Thread 24615590

It's Serialized edition

Previous >>24609238

>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 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!

##READ THE FOLLOWING BEFORE ASKING FOR HELP##

Running your story like the business it is:
www.royalroad.com/forums/thread/116847

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

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

Recommended web novels
rentry.co/d2yvczro

Anon's guide to success
rentry.co/RRBasicGuide

FAQ
rentry.co/pytefpxn

>>24615590 (OP)
>www.royalroad.com/forums/thread/116847
>Third, the market is rapidly growing. When I started writing Defiance of the Fall, the blockbusters in the genre were making $5-7,000/mo on Patreon, and something like five people (excluding Asia ofc) could be considered making an actual living writing webnovels. Now, there are a bunch of us making over $20,000/month on Patreon alone, in addition to the piles of cash coming in from Amazon. How will things look in another three years?
Well, how does the market actually look?

>>24615253
>without any specific instructions
What do they mean by this? Am I a retard?
Also, I find it funny my story is on there even though it has less than 4k views, and it's been on hiatus for 2 years (not dropped, im rewriting it, swear).
I wonder what the starting point is for it to appear there, word count, maybe?

>>24615590 (OP)
https://medium.com/@hrule/royalroad-analysis-2025-86b92fae99d8

>>24615628
meant to quote >>24615612

>>24615612
It's the same phenomenon as in economy in general. The big and rich get bigger and richer than ever before, the poor are poorer than ever, and the bar of entry climbs higher.

Gong farmers ITT can’t write kek

I just need a better power/magic/progression system

and then you'll all be sorry

>>24615659
My protagonist has a really big greatsword. Yours won't stand a chance, regardless of whatever system you can conjure up.

>>24615666
I have a loli who is the goddess of death
none of you could stand a chance against her

the dream is to get enough readers that you can turn your awful webnovel into an even more awful webcomic

>>24615669
My tomboy side character will give your pipsqueek a swirlie.

Parody novels are so shit now. They used to be kind of enjoyable a few years back, then everyone started doing it. Sort of feels like they're insulting me in a way for liking some cliches.

>>24615676
>"but unlike all those OTHER litrpgs, this system is snarky!"
>protagonist fails at something
>system goes "wow you suck haha"
incredible stuff really

Why is Sky Pride so highly rated and praised? It's literally 90% exposition (by a disembodied ghost on the mc's ear) and telling instead of showing. I don't get it

>>24615666
Well as my protagonist levels up their greatsword increases in size. I have a 7 arc epic envisioned. By the end when my hero swings the sword the tip breaks the atmosphere and accidentally knocks the ISS into the sun.

>write opening passage about the MC struggling with an uncooperative mule/donkey -> getting concussed
>realise the first chapter could probably be a lot punchier if it just starts with him waking up from concussion-by-mule
I know this just ends up being a version of the "MC wakes up" flavour of slop openers but I just want to start the story/get the show on the road etc ASAP

>>24615695
it's all of the most stereotypical xianxia tropes and narrative beats and devices and character archetypes but executed with polish (though not necessarily with finesse)

>>24615695
He's a ghost trapped in a ring with barely any magic. What can he show? Also it's definitely not 90% of that but I wish it was (grandpa has to nap often). Sounds like you're only a few chapters in. I'm not going to tell you it becomes a masterpiece but much like that archmage novel it's the kind of thing that's easy to enjoy.

>>24615711
You could always write the beginning later and just start writing where you want to now.

>>24615708
Yeah? Well my greatsword is going to be much biggerer and he'll swing it more harder.

>>24615715
I just feel like it would have been infinitely more interesting if he had to fend for himself, and perhaps meet some hermit living in the woods?
Disembodied wikipedia on the mc's shoulder is one of those tropes I really hate and it seems like the easy way out

>>24615602
>>24615536
For /u/ board purists specifically, they have increasingly autistic double standards. If a male character merely exists in your story, /u/fags will shit, bicker, and over-scrutinize the work to downgrade its reputation, fitting a "not real yuri" narrative at any cost to subvert further discussions. For all that gatekeeping, they're curiously forgiving of /u/ works featuring trans main characters, plus the mods will also erase and warn you for bringing that up as an issue in any related conversation, so Occam's Razor states they get rage-inducing dysphoria whenever seeing a man.

>>24615722
I thought the intro was funny. It was comedically over the top with how close to death he was, how many fucking injuries and diseases he was dying from, the talking master teaching him how to eat trash better, getting rocks thrown at him and fighting dogs in his trash pile. A very successful xianxia shitpost that somehow transitions into a normal story.

The master trapped in a ring trope is definitely cheap and overplayed. I was certain the author was going for a satire comedy at first.

>>24615747
I've long since believed that the average /u/boat is trans, so this tracks.

>>24615750
Honestly it would be more manageable to not advertise your yuri novel as yuri upfront, just say it has romance and do not entrench further details, at least in its early-game platforming since a single deranged purist can give it a bad review and turn the story from 4.4 to 3.0. The average femmc male reader is way more numerous, forgiving and easier to please than the toxic /u/fags so the former should be your preference and the latter an afterthought. I say this as someone who reads quasi-exclusively yuri manga and knows every single /u/ fandom ship, but abandoned the actual board a while ago because their aura was that bad.

I haven't written today so I'm going to run away from my guilt by going to bed.
This is a healthy response to stress and should be emulated.

>>24615763
If you post any novel cover featuring a single pixel of man (for example, showing female protagonists in the front with a male antagonist in the background) the mods will erase it 10 out of 10 times. It's an actual unspoken rule enforced there because the average user is this autistic. Know your audience.

>>24615763
Ratings are really whatever, but these people are also regrettably active commenters on various platforms and having googleable warnings against your work littered everywhere is worse poison than a bad review or two. A normal reader might not care that a story has male characters in prominent roles, or doesn't deliver scissoring, and might even think those are positive points, but if they recognize, "this work is perceived negatively" that can be a killing blow.

>>24615750
Maybe nowadays but even in 2008 they were like that.
It's just an incredibly paranoid and browbeaten culture compounded by genuinely misandrist biologically female lesbians.

Reject yuri
Retvrn to tradition... write harem sloppa

last bread turned into a fucking shit show
I'm just here to shoot the shit because it's the last saloon in town for a cowboy like me
trying to leverage this place for some tangible benefit through a coordinated operation? that's some city slicker nonsense

I'm starting to like a character I intended to kill off too much. I think when the time comes I'm going to have to find some way for her to survive and join the MC.

I wanna make money with writing. What's the best thing to write? Harem fantasy?

>>24615715
>much like that archmage novel it's the kind of thing that's easy to enjoy.
What novel is that?

Oh, man. You just made me realize that simply seeing the word "archmage" made me interested in reading that novel. I don't know anything about it, not even the name, yet I want to try reading it.

>>24615673
to put a date on myself but what the ever loving hell. When I started reading paperbacks and that was in first grade mind you. A dollar and high change was a normal price for a regular length (under 200) paperback. It seemed like 2.25 and 2.50 were for over 200 page books. We bitched when paperbacks went over five bucks each as a base price. Politically incorrect and woke were not yet invented. Racks of books were ubiquitous. You could get detective or sci-fi novels and a few others at the corner pharmacy. THAT is the kind of book I try to write. Its simply *not* setting the WN site world on fire, that's all.

>>24616163
by having a 9-5 and then writing in the evenings

>>24616181
New Life as a Max Level Archmage
they're the bigstack bully in town

>Fiction is stolen for the AI reader
>Got my second review
>Also first comment
Bow before me anons, I'm the next big thing.
But in a more serious note, my text in one of the chapters is invisible in dark mode, anyone knows the fix?

