arguably closer to Shadowrun or Pathfinder than a computer game and even that's dodgy.
>and maybe keep trad-lit alive.
LitRPG predates webnovels.

>>24569049
I forget who said it, might have been Sanderson, but in essence that's what a magic system is. It doesn't need actual magic. It's when the entire world is built around one particular structure of rules that the characters manipulate. Pokemon, karate techniques, CIA spycraft, these are all fundamentally the same as a magic system.

>>24569072
ah, i follow

>>24569072
I guess that's why John Wick took off so much. It's essentially killer Harry Potter.

Can anyone who's read super supportive tell me it's worth reading past the Lute POV chapters? The author is clearly bored of Alden's story at this point.

>>24568445
Explicit sexual activity and banter between a couple that had real feelings. Meaningful dialog. These were some of my last things I learned how to do. I consider these things difficult to pull off.

>>24569109
No. There's a point where the advise "keep writing" is counter productive because you are just wasting your readers time. Sometimes an author needs to step away and take a break. They may have outgrown the project, plain run out of material, whatever. He done reached that point. If he gives himself 30 days he might refill the well, or at least be able to write a decent ending to wrap things up.

>>24569196
>If he gives himself 30 days he might refill the well, or at least be able to write a decent ending to wrap things up.
I don't see him giving up his 24k euro per month income just because people who don't read/pay him think he needs to finish the story.

>>24569202
I see the world I want to see
believe in your dreams

>>24569202
This is a big problem with Patreon funded anything. We really need sites with internal dono functions in the west.
Maybe take a page out of YouTube's playbook by having dono comments + early members releases.

>>24569202
True. As a reader though, you also need to know when to walk away.
It's time.

>>24569227
there is paypal donations as a option for rr, but not ko-fi. I'm surprised ko-fi isn'ti implemented on RR

>>24569233
Well, patreon importer is down again it seems so I'll be taking a break, anyway.

>Ashlock dismissed the system with a sigh. "I've been in this world for two years, yet I've only been awake for like an hour in total? So sleepy..."
Wordsmithery right here.

Can I write a LitRPG in the form of a CRPG with dialogue trees?

>ending every chapter with a cliffhanger
what if I end every paragraph with a mini cliffhanger? or every sentence? the reader will find it psychologically impossible to stop reading.

>>24569259
That's what every big name author did.

>>24569259
anon discovers writing

>>24569257
Twin, you can do whatever you set your mind to!

>>24569257
Do you mean an actual choosy your own adventure litRPG or a story where the system controls what people can do/say so intrusively that at important points it gives the MC a set of speech/action options that he must choose from (kinda like in that one LN/anime romcom)?

I'm sick of science based magic systems. Bunch of fucking nerds man.
It's either LitRPG or science magic. Nothing else.

>>24569271
>science based
i think this is more a symptom of BrandoSando (PBUH) and video games inspiring harder magic/power systems in general. that underlying statistical/rational basis usually dovetails logically into science and its hard rules

Anything like MoL?

>>24569271
What should it be? Humpty-dumpty-diddley-do, I win because I say so!

>>24569279
Yes, tons of pure shit out there, just take your pick.

>>24569283
tag urself <3

captcha: K Y S VD

>>24569271
It's because every two-bit midwit gets stuck on (one of) two ideas:
>If magic is about cause and effect it's a science
And
>Four elements? What about all the elements on the periodic table!
And then that just stuck.
A lot of speculative fiction is based on the experience of being the smartest kid in middle school and then imploding upon being merely ordinary later on.

>>24569283
a more skilled writer would have gone with
>Humpty-dumpty-diddley-poo, I win because I say I do!
in other words? you are NGMI

Favorite capeshit?

>>24569279
tYotA

>>24569285
name something good then

>>24569303
what it mean

Any good stories where the mc is a living armor? ( smut or not , don't care)

>>24569306
The Years of the Apocalypse

>>24569269
>Do you mean an actual choosy your own adventure litRPG or a story where the system controls what people can do/say so intrusively that at important points it gives the MC a set of speech/action options that he must choose from (kinda like in that one LN/anime romcom)?
The latter. It could have a character stew over which option but their choice will show up in bold or red.

>>24568396 (OP)
Do you think this narrative style has an audience on RR?

>>24569309
Weirdly enough this is TOO much like mol off the premise. Also
>time loop
>no mystery tag

>>24569315
first volume yes , then it gets better.
It has mystery , don't worry.

>>24569290
It's webslop, not Terry Prachett

>>24569320
Does it go above being a mol clone?

>>24569312
>In the year...
Never have I fallen asleep faster, thanks

>>24569328
Yes. It's a 10/10 story. But since yiu zre looki g for reasons NOT to read it , heres the typical complaints:

1. First volume is derivative of MoL
2. Fem MC
3. There are a few times in the story where the MC has major setbacks
4. Heavy ecology themes
5. At times heavy anti-establishment and anti organized religion
6. MC is bi

>>24569341
>But since yiu zre looki g for reasons
Anon, 911, now!

