>>24555122
Brandon Sanderson might've been right about short stories being an artefact, but I still stand by the assertion that you need to write a short story before you can write a novel. Many writers believe this to be the case, especially the ones I mentioned: Lovecraft, Wolfe, and Vonnegut all wrote short stories first and stood by this as a milestone for any author. I don't think Lovecraft could have written his novella, At the Mountains of Madness, and his novel, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, without writing numerous short stories first.
I like some web novels, actually. I prefer Chinese web novels and Xianxia; I don't really see the appeal of LitRPG but people can read whatever they want.
The trolling is supposed to be lighthearted, but I tend to take on characters and personas online for fun.
>>24555128
Good enough critique. But I see that more as an opportunity to get something of yours published. When you see garbage traditionally published, and you think "I can do better than this," that should be the sign to you that you think like a writer. I don't like everything published in Apex nor Clarkesworld but I like the community enough to read every so often. I also like that they're more experimental, but that's only because I appreciate pushing the envelope. The other magazines that focus on a certain style (Cosmic Horror Monthly comes to mind) usually seem stale by comparison.