>>24615674
>My tomboy side character will give your pipsqueek a swirlie.
writing female characters at first was difficult. I ended up with a tomboy character I use when I want that. Its hard to make them big and capable in a standard paperback without going girl boss or wonder woman. When I finally got close to nailing one, I kept it. The name might change project to project? Its the same character in my mind's eye. There's actually two of these tomboy characters I have in my tool box. A half swedish half german blonde 5-11, size 10.5 mens shoes. An italian brunette 6 even and size 12 mens. The blonde is not skinny, more of an athletic lithe. The brunette is curvier, but both were athletes growing up. When you know a couple in college from real life, writing them from that as a character model is easy.

>>24616196 (me)
Done, had to clear the formatting on the chapter https://www.royalroad.com/forums/thread/99328?

>>24615886
>Reject yuri
>Retvrn to tradition... write harem sloppa
Question. If a character in an otherwise trad paperback novel had two girlfriends and it was okay for all of them... is that tipping the hat to a harem? Asking for a friend.

>>24615715
I enjoy the archmage novel infinitely more than Sky Pride though. Maybe I'm just a sucker for OP mc, but I can see it getting boring unless there's some actual adversity for the MC in the near future. She seems way too powerful compared to anything else

>>24616161
>I'm starting to like a character I intended to kill off too much. I think when the time comes I'm going to have to find some way for her to survive and join the MC.
I one time went with giving the female character the traums of the male character tragedy dying. Then she has an irrational belief she finds him in another man's body years later and feels drawn to him for it. She knows its trauma and a little crazy so she keeps it to herself. Her and the new guy talk about it, no secrets. Is this trad novel isekai reincarnation-lite?

>>24616163
the subgenre you understand best will give you the best odds

>>24616185
>by having a 9-5 and then writing in the evenings
yes. the humble day job. Do we all write because its one of the only things an otherwise ordinary person can do in their spare time and its a level playing field.

I thought I'd try something different and not make a medieval fantasy story, but a setting closer to 1900s, where mages are developing early computers and shit. I thought it'd be fun to examine this "technology will steal our jobs"-theme from wizards' point of view.

But now that I'm actually writing it, it feels like I'm just overwhelming readers with an endless flood of new information. There's not only a wholeass magic system to introduce and flesh out, but also the technological systems, and how they play together, and then the characters and their circumstances on top of that. Only an absolute autist would read all this techno-babble.
I sure wish some AI could tell me outright if an idea is worth trying at all, or if I shouldn't just jump off a bridge before wasting my time.

>>24616320
have you considered making the magic softer to be in contrast with the cold logic of technology?
magic (systems) only need the type of hardness you're describing if you're relying on it to solve (narrative) problems and want the payoffs to still feel satisfying. if it's mainly used for characterisation, then softer systems and all the vague mystery they entail can still be interesting.

>>24616320
I think you'll be fine. I went full retard and jammed in like 3 magic systems into one setting and nobody seems to care. If anything, my complaints have all been that I don’t go into enough detail. Even when it felt like I was dumping a textbook description of make-believe magical nonsense, the response was, "Finally, an explanation."

Remember, slop readers like reading stupid shit like:

[Ding! Bongo is level 516!]
Str = 51
Agi = 411
Penis = 6.9

[Dark domain] has ranked up! Efficacy improved 3.6% from 3.2%

[Luck activated!] An extra 5% has been added to all attributes!

Etc. Etc.

>>24616342
I thought about it, but it's pretty much unavoidable to define both to an extent, so that I can then justify why some wizards feel threatened by technology and why others embrace it. If magic was left as this mysterious, vague force, it would also be inviolable and beyond conflict. To make things lighter, I think abandoning the whole magitech plotline is the only choice.

>>24616355
well, that's encouraging!

>>24616369
what are your character arcs amidst all this? is there a side that your protagonist is more closely aligned with?

>>24616355
>Remember, slop readers like reading stupid shit like:

Only a vocal autistic niche of readers like this. go make a sort for >10000 followers by creation date
>https://www.royalroad.com/fictions/search?globalFilters=false&orderBy=release_date&minfollowers=10000
and you'll see most of the big blowups in the past two years are pretty soft systems or no systems at all

don't make the mistake of thinking the screeching retards in your comment section is representative of the greater readerbase (and especially the amazon readerbase, which matters more if you're taking this seriously)

>>24616386
The protagonist is a mage, but doesn't see tech as a threat to magic, and ends up helping develop stuff. I'd planned there to be conflict later with orthodox mages who try to turn the public opinion against machinery through sabotage. I mean, this shit practically writes itself.

>>24616402
>this shit practically writes itself.
famous last words

>>24616402
interesting. I think there's still room for contrast in execution though and from what you've shared + >>24616369, I'm not sure why you think leaving magic more vague and mysterious would make it "inviolable and beyond conflict". if anything, magic's inaccessibility (perceived or real) might be part of why/how your techbros appeal to the general non-mage populace?

>>24616320
>Only an absolute autist would read all this techno-babble
reminds me of arkendithryst which I recall doung pretty well
do the magi-tech babble but don't forget to also write compelling plot lines, characters, and dramas

>>24616402
>this shit practically writes itself.

>>24616462
I meant mainly that the plot dictates clearly what should happen next, not that I can actually write any of it.

>>24616470
>I'm not sure why you think leaving magic more vague and mysterious would make it "inviolable and beyond conflict".
Mage: I'm opposed to this new bullshit because it undermines the value of the grand power we have!
Engineer: How precisely does it undermine anything?
Mage: Uhhh

Wow damn did I suggest something is easy? I apologize for hurting your feelings, it was an accident. Don't get upset now.

>>24616507
bitch made poster

I would not care about my book being hosted on the ai audio site, but I imagined the site owners in**an and now I cannot stand the thought of them profiting on my work in even the slightest way. It's not about any loss of income for me, it's that I do not want others enriched, even slightly and accidentally, because of my work and creativity.

Once my voice recovers perhaps I will read the damn thing myself and upload it everywhere just to deprive them of even one tenth of a cent.

>>24616355
Yeah I had commenters whining about that in my book, and I DO intend to explain more later, so I just ignore them or gently encourage them to be patient. This is their crack, you should always leave them wanting more.

>>24616320
Kind of interesting but personalize it a bit more: I care far more about one guy developing the tech that will put thousands out of work, and his personal struggles with that, than I do an encyclopedic text describing how that happens. I'm perfectly okay getting the entire gestalt over 300-3000 pages following one or several characters, rather than having the larger conflict infodumped at me in the beginning.

>>24616500
Mage (Economist) could explain that! Or hell even Mage (Priest). It doesn't have to be a technological explanation, people have been struggling with the problem of empowering the masses (and it IS a problem) since literally the invention of tool-making. Some fucker puts a sharp rock on the end of a stick, and now suddenly all those nerds who couldn't throw heavy rocks good can kill big game too! Less women for Grug :(

>I thought I'd try something different and not make a medieval fantasy story, but a setting closer to 1900s,

Read my story, bro.

>>24616542
reminder that this poster wants your .5 star reviews

>>24616542
I can't tell who is FFFanon and people prentending to be him anymore.

>>24616555
It's me this time.
I think I did a pretty good job creating a magic-technology system.

>>24616560
Still not reading it bruh

>>24616500
>undermines
sure, consider what undermining means in your setting and why they're in conflict. have you?
i assumed magic and technology solve the same problems since you've put them in opposition. i assume that power to solve certain problems has also afforded the mage faction(s) some level of power/influence in society more generally? or maybe it grants them certain benefits? if tech can do everything magic can without investing x years in a magic school or any other costs to the self, this replacement is now a threat to tangible things rather than just a threat to a vacuous and undefined status quo.
once you have that figured out, you might be surprised how much you can get away with not defining re: the magic/tech systems themselves. define the conflicts

>>24616563
So let's just discuss about it.
What was the pivotal moment that caused your worldbuilding to shift from a traditional perception of magic to a modern and scientific one?