>>24569345
Tablet typing sucks

>>24569309
>first chapter begins with MC waking up
No, you will never convince me this story is worth anything.

>>24569288
Best choose the king of literary VD.
Syphilis as the pathway to general paresis of the insane. Accept no substitutes.

>>24569351
Bro, every transmigration and time-loop story starts that way.

>>24569364
Exactly. It's terrible.

>>24569366
how would you start your time loop story if not at the beginning of the time loop

>>24569366
Why are you in the webnovel thread then? Just to shitpost?

>>24569369
You could start it from literally ANYWHERE, AT ANY POINT, except "MC McFaggot opened his/her eyes". But you just have to start with THAT.

>>24569380
I've read timeloop stories that don't do that and It doesn't make a difference.

>>24569341
>2 and 6
BASED alert

>>24569369
option 1: the events BEFORE the loop. Instead of "start of day" do middle of day, MC is proceeding as normally, SHTF, MC dies(or whatever else triggers the loop happens) THEN cut to the wakeup.
option 2: just start in the middle of a day several loops in. The MC is doing strange things and acting weird. The reader doesn't know why until it is revealed that they are already in the loop.

>>24569380
Name one story where that happens.

>>24569341
Alright I'm giving it a shot, the reviews are promising.

>>24569341
> Yes. It's a 10/10 story.
Not yet but it's getting there. If it keeps up this quality and nailed the landing I do think it'll overall be better than MoL.

> First volume is derivative of MoL
That I agree with that but I still don't know if that is intended by the author or just the genre's tropes. However I disagree it's that way for the entire first volume. You begin to realise how different it is to MoL once she thinks she's completed the loop after destroying the army only to then witness the actual Apocalypse of the title and she and the readers learn there is so much more going on.

>>24569385
The linked story I replied to? Retard.

>>24569390
I meant the part about starting at some other point ass maggot.

>It was all a dream…
Is there anything more kino?

>>24569380
The reason it doesn't start from literally ANYWHERE , AT ANY POINT, is because the story usually starts at the beginning of the time loop without the character knowing they're in a time loop. Starting at a random point just for the sake of being different is probably what a bunch of non-successful authors do because they're more concerned about being different than writing something worthwhile.
>>24569384
Both of those options are just worse for the sake of being different.
>Option 1.
The reason time loop stories start at the beginning of the future loop is so we are experiencing the repetition the same as the character is, what does taking that out of the story accomplish? It's just worse for no reason.
>Option 2
Okay, but why? For what narrative purpose would we start at that point.

>>24569393
Why? I don't read this garbage. There not being any would only make repeating it even worse, not better.

>>24569399
The more you type the more everyone can see you are a complete idiot with no idea what you are talking about. It's hilarious.

>>24569398
>the story usually starts at the beginning of the time loop without the character knowing they're in a time loop
There can be and are timeloops that don't start from the character waking up, what the fuck are you talking about?

>>24569401
Now you've given up on talking about fictions and moved on to attacking me. I don't wonder why these stories get popular, with these absolute mouthbreathing NPCs reading them.

>>24569402
So in your mind if the story started 10 seconds after the character woke up that would turn the story from zero potential to potentially genius, genre defining, world shattering?

My story isn't even a time loop or isekai and starts with the protagonist being woken up from a regular, honest nap by someone haha
It's unskilful and clichéd and low level but at some point, I wanted to stop worrying about a perfectly clever opening line/scene and actually write my story and all the other cool stuff that happens later
Anybody else know this feel?

>>24569413
Wisdom, twin.

>>24569413
No. I just daydream and never write.

>>24569413
> Anybody else know this feel?
Of course. It's not only comfy for you but also the readers.

>>24569398
>Okay, but why? For what narrative purpose would we start at that point.
to create a different narrative focus. Instead of having the discovery process of learning the rules, experimenting, failing to escape we focus on a character that is already a "veteran" of the loop they are in. This can be either a power fantasy without the weak start or it can be a dive into the despair of someone who has accepted they are stuck in a loop beyond their control, allowing for a different emotional impact of them learning there is potentially a way out.

>>24569413
I'm reading Timelooped and the mc starts the loop before entering the schoolyard. Trust me , it make zero difference for the reader. It's all 5he same tropes:
1. Annoying occurance at the start
2. Killed at start of loop
3. Ignored completelty as the story goes on.

It's a non -issue

>>24569418
But why ask for recommendations on a time loop web novel and turn your nose up at what you asked for if what you actually want is a subversion of time loop web novel tropes

>>24569413
fellow awakenchad reporting in
just get the story on the road

>>24569431
I'm not the person who asked for suggestions, I am simply saying there are different ways to start a story and tell a story with a time loop as the central gimmick.
I haven't read time loop web novels but I've watched movies/TV shows/anime and they are all different and they don't all start the same way nor frame the time loop in the same kind of setting. You can probably find 10 different ways to tell a time loop story just from looking up star trek episodes.

