Book_Keeper

Am I right to say your site targets readers mainly in order to connect them with ongoing original works?

If that is the case, I would suggest a slight overhaul to the review system.

For example, Chapter Length and Reader's level be separated from the 5 and should be in their own category. RL should be scaled from 0-3 on the basis of readability i.e 3 being the level whereby the general population would be able to read. My basis for this is the preconception that webnovels in general tries to play to the lowest denominator.

As a reader, I would find the breakdown TQ/PD/CF and CL/RL much better and would facilitate me in making a decision whether to try the book or not.

The scoring examples of said categories are well done. Expectations were laid clearly and a framework was established. Even if readers ultimately find your review to not fit their expectations, the deviations would not be much unless in outlier cases IMHO.

Moving forward, I assume that you would continue this particular work for a period of time. My first question is whether monetization is on the horizon or this is simply hobby work as I deem the former to provide a longer period of stability for the website but that is just me.

Lastly, I understand that you are going for an ability> pedigree kind of thing with your review website. I have a suggestion which is to humble brag whatever form of legit pedigree you may have in order to establish the first instance of trust for your reviews. To interest more people into reading the first review and so on. But, I understand that this may backfire spectacularly so please take my suggestion with a shaker of salt.

Anyway, just some random questions I had on my mind as I thought your work was good and the website had potential so I was curious.

      Jamison_C

      Great thoughts, inputs, and questions!

      Yes, readers are targeted more than writers because because ultimately that is the force which will make the website’s mission successful. Regardless if writers want an assessment, it’ll happen lol. The secondary service of reviews is simply to help writers who will also benefit from (hopefully) increased readership.

      As for the review system, I actually had similar concerns. RL+CL don’t make or break a webnovel in comparison to the three other factors. I probably could even kick CL out, but I kept it because it has some weight in online novels that go by parts rather than a ‘true full chapter.’ Also, it gives a quick impression of how serious writers are in their works. If they have 100 chapters, but they only have 500 words on average, then it seems more of a bid for over inflated views.

      RL, for online novels is usually 1-2 based on my scale because you’re right, most cater to a larger audience. But why I kept it is due to the idea of judging from a publisher standpoint (which, btw, I am not, or else I’ll be living some more exciting life lol). Since it’s not only the Webnovel website I’ll be looking at, this consideration is more necessary for Wattpad who has an actual “publishing” deal as opposed to featured or contracted.

      With all that said, however, I might just opt for a pairing of CL/RL next to TQ/PD/CF and separate with a dash or something. Visually, it’ll be quicker to judge.

      Monetization.. LOL. Nope, that’s not happening unless I get some random rich investor who wants to buy my freely-hosted website! Yes, this is merely a hobby taken seriously with the hopes of actually being of some assistance. I know all too well the difficulty of finding a good original novel among all the, cough, low quality ones.
      And maybe one day, I shall find brave souls willing to assist me.. for free.

      Yes, it’s ability > pedigree because I’m a firm believer in showing through action and example. It’s up to the viewer to decide, and honestly, even if I were to list anything, people will still find fault haha. Considering people ask others who aren’t “experts” either for reviews and give ratings on stories themselves, this is no different. Except, it’s just from me.

      Ehh, just basically hoping the easy accessibility of finding good novels all in one place will convince them this system works~

      Thanks btw! I’m glad someone went out to seriously and curiously consider and understand the website and assessment method. This kind of conversation helps all of us. :)

      [EDIT: Oh, I forgot to mention; I like this sentence: “may backfire spectacularly so please take my suggestion with a shaker of salt.” Haha! ]

          90751052

          Actually, I just reread some of my reviews and cringed over some typing mistakes. I was a bit too ambitious in taking on so many stories at once and lazy in the finish to not completely proofread my words.

          Oh well, the fix will have to wait until the morning.

              Book_Keeper

              You know, on second thoughts... I find courage welling up in my soul.

              Unfortunately earthly concerns shacketh me to the earth.

              I heard the keys can be found on a mysterious land named Discord.

              Let me know if you head there, I have 4 digits like a lottery winning number waiting for you LEL.

                Hello,

                I hope I'm not too late on this thread. My novel is only a week old (by the time this was posted), but I would appreciate if you could spare a time to review my humble first four chapters.

                https://www.webnovel.com/book/12847088505633405

                P.S. yes Im on my phone's (alt) account now, hence why the author's name is different from this

                  Fine, I'll bite.

                  https://www.webnovel.com/book/12652502605368205/Transition-and-Restart

                  Should be enough of a chunk to give an assessment. We'll leave the full 380k words for another, rainy day ;)

                  Besides, your ranking system will be coloured by publishing interface. Each and every novel published on webnovel will automatically have one star yanked in the readability departement due to substandard formatting options. Webnovel doesn't meet even the most basic requirements for a publishing site catering for stories in the English language.