I'm FFFanon

>>24616560
Well, you're almost at 100 followers at least. Release a bonus chapter once you get there.
Also, the complete name of your fiction appears when I type "unlucky antagonist" on google, so good for you, the big digital brother approves of your book I think.

>>24616567
What if magic prowess was largely determined by breast size, so now that magitech is being developed it's leading to perflat ascendancy against the Chesty Conglomerate?
The guy who came up with the idea can have that one as a freebie. Enjoy your 5k patreon supporters.

>>24616580
>Chesty Conglomerate?
The biggy titty council?

>>24616576
>Google
Holy shit, just two more weeks to global success, I guess.
>Bonus chapter
It would be a good idea...if my release schedule wasn't fucking daily.
Maybe a chapter about Rinaldo and Rinaldo at Maria would be fun.

>>24616542
Shut the fuck up man, your story reads like shit. The fact that you can’t even be bothered to (you) other posters is proof to me you’re begging for another 0.5 star review.

>>24616571
It was mainly just an excuse to put the MC in an intermediary position and interact with characters from various different factions with conflicting views, instead of being stuck with their own homogenous group that has only one side of the story.

>>24616595
They are just trying to avoid drama.

>>24616602
I mean fundamentally. In my story, magic is de facto a science, and classic spells are just primitive methods of correctly arranging mana to trigger the chemical reaction known as magic.
Is the same in your story?

which way should i go for my WN’s synopsis, western men?

>The poetic, dramatic “summaries” of my fellow chinks, which often end up being barely related to the actual contents of the story itself and are written without elaboration
ie.,
>The weft stagnates; the sky falls. Heaven is disordered and man gives himself over to his base desires. Darkness subsumes the shadow of order, and flames of unspeakable color light the way. Who knows what evil lies in the hearts of man?
or
>The standard actual synopsis used by western novels and webnovels alike.

>>24616622
The first, but don't forget the hook that ties into the first chapter, ie the character, why he's interesting, what he's out to accomplish, etc. Or if it's a feMC, her three sizes and *-dere personality type.

>>24616622
Humans are the spirit of all living beings and Gu are the essence of heaven and earth.

>>24616622
>Should I write useless fluff or things that actually promote my fiction?
Anon plz

>>24616622
1-2 lines of the first
the rest can be elevator pitch

Just curious, do any anons actually post their work in this thread? I would actually like to check some stories from people who actually post here

>>24616355
I hate that shit. PSA to all authors, nobody gives a shit that your character now has 4 str instead of 5. The only thing worse than random useless stats is picrel. I only have respect for the less crunchy litrpgs.

>>24616627
DID SOMEBODY SAY FLUFF???

>>24616637
isn't litrpg crunchy by definition? otherwise it's just progfan

>>24616635
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/118891/new-life-as-a-max-level-archmage

>>24616639
Love fluff

>>24616622
Your title, cover, and summary are market material. Keep true to your vision for the story itself, but for those three things, compromise for the sake of marketability.
So option 3. The "standard synopsis" on royalroad is standard for a reason.

>>24616635
A handful do, another handful explicitly have said they don't because they don't want their work associated with 4chan. There was drama last week that killed a pastebin list of works of authors in this thread because someone got a bad rating and sperged out, violating RR's TOS blatantly.

Too bad for you, too, because my WNis actually decent. I broke 250 followers recently.

>have 3.7k recent readers on my story
>as of chapter 2 being uploaded
>about 700 of those readers followed the story
>meaning about 19 percent of those who read it followed it

Is this ratio okay compared to the amount of recent readers? What's a good goal for this?

>>24616640
no. read some webnovels
>>24616637
this hasn't been trendy for half a decade. read some webnovels

I hate all of you. why is /wng/ full of posters who don't read webnovels

>>24616635
my mine, just search on Google: Unlucky Antagonist. First Result.

>>24616659
Either the humblest flex itt or the most lazy bait so far. Any way, (you)
>>24616635
A lot do, and you'll figure then out if you pay attention. I myself don't like self promotion.
There's at least some larger ones, one anon has 1k and another (who wrote the guide at OP) has more than 4k followers.

>>24616661
I'm reading Beware of Chicken right now!

>>24616659
I kneel. Congrats on the numbers. I don't have author premium so I don't know most of my indepth stats.

>>24616635
New to /wng/? We have one autist who shares his work multiple times in every thread. Aside from him, I follow 16 RR fictions from users who have posted here. Six of those have published a chapter in the past two weeks. One of those six is another schizo apparently (Tina) so I just unfollowed them.
Of the remaining five, one is a new poster with a handful of followers. The other four have subscribers ranging between 150-700. They post good enough stuff, but I’m not caught up on any of them since I’m trying to do my own sloppa

>>24616659
700 followers as of chapter 2?
Nah, that didn't happen

>>24616640
There's a spectrum of crunch. On the left you have The Wandering Inn where you might see a single level up notification coupled with a skill/class notification rarely. In that world most people are like like 20 so they aren't getting them often. The on the other hand is Beneath Dragoneye Moons, Azarinth Healer or something similar where you're absolutely mind raped and forced to read thousands of notifications. What makes these worse is that levels are often worthless and don't really mean anything. They exist because bigger number is better so it just keeps going up but it doesn't feel satisfying any longer.

>>24616680
>16
damn, /wng/ scholar

>>24616664
>look you up
>RR
>Webnovel
>MOONQUILL (lol)
>scribblehub
>fucking wattpad
Bahahahaaahha

>>24616661
>read some webnovels
>I hate all of you
I read web novels quite literally everyday. I am just complaining about more crunchy litrpgs, not that all are so blatant about it. Now take your happy pills little nigger and don't (You) me with an attitude again.

>>24616687
>pic
that shit can't be real

are overt references to 4chan considered kosher on RR’s TOS? currently writing a superhero webslop where the MC is an eternal dweller even 300 years affer the old global order collapsed in the wake of superpowers becoming a reality and immediately going go the schizos, the unhinged, and the bizarre.

he makes mention of it as a “Hyborian Sword-Sharpening Forum”, a “Stygian Dark Arts Imageboard”, an “Atlantean Orgone Calibration Forum”, etc.

>>24616707
obscure the reference at all and you'll be fine. nobody is out to witch hunt you

>>24616694
>RR
>MOONQUILL (lol)
>scribblehub
The rest is abandoned

>>24616707
https://www.royalroad.com/support/knowledgebase/114
>Harmful Concepts and Mean-Spirited Content: Written content intended to disgust, in poor taste, or with creepy undertones must be handled sensitively and be used within reason and with a purpose in the story.
> Targeting of specific real-world races, cultures, governments, corporations, or entities is not allowed.
>Offensive or Hate Speech is prohibited:
>Avoid hate speech, politically divisive content, or any insults directed towards real-world religions. This category includes content that promotes or glorifies harmful real-world ideology, symbols, or related narratives (such as Nazi ideologies).
Don't think there will be any problem as long as you don't write sperg shit about it, so no happy merchants and things like that.

>>24616703
>They make $15k a month on patreon.
>They raised 450k on kickstarter in no time for a print run.
>Thousands of ratings on Amazon.

It's real anon. There are people who like that stuff, I am just not one of them.

>>24616720
which fic?

>>24616707
Cthonic Heresy Appreciation Network

>>24616703
It was more prevalent in the earlier volumes (when it was better, ironically), as powerlevels and stats actually mattered to the fights. The use of system messages was greatly reduced as the story went on when it became clear that the main character was on god mode and nothing was allowed to challenge her anymore.

Z-lib has the books if you want to check them out, or maybe they're still free on amazon as ebooks, I can't remember. For a while you could download the first few books on amazon for free. Overall the effect was not as offputting as the screenshots posted here make it seem. You could just skim over the level up notifications, which mostly signified large moments of character growth or "shit's getting real because she's getting levels for basically free right now oh look over there a dragon."

