I think they are not satisfied with the first one so they search the lacking element onto the next until they found the perfect one. After all, it's so easy to scroll down (without reading properly) if you already knew the plot... Then skip to the most intriguing titled chapter.
Basic Novels vs Planned novels
TheOGDuanChen I find the concept of unique novels to be somewhat funny. If you can think of a plot, it's been done. So the only "unique" part of a novel is going to be its world or its "laws." And even most of that has probably been done.
So, with that said, I basically don't understand your question. What is this unique that you speak of?
lozlo
I agree with you!
The only way to create something unique is with a lot of research, usually something unique is in the sciatic surveys, or in a more gender of social study and that is associated with the study of a certain culture.
You will hardly find this in a webnovel, not to mention that original just if it is the idea of a "new" world, but everything has to be based on something, even if it is in a bible of a random tribe or flolcloric legends of your country.
So we're always using something as a basis, webnovel is just another way to do it.
Imagine a novel by the Tupinikin Indians (Indigenous tribe in the BR), they travel to the future... I do not know why, but it arrives in the future and there begins its saga to return to the past or adapt to the future.
Someone outside Brazil, who is not an anthropologist or scholar or who has any connection with BR, will know what a fucking tupiniquim is (not denigrating my beautiful Indians, because think of a beautiful people!).
Oops, I got away from it.
And even that example, I only changed who would travel to the future, because the plot must already exist somewhere!
Unless someone discovered a new theory of space and someone later makes a webnovel, there is no way to be original.
Now if you're talking about being cliche, always writing the same thing, kind of killing a villain random cannon bush and the MC being OP that kind of thing .... which is actually laziness of the author (after 200 or more chapters, I even understand the author), has little to do with originality. Being original does not get into the problem you're facing, but it's more sloppy, lazy, the cliche that sort of thing.
Now anyone who wants a romance with Tupini characters calls me! #Just kidding
Take_the_Moon Sounds like you do have a good basis for a story there. I'm only terrified because of the possible routes you might take if you wrote it, lol. I like to think I'm fairly open-minded. But BL stuff makes me cringe a little. ;p
Then again, Harem just about makes me cringe too these days...
Write about the BR Indians?
It's not going to happen, I do not have the property to write about the Indians, besides sending for that fucking future that's happening in BR.
Better not!
I love BL!
I came to a conclusion, the novels are all the same, what will make it different is how well the MC is built and the characters that interact with the MC. Because the world may be cliche, but if the MC is well built then nothing will matter because you will be focused on the climb of the MC to the top of the world.
Now what a lot of authors confused, is what composes this MC, is not only physical description, mental, OP, or empty compliments about its beauty, strength, wisdom, but what builds a good MC are their rivals and loves.
The stronger the rival, villain, enemy, the more interested the reader gets over the plot and how the MC will beat that rival. ISSHT is a clear example of this.
I love this novel! An MC that was not born OP and that goes up gradually, that was defeated and reargue ... Ours, I am a fan of this author!
Anyway, there was nothing different in the story, because there are stories with MC, not OP, but the construction of the MC step by step was the key point of this plot.
Better stop writing about ISSHT if I will not be writing text.
- Edited
Take_the_Moon Yeah, I know. I checked the history and noticed a BL novel link, lol. So I had to make a joke about it. ;p
Though, reading one really would make me cringe, so I won't be reading any willingly, lol.
I see it a bit differently. I look at novels as a conversation. The author is telling me how they think, and what they can envision. So, if the way they think is too far off from things I find acceptable, I will stop reading, or just not read at all.
For example, Transcending the Nine Heavens. The author started the story based on a guy who died, with his last thoughts being about the woman he loved, and who died because of him. Then he ends up going back in time, and swears to do better this time. By making a fucking harem? Fuck that. I created a list and named it trash, just to put that novel on my trash list. If a harem is built well, I'll accept it, even though I'm not particularly fond of it. But don't try to tell me someone's greatest desire is to please a certain woman who they deeply love, and they're going to do that by creating a harem. That actually makes me slightly upset.
I agree with you! Now marry me
Hahahaha! Someone who found this romance sucks!
I fully agree!
On the first part, I also agree, if the ideas that the author writes are not consistent with the proposed reality or against my moral concepts, or even against the basic rationality itself, I also do not read. But, buddy, if even that's not good, the MC must be crap, which does not revoke what I wrote earlier.
No, that's up to a mistake what I wrote above. But I'll leave it anyway, just to clarify my point of view below.
I've read stories that the MC and the world were very good, but then the author started with a talk exalting socialism about capitalism when MC was a stingy businessman!
At first, because of the MC and the novel itself, I kept reading, but there came a time when I could not take it anymore and I left the novel.
So you are absolutely right if the idea that the author passes really, does not match the morality of the reader or with the basic ideas of the reader, you really can not read or like this type of novel.
Take_the_Moon That's not the response I usually elicit from women. So I'm not sure if I should be happy or terrified. You might be working on creating your own BL romance here in the forum, lol. ;p
That's the part that really frustrated me. The portion of the story I read seemed pretty good. He actually built up some of the characters, and there were some intricate relationships. But he made a promise at the beginning of the story, and that promise was actually the reason I read the story. So, when I found out he lied, I quit reading. I've started reading a few novels that did that. Started out "Protagonist Loyal to Love Interest" and then switched to harem/polygamy like 300+ chapters in. It's very disappointing. I'm fairly hesitant to pick up novels that aren't finished for that exact reason.