>>24569441
Oh, well I wasn't disputing that you can tell a time loop story an infinite number of ways. I just found his reasoning strange when he got what he asked for.

>>24569404
nta but I've read the entire reply chain and your posts are worthless. you call something bad and when asked how you'd like to see it be done instead you don't even "discuss" it like you claim the anon is failing to do. I support calling you names until you take your esl ass elsewhere.

>>24569380
McFaggot closed his eyes. Here his world ended.
Or so he thought.

How do I start a story? Do I just like wake up the mc or some shit or just straight action from the get go?

>>24569490
he NEEDS to wake up
otherwise how will the reader know he isn't sleeping?

Anon opened his eyes. What day was it? Saturday? Sunday? Monday? No... these questions didn't matter... he knew what day it was. It was the day he was going to make another post on 4Channel dot org.

The day he could never escape.

>>24569495
seriously though, is 'in medias res' a way to do it?

>in media res
>waking up
>dialogue
>scenery description
the holy quaternity of slop openers

>>24569507
>is X a way to do it
clearly. otherwise it wouldn't exist. any device is valid. worry less about the device and more about the execution

>>24569511
but the other anon said it's part of a quaternity of slop openers???

starting my time loop story with the mc jackin it to milf hentai

>>24569311
If you can avoid making your characters feel like literal NPCs in a scripted game, that's fine. Or are you going for gamelit where it actually is a scripted game and only some characters like the MC have any sort of agency and have to use their brains to work around the bad situtations the scripted sequences force them into?

While being railroaded will probably turn off a lot of readers, I like the idea of the protagonist's build mattering outside of combat so if you make the progression of his social stats matter because they help him unlock dialogue choices that could be fun. I certainly wish more litRPGs were influenced by good cRPGs or tabletop instead of MMOs and Skyrim for the west and JRPGs for Japan respectively.

>>24569514
that's a GOOD thing anon, let the slop flow.

>>24569515
>starting my time loop story with the mc jackin it to milf hentai
Is at least one loop going to be all about him seducing his mom?

litRPGs would be a much deeper and literary genre if they took inspiration from h-games

>>24569490
He opened his eyes and woke with a start. What time was it? The alarm didn't seem to be going off. He realized it wasn't time to wake up yet. Closing his eyes he quickly fell back asleep.

Hours later a truck backfiring woke him once more. He glanced at his clock, saw the time, closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

Latino music blasted from a rusty tin can of a car with brakes squeeling in misery. He woke once more from the ruckus, but it still wasn't time. He closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

In his dreams he woke up but quickly realized it was time to sleep and so he did so.

>>24569508
how would you recommend starting a story then

>>24569508
>mine technically implements all four
I'm cookin'

My story starts with the protagonist leaving a negative comment on an authors profile because his favorite girl lost.

>>24569532
That's a classic beginning for a reincarnated into a novel story.

>>24569532
>One too many negative comments!
The author then transforms into the BBEG and goes on a killing spree.
OK. That's a workable beginning. Keep at it, anon.

>>24569519
nah his mom is dead. part of the tragic backstory but also the source of his mommy issues, hence the milf hentai

>>24569537
Riveting monogatari, aniki.

>>24569535
If you embrace the slop hard enough it can circle back into being kino me thinks

just post my sloppy ai-assisted on plebtrod

>>24569542
Please tell me her chest was adorably flat.

>>24569553
I honestly didn't even consider whether he was an oppai or pettanko respecter. We will go with adorably flat.

>>24569567
Very based. I will watch your career with great interest.

>>24569515
bvsed

>>24569490
>How do I start a story?
More litRPG/isekai stories should start with MC suddenly finding himself in character creation with no explanation for why he even got his second chance at life.

>>24569612
>Hairstyle 6
>Nah that looks gay

rate chatgpts conversion into shakespeare english

"What mean'st thou, we've no victuals?! Dost mine eyes deceive me, or lie there not potatoes aplenty?"

"Horse fodder, say'st thou?!"

"There be a cause the highborn boast of their steeds, perchance one of ye base-born louts shall stir my pride for once!"


"Lack we magic staves in the armoury? Nay, we scarce can muster witches enough to warm the hearth!"

"Now lend thine ears, for here's a craft I'd have the lads learn: horse-archery, mark it well."

"The Crown Prince hath severed his troth with the Duke's fair daughter?"

"Most wondrous news for the idle and unwed. Art thou without employ? Wouldst thou like to be?"

>>24569658
this has neither the soul nor form of slop
0/100
slop can't be exhausting to read. it must be smooth like well-greased fast food to go down easy

>>24569647
Personally, I wouldn't focus on the appearance part as much as the background and build options. Maybe a point buy system that allows you to pick a super ugly, stinky monster race to get bonus physical attribute points to spend and stuff like that. We need more ugly bastard isekais.