>>24616707
It wasn't against TOS when I read them last December. But it's a bit cringe to use 4chan memes to refer to 4chan. Especially when you could just say "anime imageboard" and get the same effect with less cringe and less comments saying "what's an organ sharpening forum?"

>>24616725
Beneath the Dragoneye Moons by Selkie

>>24616720
>>24616725
Beneath the Dragon Eye Moons (BTDEM). Only problem is the story's been shit since the timeskip and the latest volume is so bad it's actively dragging down my enjoyment of the story as a whole. Selkie should have stuck with the more ambitious ending, and cut out all the fluff SOL bullshit and focused on just telling the story. Too bad he's burned out and just wants this shit over.

A proper, professional editor would have condensed the entire story as is down to 8 novels, and simply ended with Elaine and her family happy and secure and immortal.

>>24616612
The system in my story is the traditional kind and very simple. Mages channel mojo and their imagination converts it into fire, ice, wind, whatever.

It's in the effect where the scientific realism comes in. It seems blindingly obvious but no mage can conjure a huge fireball without burning himself to blisters first. So how would different mages approach this problem and try to circumvent it? Cool dudes would cover themselves with protective shields, maybe. But what if you don't have talent for that? Wear an asbestos suit? Or maybe they'll specialize in setting up explosive traps that are triggered remotely, or use tools to control the direction and spread of the fire. Or maybe they studied and learned that burning is an electron transfer reaction and developed their magic in a completely different direction. That's the kind of stuff I want to explore.

>>24615747
the ones who desperately hate male characters existing in yuri slop are mostly male puritywaifufags though

>>24616163
Abandon webnovels & litrpg, write formulaic chatgpt romantasy. Or really any trendy romance subgenre. The biggest moneymaker in writing is lonely horny women.

>>24616763
sure but romantasy is competitive as fuck exactly for those reasons

the best genre to make money with is the one that's really popular with readers and not popular with writers. it's simple supply and demand.

>>24616767
>just lemme find that over-demanded and under-supplied niche real quick

>>24616635
here's mine https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/117925/the-yellow-typhoon-and-the-final-waltz

>>24616703
it's real

>>24616767
And what genre is popular with readers but not writers?
I was already considering writing romantasy slop for my next story just to chase money, after seeing how the romantasy panels at comic-con were packed and had the most energy of anything there. Although it's competitive at the top, I hardly see much on RR, unless I'm just unconsciously avoiding it.

>>24616622
Do the first but add in the royalroad meta "what to expect" bulletsloppoints underneath a divider. Gotta write for the audience you have and not the one you wish you had.

>>24616744"It could develop into a nobility-based society.
There’s the knight, the mage, and the serfs around them, thengineers and workers, doing their best to ensure their lord can kill the opposing lord in battle and secure wealth and power."

>>24616717
>Don't think there will be any problem as long as you don't write sperg shit about it, so no happy merchants and things like that.
Question. For an international financial conspiracy it just doesn't sound very credible that it was all due to a bunch of Irish billionaires starting wars and making money off of it. Or I guess you could make them Irish and the reader would either scratch their head in incredulity or get the joke.

>>24616778
RR is a majority male website anyways. The roots of romantasy are more at AO3 although of course most of the stuff there is not original characters.

>>24616785
Not him, and I don't get what you're trying to say, but there should be nothing wrong with an international financial conspiracy. Just don't tie it to both an ethnicity AND a religion and you should be able to get away with it.

JK Rowling had literal goblins as bankers, and it's still one of her least talked about controversies.

I did nothing but garden work today and didn't write. Fuck.

>>24616712
>obscure the reference at all and you'll be fine. nobody is out to witch hunt you
I had two characters meet and discover each were former channers. yeah I didn;t name it but it obvious what I meant. One cracked about the Mongolian Masturbation website and the other said no it went down and came back up as a Korean Knitting board. They make meme jokes and stuff. I emphasized the good points. Such as the time anons successfully tracked down an asshole who was suffocating baby kitties in vacuum bags, and the beautiful autistry to figure it out. Now that I think about that one it will likely be prudent to remember to never upload it to my RR account.

>>24616785
are you retarded? every reader will happily accept international conspiracies from porky the big businessman. that shit happens all the time in both fiction and real life. you just have to do the bare minimum of not injecting /pol/ into everything

>>24616785
Pretty much this >>24616805
Just don't use the usual /pol/ tropes about jews and you'll be fine.

>>24616555
>I can't tell who is FFFanon and people prentending to be him anymore.
I've caught anons accusing other anons of being me. I think its funny when it happens.

it isn't always obvious who's FFFanon but it's ALWAYS obvious when it's Tina

>>24616771
litrpg and other royalroad slop is literally it bro. that's why all these books suck fucking ass but make 400k a year on patreon

>>24616841
now that i think about it, those genres are "under-supplied" in comparison to tradpub's offerings
but it still feels like an ocean of sludge since everyone's playing the same algorithm games

Okay guys, serious question.
If I want to commission fan art to celebrate reaching 100 followers on my story, who should I hire?
I’m thinking of a beautiful character like Astary or Katrina to bait a lot of new readers.

>>24616862
Why are you assuming I know anything about your characters and story?

>>24616879
all the regulars read FFF-CLASS UNLUCKY ANTAGONIST
only tourists don't read FFF-CLASS UNLUCKY ANTAGONIST

>>24616883
I tried reading FFF and am still in the hospital recovering

>>24616883
That's crazy, because I regularly post here and dropped your story after chapter 1.

>>24616885
literally in the plot.

>>24616883
...so they can leave .5 star reviews that won't get removed

I'm not a fan of it myself but FFF-CLASS UNLUCKY ANTAGONIST is weirdly iconic

>>24616576
this elf is insanely fuckable, especially with her tentacles.

>>24616900
So, if you read a bunch of chapters the rating can't be removed? Wonder what's the cutoff anyway.
>>24616909
I think it was one of the first to be posted that were made by a regular and Kino spams it here.
His spergout cemented it on /wng/ history.

>>24616909
am i the only one who likes his weird cover?

>>24616200
>lists their shoe sizes
i know what you are

FFF-dude is living proof that there's no bad publicity. The bigger a spergout you cause, the more fondly /lit/ thinks of you. Worked for F.Gardner too

>>24616635
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/63818/the-crow-and-the-rabbit
please read my story, thank you

>>24616968
Anon please calibrate your samefag detector.

like a tactical nuke, I am holding my spergout for the most devastating opportunity

I'm going through the entire oxford dictionary of idioms and writing down every single one I could see myself using. I am powering up. Just you wait and see.

>>24616979
>Years passes
>Newfags forget the lessons of the great spergout of '25
>A large list of authors and a review swap cabal forms
>FFFanon drops his ultimate spergout at his series end
>Pretty much destroys the web novel scene
You would say that it would be kino

>>24616968
>FFF-dude
Can you make it any more obvious that you’re referring to yourself, moron

>>24616862
>No one has answered.
I'm kind of disappointed with ChatGPT.
Anyway, would this be enough of a reference for an artist?

Yeah, I settled on ElfGF, the most logical choice.

>>24616983
you faggot. Don't you know real writers create their own idioms?

>>24616973
I'm actually already following you haha, seems like you’re one of the success stories here

>>24616919
I think mods can see what chapters you opened and how long you stayed on them
lets them catch people power clicking through chapters then review bombing

>>24616992
>commission
>fan art
Hmmm

>>24617025
Canon appearance of Rinaldo, since he is not-Italian.

>I finally find a new site to expand my story reach.
> it doesn't allow me to insert images into the chapters.

Webnovel, too. So outside RoyalRoad, and ScribbleHub, does anyone know of any other platforms?