I know how you feel, I've also read novels that promise romance 1x1 and end up in the harem! Or worse, this romance 1x1 in the novel is full of rampant culture or something like that, the author has the dorky face to say that this is a romance full of love!
When that happens, I can only abandon the novel and speak ill of it so nobody will read that kind of crap.
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm dunno.
Take_the_Moon That's what I mean by basic because most of what I see is a repeat of that same cliche script. I understand if it's too push the plot along, but it normally doesn't end there with the cliche script and repeats throughout the novel. Its that kind of lazy writing that readers love.
Baal Character portrayal, pacing, description, the logic behind the characters. The different routes the characters can take in that same plot and world is what makes can make it unique. However, most authors tend to go the same route. Example being if I were to compare spirit immortal to doludalu, the world is similar. But the route the author took is completely different.
Demon_Star Exactly but it always turns out the MC kills the son and later on kills the father.
TheOGDuanChen I can't stand JP novels with the nonstop harem and "As expected of MC" lines appearing nonstop.
Toika (Korean) also had that problem A LOT in his Everyone is a Returnee
- Edited
TheOGDuanChen There are many types of readers and over the years I have found that most people like familiar things. Look at the most popular selling novels. Usually Romance or coming of age stories (see Harry Potter, 90% of Fantasy Series etc.) Its a formulaic script that works to make money, thus people continue to use it. As an author you really have to be popular in order to make a living and following these scripts is a good way to do it. Now don't get me wrong to make a good book like this you still have to have a lot of imagination, talent, skill and persistence, yet many do still follow a pretty basic formula.
I agree with Take_The_Moon on the part of a good MC. If you have a great MC, your story can be cliche'd as you want. People will still read it.
It takes a truly talented author to come up with a completely different story, magic system, idea, world, run with it for awhile, then abandon it to write a completely new world with new laws, new characters and new Stories. One I really like at the Moment for this is Brandon Sanderson. Yet he got popular helping finishing out a cliche'd Wheel of time series so shrug.
I've thought of throwing up something for one of these writing contests, but frankly writing a web novel terrifies me. Having to write a chapter a day and expecting it to be fantastic quality is a big challenge. Yeah I could throw a crap filler chapter up there easily, but who wants that? Not only that half the time in a novel you get near the end, then realize oh dang, that beginning part no longer makes any sense. Let me change that, now my whole story flows better and this ending just works. Yet in a webnovel it is impossible to do. It's like a long Improv session rather than a planned comedic routine, it is a completely different skill. No wonder elements of these stories end up changing through out, or skills the MC knows seem to be forgotten about later, all of these things are what an author would go back and verify their continuity once the book was finished, but you never really get that chance while writing a webnovel, you just have to hope people don't notice as you change things to more suit your story.
Demon_Star
I have already stopped reading the novels published in 'next', sometimes they sound more unique though
I guess its the difference between WN and LN. for most of WN they mostly emphasize on the number of words for a book can be considered to be published or in fact in this site to be contracted. It takes one in a million to find an author that can keep on delivering interesting stories with that daily chapter release requirement. I don't think a basic novel wasn't planned. but the change in execution is what causing it to appear a planned novels become a basic novel.
for JP LN on the other hand, if you read on syosetu they doesn't have that kind of requirement. if it's interesting then it got a chance to be published and get contracted. For example, if you require a CN WN to follow a JP LN it might cut 50% of their words and a JP LN if changed into CN WN it might makes it thrice as long as it is. well, it is just my own opinion though.
TheOGDuanChen I see. So, when you say unique, you mean "well thought out." I'd have to toss that one in the air, because I've seen novels that were so well "thought out" that they were basically 50% filler. Take any Er Gen novel as an example. Generic, cliche, predictable, but usually pretty well thought out. The challenge is making it through his long streams of mindless drivel that seprate every plot point.
SnowOnSummer The difference between a web novel and a light novel is the work put into it. A lot of light novels were originally web novels that were polished and adapted a little, or maybe a lot for some, then put into paperback form. Web novels never go through that polishing procedure because it's generally okay if they're filled with nonsense and discrepancies. With that said, Syosetu hosts web novels, not light novels. But some of those web novels become light novels.
If you changed a CN WN to a JP LN, you might cut it in half. If you changed a JP LN to a CN WN, you'd just be changing the language, and maybe the release schedule. So I would gladly make that trade. Even the novels I do like, like True Martial World, I don't read for 6 months because the day to day chapters are at least 50% filler. You need like 50 chapters to get any kind of real content out of it.
The difference is the goal. CN WN encourage quick shotty work that is a dime a dozen. JP WN encourage creativity. Of course, with that said, there are creative CN WN, and there are shotty, dime a dozen, JP WN. But I've seen far more creative JP WN, and far more shotty, dime a dozen CN WN. Though, in fairness, I'm sure a large part of that could be due to the quick surge of popularity in CN WN versus the slowly built popularity of JP WN/LN.