>>24569668
I see. So do you mean more like
>Huh, if I choose the "Short-sighted" trait, I get a bonus to...
>If I get the "Body-Odour" trait, I get an extra...
Then he just stacks trait maluses until the potential benefits/compensatory starting stat points make him a repulsive war god?

>>24569525
The interface blinked as I spammed the upgrade skill button.
398...
399...
400 points in Tongue Clicking skill!

FREEZE FRAME
Yeap , that's me , dumping all my points on that deceptevly useless skill. You might be wondering how I got here. Well it all started when I was crossing down the street , not paying attention to the traffic...

>>24569675
I would probably not go full OP MC, especially not early game, since I like the idea of progression fantasy but something like that could be fun.

>story starts
0/10

>>24569701
Just end it already

>>24569701
I'll give it a shot. give me the title.

I don't read novels with female protagonists

>>24569701
name of story? seems interesting desu

if i wrote a litrpg i’d focus on the sheer wtf of the natives who have had their game system for so long that they legitimately worship it as a god; entire kingdoms and empires have caste systems determined solely by the uncaring, undiscerning system which makes a class based off of the user’s highest stats; new races are born every thousand years or so from stacking birth attributes over a certain threshhold; and the MC continues to astound the natives with his sheer autism via turning iron into nails, then said nails into iron bones which is then used to make tons of bait so the MC can grind his fishing, perception, and dexterity for the next couple months or so.

>>24569719
>I don't read novels with female protagonists
I avoid them, too. As far as I can tell, most of them are written by Joss Whedon tier "male feminists" rather than waifufags or other based people.

>>24569719
Gay

>>24569719
>>24569733
i'm sorry

>>24569733
you'll probably get contrarians calling you a faggot but I agree with this take as well.

>>24569733
That's often true. On the rare occasion you do get a waifufag tho those can be pretty decent, so I give some chances here or there.

>>24569769
The vast majority of the ones written by waifufags fall into the "edgelord assassin/thief waifu who is sexy and provocative but would never ever ever touch a penis" box.

>>24569784
Yes, I too have read Otome Heroine's Fight for Survival.

>>24569784
they're too pure to touch a male penis. only a female penis, aka a clitoris is allowed!

(dropped the series after knowing it's just yurifagging)

>>24569784
Call me a purityfag but the part where a woman doesn't touch other penises while I am self-inserting into her is pretty essential for my enjoyment.

>>24569719
Same desu, I only like my female characters

Hello raiders

>>24569784
Waifufags need to retvrn to the cute useless damsel heroine, girlbosses have done immeasurable damage to self insert fiction.

>>24569836
>Waifufags need to retvrn to the cute useless damsel heroine
And undo decades of trying to cozy up to the roasties and male feminists who still think they are creepy incels regardless of how much they flatter women?

Thoughts? would you read this?

I like girlbosses

>>24569831
rent free, i haven't been back for ages

>>24569866
its alright

>>24569866
totally readable and good flow so good job anon
what's this for? existing or new project?

>>24569880
thanks

>>24569882
This is just a random draft. I've been sratching down ideas for a novel/webfiction for the better part of half a year now, but at the moment it's just a google doc with random bits and pieces, perhaps the shape of a story.
I randomly decided to try writing a scene.

>>24569866
Seems pretty generic 'scientific magic' for me. Reads fine. Can't get a feel for the story and characters from it.

>>24569889
you have the basics of writing down at the sentence level (for web serial sloppa standards, admittedly, it didnt wow me) which many excerpts dont, so now you just have to worry about the macro level. come up with a good story

you guys are mean

>>24569913
Sex with Ferene.

>>24569913
I thought I was being honest but nice?

What do you do when you're bored of a scene but need to finish it?

>>24569923
Have the MC randomly lose consciousness so you can skip the boring part and just let someone else summarize what happened to him later. Just kidding.

>>24569923
Drop the whole project and start a new one of course!

I have never donated to any author or used patreon, and that is never going to change. Thanks for putting all those stories on the net for free.

>>24569913
for posts like >>24569900 and >>24569880 ?
I think it's important to give an honest appraisal so you know where you stand. Gassing people up really serves no purpose besides to falsely motivate them, and while that does have some utility, when the day comes they post their story publicly and get a tepid response in return, that'll kill their motivation way harder, maybe permanently
anon is an okay writer at the sentence from what i can tell. that's honestly a compliment. no, the excerpt doesn't come off like a 20yr pro with dozens of published novels wrote it.

Next OP should be Katalepsis

>>24569923
If a scene is boring to the author it's very likely to be boring to the reader. it needs to be narratively summarized or skipped over entirely
Sometimes I get frustrated with/exhausted writing a scene, but not bored of it. Bored is a huge red flag

>>24569956
No, for the earlier posts generalizing female characters and the people who write them.