>>24617056
SpaceBattles

>>24616998
I can see myself making my own but some of these idioms are quite helpful. I feel like using ones that are overtly british/american could help a character feel different without having to give them an accent that makes them feel like a caricature. Some of them are also quite archaic which could make a character feel older.

>>24617040
Still no answer

it was mentioned last thread. you can find amateur artists on twitter and vgen.co

>>24617056
What do you write? The answer varies depending on that.
RR and Webnovel are the only Tier 1 sites, with WN having an asterisk because you need to sign a contract for their site/algo to promote you seriously (otherwise you get buried). SH, SB, Ao3 are Tier 2. The rest are tier 3+++ and basically irrelevant, unless you write romance (wattpad) or erotica (literotica, etc) or specific niches (reddit)

>>24617089
>vgen.co
I want a Victorian-style oil painting of Elf-GF.

>>24617096
Webnovel looks promising, but it doesn’t allow me to post images.

>>24617101
webnovel also doesn't allow you to use italics unless you sign a contract with them lmfao.
they are extremely predatory (though some people do earn big cash there).
don't use them unless you're going all in w/ them

This is the draft for my next chapter, and, somehow, I have to find a way NOT to double it.

PAIN.

>>24617108
LOL, so it's Royal Road till global success, I guess.

>>24617111
if you write progfantasy litrpg etc yes.
there are other web novel niches that do better on other sites, as mentioned

>>24617108
the website is trash to use too, at least the last time I used it. There's no search function to filter stuff

sometimes stories perform strangely well on certain sites compared to others. you really should crosspost on the big ones: rr/sh/sb/ao3
the hard work was writing the chapter, posting them to multiple sites isn't much hassle

>>24617110
I'll never understand how people manage to overwrite.

>>24617099
https://skeb.jp/search?q=victorian-style&t=works&menu=1&acceptonly=1
you might have to scroll a bit

>>24617056
>insert images into the chapters
AO3 and the forum-fiction sites (spacebattles & sufficientvelocity) allow this. But they have rather specific niches.

>>24617160
A little too animish for my taste. Thanks, nonetheless, anon.

>>24616191
Damn, female MC. Why are all these stories always female MC?

>>24617191
AGP fetishism

self inserters must be put to the stake

>>24617191
genuinely better chances a story is good when it's a female MC. Might be because most male authors write male MCs and their power fantasy is to be a murderhobo and fucking everything in sight

>>24617200
Because male mc on royalroad is a 50/50 between "the author just wanted to write it that way" vs "he's catering to selfinsertslop readers and it'll be a generic power fantasy"

>>24617191
Unlike you, most people like women.

>>24617140
unless its space opera, then you do absolutely shit everywhere. pure suffering.

>>24617191
as a straight man I want my head to be full of women
allowing a m*id, even if its a character, into my internal realm would be a homosexual act

>Strong male mc
>wtf is this cringe self inserter power fantasy slop?!?! FUCKING MOIDS!!!!
>Strong female mc
>OMG YAAASSS SLAY SHE'S LITERALLY ME *injects hrt into shriveled nutsack*

>>24617243
trvthnvke

Male MC, but:
>Doomed to be the weakest because his stats are permanently soft-locked.
>Forced to work a 12-hour shift every single day while attending school.
>Bullied daily by the entire female cast.

Explain?

>>24617243
femcs are built for miseryslop

>>24617200
Part of the upside for male MCs is that you have more leeway to fuck them up than with females.
If I have MMC fail to do magic correctly and blow off his arm, the audience will cheer him on as he gets back up, learns his lesson, and improves.
If I have FMC do the same, the audience would be much more likely to throw a fit and call me a misogynist or whatever else.

>>24617256
sounds like one of those korean series where the MC is bullied then gets god tier powers and kills everything from the bullies to their parents and then the president who happens to be one of the bullies' grandfather

>>24617243
I actually get a little angry when people are upset about power fantasy shit, no matter the gender of the MC.
>Oh, character x doesn't suffer or is too perferct
Yeah, isn't that the point?
>Oh he bought a slave and she fell in love with him
>Oh, she's nice and always right and everyone loves her
Same shit, just let people have fun.

>>24617260
>Stats permanently soft-locked
From chapter one till the last.

>>24617258
I think you're just making shit up and making up nonsensical hypotheticals, and getting influenced by them. Pussy

>>24616731
>Z-lib
It's been saying I've hit my daily limit for downloads for a while now, even though I don't have a dynamic ip. I've tried it at a couple different ones too using my phone and still get the same result.
Anyone else been having this problem?

>>24617269
Nah.

>>24617271
Yup. Need to login to get around it.

>>24617271
Yeah just make a burner email and make an account. For some reason it reads my LAN IP as my IP address. It used to be limitless while logged in but now it's limited to five a day.

>>24617333
>>24617366
Thanks. I was halfway through This Used to be About Dungeons book 2 when it got stubbed and have been mildly salty about it even though I wasn't crazy about the story in the first place.

>>24617258
lol its the exact opposite. royal retards will sperg out massively if the male MC does anything stupid. female mcs are allowed to make mistakes without causing mass melties and 1 stars

>>24617200
Female MCs are often so passive though.
>>24617424
People don't like male MCs making the same mistakes every other story of the same genre makes.

>>24617243
this but unironical
and the hrt gets injected into the ass

>>24617256
>Bullied daily by the entire female cast.

>>24617424
an early commenter was very upset with my femc for starting a fight while outnumbered and then losing said fight.

>>24617549
Why did she do that? Is she retarded?

>>24617562
yes

>>24616191
I have to take back what I said. The MC is not passive in this novel's case. I don't like the shut-in mentality the MC has, but it fits the character's backstory.

yuri timeloop slop with quote "cute horny main character". shall I read?

>>24617599
it's performing well, i saw it too
read it and tell me if it's good

>>24617599
Eugh

>>24617601
I'm a bit concerned about the levels of redditism because of the fat cat in the blurb + picrelated being the author's biggest fiction

>>24617612
what does redditism even mean in this context
picrel looks like anime cute-rot. is that reddit aligned now? you can't just call everything pop culture reddit. or you can, but it loses all meaning

>>24617599
So, the only thing interesting in it is
>Horny lesbians
?
>>24617612
The blurb for this one seems ok I think, cutesy SOL isekai.

Also, holy dropped fiction Batman, that author page is a graveyard.

>>24617612
In my experience RavensDagger's writing isn't particularly reddity. It has some surface-level reddit smell at points but that's about it. He's not retarded and understands that RR readers don't want troon shit

>>24617621
>So, the only thing interesting in it is
>>Horny lesbians
it has TIME LOOPS

reddit means having transgender themes now?

>>24617629
but pic related is based

>>24617621
>dropped fiction graveyard
RavensDagger was known for a while for being the most pragmatic about the "roll the Rising Stars dice and if it doesn't blow up axe it after the first volume" tactic

>>24617632
not really lol? ravensdagger has always written tons of fics on the side. he did the same shit with his fanfiction way back when, regardless of how popular it got
he just has the plot bunny brainrot where he likes starting and stopping different ideas. a surprising amount of his old fictions still get new volumes here and there, even his wildly unpopular ones

>>24617625
Thundamoo...
>>24617629
I would say that 'reddit themes' are either unfunny force comedy dialogue or thinly veiled political points shit.
>>24617632
Wouldn't pick any stories of his them, but I won't deny the results.

everything I don't like is reddit

>>24617638
>but I won't deny the results.
for the sheer amount of words he releases and his community presence, he performs pretty badly lol. i would absolutely deny the results

>>24617616
Yeah to clarify I mainly want to avoid anime cute rot or the "hecking woofer" style pet "humor". I'll check it out and see.

The only way to create a trve 4chan community for Royal Road is for known RR crossposters to message each other on RR and build up a discord server that cannot be accessed by the several bad faith posters and schizophrenics. And of course, you could never mention 4chan on the server.