                    Book_Keeper

                    You decide about your own rating system, but a 100% show -story is an automatic wall-banger. It's unreadable. Authors need to learn the rule: 'Tell, don't show' after they've learned 'show, don't tell'.

                    If you're going to drag me through a horribly boring taxi ride between the city and the airport I'm dropping your book cold. There's a time for showing and one for telling. Scene's of transition should, on average, be told.

                      StenDuring

                      Yes, the substandard formatting system on here does prove a challenge for readability. Surprisingly enough though, there have been several novels with a RL of 2 that have been written better than the average Webnovel but are still ‘readable.’

                      You’re definitely right on the balance of show don’t tell. Many of the review critiques I had were on the fact of either too much show and not enough skipping, often related to plot, or not enough show, often related to character development.

                      ihateyounot
                      Destruction is never and should never be the goal of reviewing. No worries, straightforward honesty is always assured, and the positives will be included as well as any improvements.

                      Kyazi
                      Queued~

                      MishaK
                      Ok!

                                Book_Keeper I was actually referring to the explicitly written grading information on your blog :D

                                If we're assuming that a higher total is better, then 100% show should be a 2 and 'tells very little' a 3. Otherwise you'll get complaints from authors referring back to your very site.

                                    StenDuring
                                    Ah, my mistake. What’s wrong with it besides the RL? And you have a point about the ‘tells very little.’ I actually consider that already in my views and assessments since scenes of transition are a no brainer to me, but it should be physically written in the examples for clarity rather than assumed. However, I’ll probably rewrite 2-3 where 3 is shows and tells when necessary since some stories might require different amounts. 2 will just be somewhat adequately balanced.

                                    Higher is better, but thinking of it as a grade where 15 is a “perfect A” isn’t the objective. A 9-12 novel is actually a good novel that has even more potential to grow. Numbers are merely used because it’s quicker to view rather than the qualitative words they represent.

                                        Book_Keeper Yeah, I see what you mean.

                                        The fully fledged 15 point novel would probably be a hard read for a lot of readers webnovels are targetted at. Upholding the kind of contract where the author delivers just enough to enable the reader to fill in the missing parts usually constitutes what's supposedly a good novel.

                                        It's also a bloody bother when you're only after a fun read bouncing around in your bus with a casual eye glued to your phone.

                                        As for anything wrong, apart from my comment on show versus tell I don't see it in terms of right and wrong. It's a metric you chose. Some oddities are bound to pop up no matter what metric is used. For example, if I published my piece in the LN-format it's supposed to be I'd receive a solid CL 3, but 10k words long chapters is too much. That's an artificial construct to ease adaptation into anime.

                                        My only real gripe would be why you chose to skip on one of the big three (four). Character, plot and setting (plus language) are the normal attributes of a novel you'd comment. After all the narrative has to occur somewhere :D

                                            Shotgun9494
                                            Sure thing~

                                            StenDuring
                                            I don't deny it would be more difficult for the typical webnovel reader, or that it would be bothersome while casually reading in transit, but the whole point of the assessment is that it's geared to aim higher. To be completely honest, I can't see the majority of these webnovels being print and sold in a bookstore. Yes, the world is digital these days, and that plays heavily in how people read today, but I can't imagine 1-3 sentence paragraphs making up the entirety of a book or e-book as one commonly finds on mobile novels.
                                            If I just stuck to webnovel standards for the mass audience, I might as well not undertake this project at all since most people (besides the 1 chapter with a few lines trolls) would score 10+ if the 15 range scale was kept. A weighted score is probably better to balance the importance of each factor, but that would take too much time. Using different ranges for each factor as well could be confusing rather than a straight, set range.

                                            True, right or wrong is too black and white. I just couldn't think of any way to ask the question without sounding rather silly or long like, 'What inconsistencies or variabilities are in this system that might cause future complications or drawbacks?' If I could get a better alternative phrasing, that would be great, lol. I feel like there is a good one, but I can't remember...
                                            10k words! Yes, that's definitely too much for a webnovel format. I'm not familiar with the process of adaptation into an anime, but that makes sense. 3 CL is just 1000+ words since that seems to be a pretty optimal length for flow and continuity of events from each webnovel chapter.

                                            I see, those are reasonable concerns. It seems I have failed to properly communicate all details of the metrics. I chose to skip out on making the one (two) single factor of their own because I tied them into PD and RL. I do say that language is part of RL, however, but I didn't specifically write this merge of plot and settings. Because settings are where events take place, the plot can't be very well developed without proper settings. So yet again, here's another automatic reasoning of mine without putting it into direct words in the guidelines.

                                            Thanks for all your inputs and concerns! It makes me realize what I wasn't aware of on the user/receiver side of this project. Nothing is perfect after all, so hopefully these improvements can make it a more helpful experience.

                                                Web Novel Novel Ask