>>24569980
all 3 of the regulars in this thread with a decent audience write fmc
it's clearly jealousy

>>24569987
Jealousy is when you fear someone will steal away what is yours
The correct word there is envy

>>24569987
Why not accuse us of being "insecure" while you are at it?

>>24569987
That is also mean. If people don't like something they don't like it, I just feel sad because no matter how much work I put in they will never read it due to tags.

>>24569992
ok you're insecure

>>24569992
new schizo just dropped

>>24569996
They don't have to like it but when there's a concerted effort to denigrate something you should assume ulterior motives.
>>24569987
Pretty much.

>>24570012
>concerted effort
I just don't like femcs because they're by and large terribly written and I have no interest in hearing the same "woman am oppressed" issues that inevitably stem from them, there isn't some cabal that exists that's devoted to shitting on them

>>24570038
which is fine and all but ive seen some dude spamming "i hate fmcs" every thread, and responding to recs with "fem mc? won't read" every time, since /wng/s inception. maybe im being schizoanon but im suspicious it's the same annoying dude. if you don't like fmc sure but stop crying about it constantly

>>24570040
Bingo

Kek bro protests too much.

>>24570040
Literally my first post in the thread my guy, it's more than one person commenting on another comment

>>24570040
ir’s been a thing in the sffg and wg threads since a while ago

>>24570049
yeah and this was the only time in the thread fmc was brought up and it was you whining about it apropos nothing

>western xianxia
>mc is a moralfag
Iconic duo.

>>24570055
Yeah you need to take your meds guy, I literally just said >>24570038 was my first post in the thread

>>24570056
>Everyone who wrongs them is evil and had it coming

>>24570061
you mean in wng, ever? a thread is one thread. say "first post in the general"

>>24570061
Oh, I see
"Literally my first post in the thread" didn't imply >>24570038 was your first post. That was way too ambiguous

Uh oh meltie

>>24570056
It's shocking how bad the taste of western xianxia writers is, based on what parts of the genre they stay faithful to and what they change or add.

>>24570084
>western timeloop writers have not yet been esposed to the kino of My Immortality Simulation and the Simulator genre.

>>24570083
>>24570045
i see you spam these ghost posts literally all day every thread. you actually live here. what's the lore on this anon?

>>24570087
>>24570063
Western Xianxia is tarnished by capeslop & Star Wars because that's the only point of reference for "powerful magical dude aimed at dudes" most westerners have so it always operates from the angle of "I gotta give the bad guys what's coming for them".

>>24570107
Meant for >>24570084

>>24568396 (OP)
Pretty happy with these numbers.
Not sure if I should be concerned that 2nd chapter only has 50% of 1st chapter's views. Think drop-off is to be expected, but is that too steep?

>>24570112
>He isn't backlog pilled
Do you even slop, bro?

>>24570112
50% is pretty steep yeah

>>24570112
At 21 pages, I don't think your reader numbers mean anything yet. Most people probably just take a look and put you on the "check out later when there is a substantial number of chapters/pages to read" list, especially if you didn't start with a daily chapter dump from your backlog but release each chapter when it's done.

>>24570123
NTA but write as you go pretty much requires rerelease huh.

Are you reviewmaxxing yet?
Personally I make it a habit to search up, read & review at least one fic that shares tags with mine per day.
Gotta widen the niche and ensure my tags become more valuable so once the culture shifts I'm already there with 60-80 chapters ready to fulfill the people's appetite.

>>24570038
>I just don't like femcs because they're by and large terribly written and I have no interest in hearing the same "woman am oppressed" issues
i did my best to write a story that could have the mc be either gender without it affecting anything. is that a poorly written femc?

>>24570162
Stop trying to get approval from people that inherently believe you're scum.

>>24570157
It's way too much effort for slop that 99% of the time will get dropped

>>24569490
Figure out what your inciting incident is and start the story two paragraphs after that. If it's a mystery start four paragraphs after.

on one hand it's apparently necessary to get shoutouts from other authors to get any views
on the other they all suck and I don't think anyone's ever clicked on a shoutout link in the history of the universe

>>24570178
And then there's me, thoroughly ignorant of how shout-outs even work.

>>24570178
I click, but only if interests me. Swap shoutouts with authors that have similar tags and audience size.
You can also buy ads, but shoutouts are free.

>>24570181
you trade promises with another dude that at some scheduled date you'll mention their story in your pre-chapter author's note and they'll do the same for you
often this involves giving them specific CSS to copy and paste into the editor or whatever

>>24570165

To the handful of people here who’ve read Born Under a Black Sun, what are your thoughts on the dialogue? Too modern sounding?

>>24568396 (OP)
Releasing slop on RR has made me more productive than ever.
I get a stupid amount of adrenaline for seeing numbers go up, even if they are in double digits.
And bi-daily release forces to keep me producing, otherwise I might spend days on editing.