>>24617703
Stop wanking to pandas anon.

>>24617701
fuck no. things are better off staying in the thread. i have seen generals go down that discord route. bunch of retards join it, they start namefagging and making vague posts referencing some inner circle discord shit in the thread that only they get. then there's drama and the server gets deleted and all that shit leaks into the thread, thus derailing it. no way in hell i would join such a thing. at most i would respond to a RR dm, even that i'd prefer not to do.

>>24617638
what’s the deal with thundamoo anyhow

i’m pretty sure the “Int is my dumpstat” author is transgender and that story is like any other.

>>24617705
no wonder they're endangered

>>24617599
Author promises cute girls, but cover and synopsis suggest ugly butches, i will not be fooled

>>24617140
>the hard work was writing the chapter, posting them to multiple sites isn't much hassle

>change one line
>now have to go through half a dozen sites to copy-paste the same shit
>notice you mispelled one word in the copypaste
>...

>>24617804
it is 4 sites, and don't publish every little change? Make a change, wait a day or two, be sure that is the only change you are making, and then go and update everything.
and proofread/spellcheck before you do that.

>>24617843
>Make a change, wait a day or two
then you're already editing the next chapter.

>and proofread/spellcheck before you do that.
there are ALWAYS mistakes left, no matter what black magic you pull and however many editing rounds. Hell, the top professionals of Harper & Collins have been combing through LotR line by line for half a century and I still found three blatant mistakes in the 50th anniversary edition before even reaching Two Towers.

>>24616992
>Japanese artists are too anime
>Western artists are too tumbrl

It's over for Elf-GF

>>24617712
That and it slows down the main thread by 10-400% depending.
My previous main general went from 8 hour threads to 15 DAY threads.
I'd much rather just have an etherpad or a mailing list.

Read a bit of Chaotic Craftsman yesterday.
How is a litrpg crafter story with obvious system errors and revisions this popular?

>>24616635
For you, anon.

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/118792/shattered-pantheon

I wonder if the anons who salvaged my shitty synopsis and cover are still here. If so, thanks lads.

>>24617892
You want the truth? Most readers don't actually think about the system whatsoever, and even with the knowledge it's basically a hollow shell with no real mechanics, they don't really care. It's just a narrative contrivance that people accept and understand.

>>24617913
You can omit the understanding and acceptance part. they simply don't think, period.

>>24617096
Isn't AO3 a much bigger platform than royal road? Why do you call it tier 2?

>>24617935
much of the platform and its user base is dedicated to fanfiction

>>24617963
Well, why not write fanfiction then? Build your audience that way, and then shill your original fic to them.

>>24617978
That isn't how fanfic readerships operate.
Maybe they liked your smutty Naruto X Marvel crossover fic but why would they read your sci fi litrpg?

>>24617978
why do you think there's author loyalty in the fanfic scene

>>24617992
If I like a fanfic, I will usually check other stuff by the same author, even if I don't like the setting/premise of those works. I assume others might do the same sometimes.
>>24617986
>Marvel
That's where you're wrong, kiddo. My Naruto fic is crossed over with Worm. And also, there's no smut in it.

>>24618005
clearly you're one of life's good guys and I say this without any snark
most fanfic enjoyers I've encountered tend to be much more attached to (a handful of) fandoms rather than any specific author

>>24618014
I think it says less about my morality, and more about my tastes. I honestly look for at least a passable level of quality in anything I read, even fanfic. If I fuck with the prose and the story and the pacing in one fic, it's a lot more likely that I will find a similarly good story in the "other works" tab, than the next fanfic over in that fandom's list, because that one could easily have been written by an unironic child.

>>24618005
>Naruto fic is crossed over with Worm
I was going to make a Reverend Insanity joke but couldn't make it work

>tfw get such a good idea for how to make my MC even more badass 'Bad to the Bone' starts playing in my head to set the mood for the scene

Dayum.

Speaking of fanfic, those jcink/proboards collaborative writing roleplay forums (often fandom but sometimes original premise) made a big difference to my writing. Anyone else?

>>24618071
I started with writing on Google+ roleplaying communities. Lol. Lmao.
It definitely shaped how I write and I fully believe it's the reason writing fights is one of my strengths to this day.

>>24618071
It's quests for me dawg. Back in the day, when /tg/ accepted quests they were some of my favorite things to read/participate in.

>>24617978
>>24617986
i'll link my fantasy story at the end of my fanfic and see what happens.

>>24617025
Finally a novel written for literally me.

>>24617612
>The world called out for a hero to purge it of a great evil. It received Broccoli Bunch, explorer, expert cleaner, occasional ghost-buster, and full time Cinnamon Bun.
>14,512,441 views
>8,280 followers

I can't pretend to understand how any of this works anymore

>>24618341
There's nothing surprising about its success. Online spaces love that particular flavour of sickly, syrupy sweet performative wholesomeness

>>24617025
Recs for this feel???

>>24618386
It reads like something written for little girls aged 7-9 with toddler-tier prose, how on earth did it blow up so massively on a website built on power fantasies for 20+ males?

>>24618388
FFF-Class 'Unlucky Antagonist'

>>24618394
prose is a meme

>>24618394
it markets itself clearly to a niche and despite your prose critiques (i myself dont think RD prose is good fyi) the prose is far better than most RR stories and probably yours too
anyone who wants cute rot will try cinnamon bun and since RR is anime adjacent there's actually a decent amount of people who do want that

desu idk why all of you think popularity is so magical. its pretty rare I see a story and cant understand why it did well. tells me you have a very poor understanding of royalroads audience

>>24618433
Shut up retard and eat shit, you don't understand it either. You can use the numbers to retroactively justify whatever bullshit, which may or may not be the reason, but you have no real proof or argument. Stop making up shit with this holier than thou attitude and kys

>>24618445
retard I'm saying I understand that tastes are varied and its not surprising at all that a cutesy store performed well. its anime and royalroad likes anime. I genuinely think you're kinda stupid if you lack the empathy to understand that just because you personally dont like a premise that others cant.

I guess that is holier than thou but its more like I see myself as a normal person and you as a retarded sewer sludge

past a certain basic threshold of quality popularity is completely random and don't even try to pretend otherwise

>>24618465
if that's true go find me the werewolf billionaire stories on rr that do so well elsewhere

>>24618465
There are lots of wildly unmarketable story premises that would never perform if written merely at a "basic threshold of
quality". What nonsense is this?
The market is not completely predictable but it has definite trends and certain story types do better than others even at lower qualities. Just because it cant be 100% predicted doesnt make it magic

>>24618394
>It reads like something written for little girls aged 7-9
So do my little pony and pretty cure. Didn't stop either of them from having an audience of 20-30yo basement dwelling males

>>24617722
No idea, apparently their works are all related to body dysmorphia. I tried reading one and I found it rather distressing. Well written, but not my type of story.
But it's popular with the reddit crowd type. Also making bank on Patreon,

>>24618085
I was the anon that wrote the harry potter quest with Millicent Fauxley.

>harem in th RS
We're GMI harembros

>>24616163
You MUST write litRPG with system and poor grammar.

>>24618458
>its not surprising at all that a cutesy store performed well. its anime and royalroad likes anime.
Fucking dumbass, there are like 10,000 stories at RR that are cutesy and anime and didn't even get 100 followers. Nothing about that is unique or stands out or hooks you. You throwing cheap, pathetic insults at me doesn't answer anything, and you should just shut your fat mouth if you have nothing better to post.

This is the second time I’ve had to get the mods to delete a suspicious bad review from who I assuming is one of you guys.

>>24618639
>there are like 10,000 stories at RR that are cutesy and anime and didn't even get 100 followers
not written as well as CB there aren't. link some faggot

it's a popular premise written by a popular author who had an existing audience and you had the retarded gall to say
>I can't pretend to understand how any of this works anymore
as if this, of all stories, was what broke your understanding of how popularity works. of course i'm calling you out. you sound so fucking stupid

>>24618654
Shame on anons if they're doing the crab bucket thing. If a fiction is bad, I'm most inclined to ignore it.

50k words into my new project now, after a month at it. It still hasn't decisively revealed if it's a diamond or a turd. I'll have to keep digging.

>>24618032
https://youtu.be/TFwXbp9bLlY

>>24618902
I knew I had a chicken dinner by the time I'd written my first sentence.

My first sentence?

Vivi opened her eyes to the Burial Room of the Ashen Hierophant.

>>24618939
Stop.

>managed to do 922 words of rough outlining today
>first productivity in nearly a month
>sinus infection clearing up but dog care is fucking up my natural rhythm and rest
I'm feeling good about next week at least. Probably going to skip my birthday and instead latch onto my siblings' birthday like a leech a few weeks later (he won't be pleased).

Chime in if you beat 922 words today. My readers are dumb so I'm planning to be extraordinarily explicit about how the character arc is going, which I think will please them since they missed the obvious character growth so far.

>>24618902
probably like 90% of your success if you're a new author is gonna be from how attention grabbing your synopsis and first 10 chapters are
you should know if you have a hit on your hands by 50k words. nobody is sticking it out to find out if chapter 20 is where it gets good

>>24618952
Last night I banged out 2070. All dogshit btw

>>24618965
So what if the early parts hook readers, the real question is can the story hold its magic beyond meager 20 chapters. If you're going to fizzle out right after the beginning, then don't get started at all.

>>24618994
-.-
of course you don't want to fizzle out
the point is that if you're a noname trying to break in, you need to have a very strong opening you feel confident about. i wasn't advising anons to write 10 good chapters and then shit the bed. obviously...

>>24619010
You make dumb assumptions and give dumb advice, use emoticons, and clearly don't belong on this website. Aren't the schools starting yet?

Your first 20 chapters should be good and everything after that should be good as well you stupid retards. There is no coasting. Write your heart out.

the lads pretending to be magicrhythm is my favorite /litwang/ meme

>read my mtlslop
>immediately come across a title that reads something like this: “Possessed by an African”
>synopsis details how a Chinese student tried to cockblock an African exchange student and later got possessed by the black devil
>plenty of WNs ascribing supernatural qualities to black africans by virtue of them being black africans

man, if only we could get something half as absurd in the west

>>24619017
I give obvious advice since so many of you fuckers are genuinely retarded. i responded to some guy who said he's written 50k words and can't tell if it's good, and wants to write more to find out. lmao.
>you don't belong on this website
thank you for the compliment. unfortunately i'm here nonetheless

>>24619029
>pretending

>>24619017
>You make dumb assumptions and give dumb advice
How is this not 4chan classic?

>>24619040
Uhh that's literally been the foundational ideology of the west for the last 30 years, IRL. I advise grass-touching.

>>24619029
Sometimes I imagine he/she's going to find out about our little japes and get really sad and upset. Then I remember they're rich as fuck so they can dry their tears on hundred dollar bills. It's all in good fun anyway.

>>24619082
>Sometimes I imagine he/she's going to find out about our little japes and get really sad and upset. Then I remember they're rich as fuck so they can dry their tears on hundred dollar bills. It's all in good fun anyway.
haha but imagine if they really are one of the regulars here who just won't publicly associate their pen name, wouldn't that be crazy

>>24619082
>Sometimes I imagine he/she's going to find out about our little japes and get really sad and upset.
I think the meme started when I said that one post asking for how to deal with a mentoring OP character could be from MagicalMeter, and it kinda spun from that.
>>24619093
I wonder that, but not too much; I don't want to become a schizo.

>>24619093
>be massively and instantly successful
>go on 4chan.org/lit and give bad advice on purpose
I kneel

>>24619093
>won't publicly associate their pen name, wouldn't that be crazy
I mean, if he did, no one would take it seriously.

>>24619103
from what i've seen /wng/ can't recognize good advice from bad advice in the first place

>>24619122
I once jokingly teased that anon wasn't gonna make it (as a way to tell them to just write) and someone got upset at me, to the point I had to outright say that it was a joke.
Another one didn't got the "that's weird" antijoke, but I let anon stir on that because it was too funny.

Litwangs are just like that.

>litwangers pretending to be esoterictempo
>litwangers pretending to be FFFanon
the Federer and Nadal of our scene

my MC is a feckless and avoidant piece of shit

in other words, he is literally me

>>24618952
>My readers are dumb
At least you have readers, haha...

>>24619156
I love the arcanecadence larp. That and It's Serialized are the best memes the general has spawned.

>>24619260
I will share how I came to have readers:
First, I wrote my story and posted it, and relied on "the algorithm" of royal road to send me readers. I got a few, and after a long time I hit double digit followers and several thousand views.
Then, I bought my first ad, which was poorly designed, and I ascended to three digits of followers.
Then that ad ran out and my commissioned cover arrived, so I made a new ad based on that, that somehow did worst than literally just the title as an image, and I got a bunch more followers.
Now that ad is nearly done running and I get one or two new followers a day, I know not why.

I think the most valuable thing is that I don't lose followers, as far as I can tell, and I think part of that is because I've been consistently posting without missing a day for months, since I started. The key to this, I think, is to have a consistent writing routine and to only post half as much each week as you produce: this allows for a healthy backlog to grow and recover from when you have to take time off.

tl;dr: buy ads, post consistently, write a good story

>>24619271
>It's Serialized
the line about isekai and escapism and chinese/japanese/koreans cracked me up too

>>24618939
i knew what this was going to be even before clicking

>>24619054
>give obvious advice since so many of you fuckers are genuinely retarded.
and you the dumbest of all black niggers

>>24619415
Calm down Tina.

>litwangers pretending to be fourtysixtyfour
>litwangers pretending to be james krake
>litwangers pretending to be akaso
what others do we have?

>>24619427
464 is definitely real because he was posting pics of his trailer and his bookshelf of royalroad sloppa im pretty sure (unless im misremembering)
likewise akaso is real because i see him asking the same shit in the order then moving to 4chan and getting 0 replies (same as in the discord) lmaooo
no idea who tf james krake is
>google him
>biggest book has 17 ratings on amazon
is this you anon? are you guerrilla shilling

>>24619427
>>24619453
Who are two talking about?
This Akaso? https://www.royalroad.com/profile/147723

>>24619465
yeah he's a very long time semi-regular of /wg/. he showed up for the first time in /wng/ a bit ago. he's really recognizable because he just posts commissioned art of his buff waifu mcs and asks "should i do x or y"

>>24611226
Here

>>24619472
Oh, I saw him. Didn't know he was rather successful.

>>24619475
>Didn't know he was rather successful.
Well,,

>>24619478
I mean the anonymous poster. The (non anon) author seemed successful as RR recommended Cherno Caster for me.

>>24619483
>as RR recommended Cherno Caster for me.
that's part of the moonquill publishing deal he has
desu it's kind of shocking how little followers/amazon sales he has considering he's had front page royalroad exposure for like a year straight now

>>24619489
oh actually it's finally gone. he used to be in the "partner books" section for fucking ever it feels like. that's how you saw him probably

>>24619493
wait im blind as fuck it IS still there.
damn, i wonder what the moonquill percentage was for such consistent front page exposure

>>24619489
If you think about it, that's exactly why web and self publishing are supplanting trab pubs: someone has to give the go ahead, and that person may not know what readers actually want.
Fellow OccultPhoneme's work would be in the garbage bin of someone's, yet he is the newest success story.
>>24619493
Still there for me.