I realize what I'm writing is unpolished slop, but I'm still making progress, and I might actually finish a story. Furthermore, I think it's going to get easier, after I have done an awful first release, I can relauch, flesh things out and use the previous version as ouline.

>>24570165
>people that inherently believe you're scum.
A tad overly dramatic, don't you think?

>>24570230
Serviceable but it lacks character; I find that every person speaks with the same voice, with the exception being Belhein desu.

LPT: Plug your sloppa into a TTS and listen to it on the shitter or during your commute.
Actually helped me find a shitton of things I liked and even more that didn't work.

>>24570178
Shoutouts from medium/bigger authors do, actually, drive a lot of traffic. I've seen the referral stats

>>24570301
which do you use?

>>24570402
https://vadash.github.io/EdgeTTS/

>>24569393
>starting at some other point
the perfect run is a time loop that doesn't start like that if you want an example

>>24570340
Could you post these stats, then? Also, I'm doubtful that you're getting shoutouts from bigger authors, if you're doing shoutout swaps. Maybe if you get lucky and you trade with an up-and-comer.

>>24570534
go join the immersive ink discord and search through for them. i aint going and tracking those images down

but yes obviously shoutouts from stories with 50 followers don't matter lmao. that isn't how the cabals work

>>24570526
Is that really a time-loop story though? He creates save points to return to if he fucks up.

>>24570418
Bro, this is sick. Thanks!

>>24569987
It's not jealousy, there are plenty of genuine anti FMC schizos in the royalroad audience. Some of them are just chuds who hate w*men and think fmc is woke (more concentrated here on 4chan obviously), some are low iq self insert fags who can't comprehend a story where the MC isn't a blank slate for them (this is the majority on RR itself).

>>24570056
The only western xianxia I've read was cradle. Everything I see rec'd looks like an ironic "subversion" from an author who didn't even read the original works that defined the genre and is just going based on reddit meme posts to figure out which tropes to subvert.
Kind of like all the ironic dating sims western devs make without ever having played or enjoyed a japanese VN

>>24570546
ok just for you sweetie I went and looked
i found a screenshot of one of the cabal members: the screenshot has 7 shoutouts with user-clickthroughs between 50-200
there are also clearly more shoutouts lower down the list. these people arrange a shit ton of them, like dozens and dozens (but these were <40, still, they add up)
that's a significant amount of traffic for a new story, and it's how they get onto rising stars so consistently

>>24570565
>that's a significant amount of traffic for a new story, and it's how they get onto rising stars so consistently
Someone contact the AI review swap anon, if his brain hasn't melted from it already.
But seriously, I find it kinda annoying that people have to join some group just to promote their work, I would rather that good stories rose on their own.

>>24570571
New media has begun to resemble old media wherever there was traffic and money to be had.

>>24570548
damn alright if that isn't good enough how about The Mage of Shimmer Mountain?
The novel starts with the guy setting out from home and climbing a mountain with a horde of other plebs hoping to get blessed with The System at the top in a yearly magical ritual and graduate from dirt farming in the slums to a rich mage. When he fails to get a blessing and he has to leave as a systemless pleb he instead signs up for a shady secondary ritual from some guy in a trench coat, and THAT ritual fucks up and entimeloopens him. From each subsequent death he returns to the point of the second ritual.

So the initial mountain climb serves as an introduction to the world, the character and his circumstances and then the actual inciting incident of the time loop happens later. It's a perfectly cromulent setup

>>24570571
>But seriously, I find it kinda annoying that people have to join some group just to promote their work, I would rather that good stories rose on their own.
Some do. The real major hit, the archmage one, didn't do any shoutouts
Still is gay though, don't get me wrong, I've been saying that forever. But if you're good you can make it on your own. Just need an ad

>>24570578
How long until they start swapping shoutouts for intimate photos? Probably has happened already, seeing as it's a discord.
>>24570582
Funny, I was just thinking about it. Maybe Scribblehub is better for discoverability. But the fact that he bought an ad kinda soured it a bit for me. But I guess it happens when money is involved, at least he got a good return from it.

>>24570271
Thanks. I'll try and work on that.

>>24570178
I've clicked through on one or two shoutouts if the premise sounded unique and interesting.
I did just add them to my "read later" list instead of following though...

>>24570588
Don't feel too pressed about it, it's hard to give characters a unique voice and Belhein gets it because her speech is a little broken. I'm not a great writer, not even good actually, but, think about the characters personalities and background when writing.
Keep up with the great work.

>>24570585
i THINK it might be possible to go adless and shoutoutless? But you would need a gargantuan amount of chapters to spam over the first month, and an excellent premise that baits people in
It'd be permadeath insane mode, but I think it's possible

>>24570585
>How long until they start swapping shoutouts for intimate photos?
Presumably they'd resort to asking for money first? Besides, knowing the kinds of people in these cabals, the photos would be AI-generated anyway.