>>24619474
>>24619472

You got me, guilty as charged, I sometimes make posts as an excuse to post my commissions (that was a real question though)
For what it's worth I also make normal posts, I just don't identify myself in them

>>24619453

I make input-request posts fully expecting to get zero responses because they usually just don't get responses (and because I am also guilty of not usually responding to such posts)

>>24619427
we have K.R., author of Revenge of the Slop King, but I don't think anyone would pretend to be him for any reason
I fear that man

>>24616161
I went ahead with it. She's now been viciously beaten into a coma with internal bleeding that continues to threaten her life. When she wakes up she'll be blind in one eye and left with a couple nasty face scars that ruin her prospects of marriage. I think that's punishing enough to make up for not killing her.

>>24619757
Out of context, that sounds like the deranged decision of a psychopath or some draconian king.

>>24619772
I think you just gave me the plot of volume 2.

nobody will ever pretend to be me because my mental illness is just depression instead of a superpower like other anons have

>>24619902
Same but autism and social anxiety.

>>24619910
Thank you for reading and commenting on my chapters. I really appreciate it

>>24619505
WHALEPOSTER DETECTED! Deet! Deet! WHALEPOSTER DETECTED! Deet! Deet! WHALEPOSTER FOLLOWED!

>>24619902
>because my mental illness is just depression instead of a superpower
Cultivate deeper. Reflect on depression and lack of energy until you fully embrace and exemplify entropy (protip, ice powers).

>>24619913
No problem, keep it up!

Looking for Mercenary kino, the grimmer the darker. I need some Black Companysoul.

>>24619902
i am bipolar and do not have a soul

>>24615612
It appears that webnovels became a big thing in Asia before the west, I wonder why that is? Especially the webnovel to other media pipeline.

>>24619977
> the webnovel to other media pipeline
No ultra-entrenched tradpub mainswamp and a lack of "le muh legitimate" orthodoxy
In Japan you will see anything, even really fringe edgelord political shit, getting published. As long as someone thinks it will make money, it will get published. No such thing in the west, publishers ideologically filter everything, and have done so even before ideology became ultra-polarized in the last 15~ years.

>>24619977
Commuter culture. People need something to read on the train every day.

>>24619271
Speaking of arcanecadence. What's the Japanese story that's basically the same thing but with a male MC? Not Overlord, the story is very close to what the Max level archmage story is, down to trying to find guild npcs.

>>24618561
What novel. any good?

>>24619902
all great artists are depressed.

>>24620041
The only one that I can remember just like that is 'A wild Last Boss Appeared', but that is a female MC. Though I do wonder how many times you can do the "I got transported to the distant future/different time of the VRMMORPG (VR not necessary) as my overpowered game character" before the premise becomes saturated.

>>24620116
i’m tempted to write something like that but have the MC get isekai’d in his min-maxxed crafter/utility slot he uses to equip all of his other characters on different accounts

>>24619913
that is pretty good, thanks.
>>24620081
yes but not all depressed people are great artists

Anything Cradle-esque? I liked the westernized take on Xianxia. I like Zenith of Sorcery so far.

>>24617599
this popped up on my suggested and I made it through like 3 paragraphs before giving up

Give your three (3) favorite stories that come from posters ITT

>>24620177
I've only read mecha kaijiu's and its the only one i enjoyed actually wanting to read desu

>>24620177
You know what, I’ll set the bar even lower.
Say one (1) nice thing about someone else’s work ITT

>>24620177
I haven't read the new chapters after vol2 but I was pretty into FFF-guy's story. I despise litrpg but his setting is interesting enough for me to engage with it a little bit

>>24620195
Shame about his personality

>>24617599
Update on reading this: there is zero yuri/romance until random shopkeeper hits on her with minimal buildup and the author goes "BTW SEX SCENE ON MY PATREON WINK WINK".
Also not feeling the time loop aspect, 20 chapters in all she's used it for is to google shit without wasting time and to grind exp fighting goblins in a dungeon (why are there dungeons in this cyberpunk world? who knows...)
There's none of that aspect of exploration or discovery that's normally in time loop stories. There's a vague idea that she wants to figure out who triggers the disaster in the city 9 months from now but she's done nothing about that besides loredump i mean look up info online about the biggest factions and speculate that "it was probably one of these"

>>24620155
Yeah I'm not feeling it too much either.

>>24620214
He's kinda of annoying and besides that one thread he's harmless, will keep reading his shit.

>>24620195
Are you waiting for the full volume, or have you dropped the story?

>>24620177
i'm very slow when it comes to reading but I've read half of yellow typhoon and the first part of FFF. I've been meaning to read mecha kaiju as well.
>>24620180
FFF is very detailed in certain things which feeds my autism and makes it enjoyable despite the flaws.
Yellow Typhoon feels like something I would write if I was writing a mecha story so I smile when reading it because of that.

>>24620220
Waiting for it, I'm really looking forward to it too we haven't seen a whole lot of Jock-ques actual school life. Gotta see how the lil dolly turned out too

>>24620151
If you're into western takes on xianxia, I think the usual recs are:
>Beware of Chicken (SOL but there's a couple of decent scenes before it gets mired in hundreds of thousands of words of animals doing random shit)
>Ave Xia Rem Y (ancient at this point and the author shits out a chapter once a week or so, but when it hits it hits)

Then there's the flavor of the week xianxia things that catch on for a while. The recent one is Sky Pride, before that it was things like Immortality Starts With Generosity, maybe Young Master Xian Has Changed if you want some smut early on, Cultivation Nerd if you're into yanderes...

>>24620227
I believe Reforged from Ruin is written by an anon who occasionally posts here although he doesn't show up or self-shill often
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/78756/reforged-from-ruin-eldritch-xianxia-cultivation

>>24620238
actually i think I got baited.
someone posted it in a list of anon written works at >>24514906
but that's only the second time it ever mentioned on /lit/ according the archive and the first time was just a review from a reader.

Wondering how I can make this opening paragraph for new chapter work. Any ideas? Good as-is? Too much description?
Lawrence, still frozen by the spells of God, could only look in horror as great, big, spherical temporospatial rifts, bright and furious as a thousand suns, flashed, then ruptured, time and again, big and small, all through the vicinity. All along the rims of these vortexes were many electric tendrils flailing wildly like the arms of a raging octopus. They gave away to concentrated mists, from which forth the dogs of war sprang—Imperium Star Dreadnoughts. More and more of them!

>working on a three part series
>first two parts are ~90k words each
>third part is ~60k and only halfway done
fuck

>>24620180
crow mogs

How can I learn to write? I want to pick up this hobby but it's hard to get started

>>24620345
An atrocious run-on sentence

>>24620150
If you are not depressed, then you are not a great artist. Sufficient vs necessary. The artist is a subset of the superset of being depressed. Since it's a subset, being depressed is always there when you are a great artist. Of course, like you said, just because you are depressed, that doesn't mean you are a great artist. Because the great artist concept is a subset. It's not required to be depressed.

>>24620345
"great, big" is an awful way to describe something, especially when you go on to use the word "big" again later.
>>24620368
read

>>24620368
You read, find stuff you like, and try to do it yourself. Nobody is good from the start and you won't see the garbage everybody started with in bookstores. Make something, get feedback, refine, and repeat.

>>24620368
>How can I learn to write?
the results of american education are always tragic to see

>>24620479
>>24620479
>>24620479

new

>>24620041
Log Horizon?

>>24615747
>. For all that gatekeeping, they're curiously forgiving of /u/ works featuring trans main characters, plus the mods will also erase and warn you for bringing that up as an issue in any related conversation
Not anymore they don't. /u/ hates trannies arguably more than any non-/pol/ board now and for years they've been asking for an updated rec list that removes that tranny gender-bender manga.

The pro trans narrative is still alive and well in haunts like Dynasty, however.

>>24620545
It's funny how /u/ is full of mindbroken /pol/tards who rage about gays and woke, and somehow try to argue lesbians aren't homosexual in the same post