>>24570620
Welp I'm fucked

>>24570611
I'll try!

>>24569784
Based.
Give me some recs.

I don't read novels with male protagonists

>>24570775
>I don't read novels
We know

I don't read.
I don't write.
This post doesn't exist.

I sometimes pick up a new story and can tell immediately the author didn't ever check to see what the formatting looked like on a phone. Hmm, very unwise.

>>24570830
the way RR's phone app treats certain formatting has been fucking with me. If I try to make it look right on the phone, it looks awful on the website.

320 words to go fuckkkkkkkkkkkk

I have two issues with my writing. The first is that sometimes I sound robotic. My paragraphs often feel like they boil down to 'he said x then y happened and then z' but dressed up a bit nicely. The other issue is I feel like everything happens way too quickly.

Should I use more descriptors to slow the pace? And how do I fix the stiff feeling of paragraphs? Would appreciate any advice.

>>24570860
a generic self-assessment like this will only generic advice
better to post your writing for more specific and actionable advice

>>24570860
post an excerpt

>>24570620
>you would need a gargantuan amount of chapters to spam over the first month,
60 chapters = 1375 words a chapter = 300 pages = 82,500 words.
Post at 5:30 AM PST and 5:30 PM PST.
That way you cover an absolutely 82,500 part of the globe with your slop and can swooce into the daily routines of your subscribers.

>>24570932
*Cover an absolutely enormous, lmao

>>24570932
>>24570938
>absolutely 82,500 part of the globe
lol

>>24570860
...are you the anon writing the detective story that begins with the mage tournament?

>>24570872
>>24570870
Here's an example. This entire part feels rushed. Should I add more descriptions? More thoughts? I have no idea and if I had to I don't even know what I'd say, perhaps "The plane planed planely". The rest of the chapter has a few parts that feel very similar to this. It feels like I am just rushing to get a scene over with that I have no interest in writing. Some chapters I feel like I've done a great job while others feel like they should be deleted entirely.

I've never written before so I know it's expected for me to be bad but I feel it's nearly impossible to judge my own writing to know what I should be changing. How the fuck do people do this? Do you just edit it as well as you can and post it, learning from your mistakes through comments that offer criticism?

What the fuck is happening?

>>24570949
No, I'm the one writing the silly story about a suicidal protagonist that wants to die and be isekai'd but the demon lord keeps stopping him. I thought it would be good for the first thing I write to be a satire that I don't take seriously but now I'm invested in the idea and am starting to take it seriously.

>>24570932
the problem with this plan is that 1375 word chapters would be a significant deterrent to many readers

>>24570961
It would be too fucking funny if FFFanon becomes the most successful author ITT. Congrats btw.

>>24570956
Lol bro im reading it and you've used "began to" 4 times in like 50 words

>>24570976
He's at 65 followers and it'd take him about 200 to hit rising stars main. that's where you get actual traffic, sub-lists are just vanity positions. Even the biggest sublists like fem_lead and litrpg get 5% the traffic of RS main

>>24570976
Thanks bro, but I have no idea of how this damn algorithm works.

Am I the chosen one?

>>24570977
I KNOW. I KEEP DOING THIS SHIT. FUCKING KILL ME.

I don't know how many times I've googled synonyms because I keep saying the same shit over and over. It's so awkward to read.

>>24570956
ok finished reading it (began to anon here)
The pacing is fine, you're overthinking it. The prose isn't the best but desu is serviceable as long as you don't do that phrase repetition stuff too often
A scene can be as fast or slow as you want it. You could tighten this up or you could flesh it out. There are no hard and fast rules for this
This doesn't seem plot relevant or character-relevant, so I wouldn't recommend spending too much of your word budget on it.

>>24570989
>You could tighten this up or you could flesh it out. There are no hard and fast rules for this
>I wouldn't recommend spending too much of your word budget on it.
Appreciate the advice, I'll try not to overthink it. My idea is to just keep writing and come back to edit it later when I feel like I've improved some. Then maybe I can better spot and fix awkward phrases and add/remove stuff as necessary?

>>24571011
>>24570956
you absolutely need to cut this down to maybe 2-3 paragraphs. but i do agree that you should keep writing and worry about it later

>>24569719
Same, the setup should be: the mc is male (based on me), but the captain of their small space adventurer ship is a women. Big boobas, thick thighs, defined abs, and a space elf.

>>24571038
Make her Drow and include a uniform whip sidearm and you have a stellar hit in the making.

female mc writers/readers are either feminists, waifugooners, AGP, or some cursed combination of all 3.
male mc writers are limp wristed dorks that were bullied in school and write power fantasies so they can imagine what the world looks like when you aren't being shoved into a locker.

>>24571108
What about the non power fantasy male mcs?

>>24571121
Troons, all the way down.

>>24571108
No one mentally sound seriously attempts writing. Either you're the kind of delusional that thinks your shit smells good, the kind of delusional that thinks you're gonna get rich and/or famous, or some kind of obsessed weirdo with a a specific fantasy than you're incensed nobody else has written for you already and simply MUST put it to paper to right this injustice.

I'm just having fun haha

Why is this nigger having another meltdown over the exact same thing again?

>>24570956
A little purple prose but it reads fine. Last paragraph could be omitted because it doesn't connect with the rest at all. Otherwise good job. Compared to all the usual utterly unhinged excerpts I'd read on /wg/—pre-/wng/—it's a decent posted excerpt. Keep it up.

>>24571108
What about ensemble casts?

>>24571108
>He doesn't write female protagonists to crush their souls and make cry bloody tears
Soulless slop golem, your very existence is shameful and embarrasing.

>>24571180
>purple prose

>>24571330
Only a little, like I said compared to the general stuff posted it's good quality thoughbeit.

>>24569312
More peak autism.

>>24571370
I think the writing is a little too detached. I remember you saying you were going for a Legend of Arslan docu sort of style but my only experience with Yoshiki Tanaka is his LotGH and english translations for his works are just straight up garbage to ape for a actual story.

>>24571370
"agreed to meet" should have a comma there or a colon.

>In a mix of horror and chaos
Why is there a mix of horror and chaos?

>estuary
could be something simplistic.

>the circle must be broken
change it to cycle

>to begin rebuilding its construction
could be 'begun reconstruction' or something of that effect.

>nominated his phou
huh? Did you mean to type Qeno here?

>Ludou coming forth and announcing her pregnancy
same as before, no need to make dialogue a new line.

I feel like I had to reread some parts a couple of times. You full-stop pause the whole story with the kings coming together to talk about Phou. Sorry if I'm coming off as nitpicking but I only want my bros to improve. It's solid writing all things said, I have your story on my follow but I'm busy chomping on other stuff right now.

>>24571180
>A little purple prose but it reads fine
Do people dislike that? I have been adding some here and there, usually using it to describe mundane things in a mystical way. I find it fun but is it annoying to some?

when does dragoneye moons get good? she gains agency for like 3 minutes before being immediately captured. when does the story (actually) start?

>>24571457
I dropped it not long after finishing book one but I think it "starts" shortly after she gets broken free. She levels up some, gains some abilities that make her less useless etc. It still didn't interest me at all though. I think there was an anon speaking about it the other day who finished the entire series. Maybe they can chime in.

>>24571423
Thank you, kind anon, for those edits. I have applied them.

>Yoshiki Tanaka is his LotGH and english translations for his works are just straight up garbage to ape for a actual story.
Personally, I have those translations, and he maintains the same style in Arslan.
I actually think LOGH and Arslan are his works that be read, and Arslan doesn't even have an official fan translation.
His other works are Tytania and Legend of the Dragon Kings, are even less popular than Arslan, so there is no way they are translated.

>Why is there a mix of horror and chaos?
Because there are people running away from the nomads.

>huh? Did you mean to type Qeno here?
Yes, got careless. I was fighting myself over whether I should give him a name.

>I think the writing is a little too detached.
This sort of side story takes place before the main story and is much more abstract. Reason for this is to have my cake and eat it too. I need to cover a lot of ground in these side stories, and if I were to describe a scene in more detail, they would bloat. Either way, the goal is to provide enought narrative weight and details that they could potentially be expanded into a full story.

>You full-stop pause the whole story with the kings coming together to talk about Phou
Yes, that's very Tanaka, I think. There are multiple reasons why I felt the need to explain the backstories, but two main ones were to understand the character and expand on the worldbuilding. For example, Phou's story introduces the Restonese savages and Jasha (which is one of 23 cities of the Shongma).
In a more, less abstract narrative, I would digest the details like that into dialogue, but here they are supposed to serve as sort of mini-stories.

Either way, I appreciate the time you gave me.

Thoughts on linking music mid-chapter?

>>24571602
My Immortal coded
any mid prose author notes are cringe. but sometimes one must be cringe to be based

>>24571602
Only seen it done in one web novel and it was a track that would begin playing in the background when you reached the point of the chapter where one of the characters started singing (pic rel). If you're releasing it on something like royalroad where you can't embed it like that then id just put it in the authors note. Tell them to click the link and play it when X happens. I agree with the other anon though. It's your novel, give it a shot and if it doesn't work you can just edit it out.

>>24571697
>track that would begin playing in the background when you reached the point of the chapter
Wow that sounds great!
>royalroad where you can't embed it like that
Someone please make a better site than RR for WNs I'm so tired of its incompetence...
Stuff like this should be used or experimented on more often. I webnovels should take advantage of their own medium rather than just confining themself trying to emulate physical books. It is only in this manner that webnovels can stand tall and proud rather than being relegated to relative obscurity. Qidian and Novelpia understand this which is why webnovels are as big as they are in the east.

>>24571968
>>24571968
>>24571968
new