Webnovel.Forum

I’ve started my novel some three weeks ago, but I’m already feeling like it’s not good enough. That I maybe should wait another few years before starting to write again. I browsed around Webnovel to look at other new books and they were all usually doing better than me on the rankings.

When you press the explore and then go down to the new section I felt that most people had an almost instant success. I was wondering if I should maybe wait a few years when I feel more confident in my writing and start again. Or should I continue on and maybe hope for the best?

GreenFoxx211 I think you owe your followers to finish or continue your story regardless if your story only have 1 or 2 followers (or collection).

I also have less number of views. But when I saw the number of collection (trust me, I also have less figures also) I guess I just have to finish or continue writing. At least someone trust my story.

GreenFoxx211 I think you should continue as still, there are few people who are expecting that u will update and continue the story...

As far as the success, everyone started here with 0 views or collections... They have worked hard to achieve it, and only they know about their struggles and hardships... Don't get disappointed, just continue what your heart suggests you to do...

What would be sort of like the average amount of collections or views someone who’s just starting should be able to get?

GreenFoxx211

"I started 3 weeks ago, and other people are having more success than me. Should I stop doing this for a couple years?"

No. You shouldnt. It took me 10+ YEARS to see any success with my writing. The same is true for many, probably most successful writers. Writing is a skill that takes a long time to develop, and you will probably not see a huge amount of returns for your time and effort for a while. That is part of the process.

The question I would ask is, why are you writing? Are you writing because it's fun and makes you happy, or because you want the approval and praise of others? If you're doing it for fun, and you should be, then if people dont shower you with glory it wont matter. If you're doing it solely for attention, you will never be able to write as well as you want, and will be miserable the whole time you do it.

Keep writing. As you build your skill and your presence as a name on this platform, attention will come naturally. Hell, I'm a professional, and it still took me 6 months+ of daily posting and grinding to get even a shred of attention or credibility on here. So dont lose hope! I believe in you!

Clowniac Thanks for the encouragement and I don’t really have a specific purpose for writing as of now. I like writing and I just have some time on my hands so it’s kind of more like a sort of hobby. Thanks again!

GreenFoxx211
I'm in the same boat as you. I started about 2 months ago and I've been just writing a story for fun. It's best not to worry about such things as popularity cause it will just ruin what you want to do with it. The storys that seem to get instant success are likely not the first story done by that author.
One thing to note though, I had very few collections in the first month. I stayed active in the forums and did some review swaps and once I hit 10 reviews, the collection amount started to pick up.

I would also suggest that you don't stop writing. Since there are people who are attached to the world you created through your words. I've seen many who start then quit then start a new one then quit that as well. just stick to one, may not get instant success but slowly you'll gain more readers also it will help you improve.
I'm also looking for improvement as I've been writing only for 2 months,

Also if you really want to quit, give your book a proper closer atleast

GreenFoxx211 If you write another one, how would you start?

If that doesn't blow up as well, will you abandon that too?

Those who blow up in their first story usually do some cliche story. Simple kill or be killed stories, senseless revenge and stuff like that. Minimal thought is done when writing those, I don't want to be known for making that kind of content. Simply trash novels for trash people. No offense to those authors but they know it's true anyway.

Right now you are probably writing to get attention, or most likely, money. But if you yourself don't love what you write then it really won't get rolling.

Stick with the story, write as much as you can. When you can see the scenes you write clearly in your mind, when you can feel the same as what your characters are experiencing, then you'll be able to say that you're actually writing a good story.

I actually cried while reading mine. That's when I knew I would be finishing the novel. Not only because I want to earn money, but because I want to read this novel's ending for myself. Hopefully you find that kind of story when you write too.

GreenFoxx211 Hey! I just started reading your novel and couldn't help but want to share my thoughts with you. Take this with a grain of salt, but I just want to help you expand your writing style.

First of all, it feels so... fast! The first chapter had so many things happening all at once. It was so fast that there was no weight to much of them at all.

Spread those out.

I feel like you crammed a whole arc in one chapter, a flow chart instead of an actual chapter.

Secondly, be more intimate with your reader. Introduce your characters and give me a reason to give a damn.

A simple thought or action of your character will go a long way to making people care. You didn't give any.

Lastly, writing system novels are hard. I'm also writing one right now, and having to constantly check and change those details are hard as fuck. I suggest making it simpler, more concise and efficient. It is only when you give simple conditions and limitations that it gets easier to get creative with it. Try not to make it too complicated.

P.S. Change the numbered stats into letters. I'm telling you that those numbers will make you regret writing them like that when you're having to deal with them a few tens of chapters later. I wish I learned this earlier, would have saved me the trouble.

Good luck man. I hope I see you a few months from now. By then you'd either be long gone or an accomplished author with a following, one that I know you can be. Believe in your novel, no one else will do that for you.

GreenFoxx211
Last advice:
I'll just repost what I said in another thread. Collections are what matters, because those people are the interested readers. If you want to know about getting collections, here's a few things I learned.

1) Mass Release - Most of the large jumps in collections that I have are from them. Give them a schedule that you can do easily then stockpile chapters. If you're feeling happy, publish a few and readers would love that.

2) Give them cliffhangers. I swear those help a lot. Just make sure it's not just cutting scenes, though. Make them want more without short changing them.

3) Make it tense. If you want to write action, make it have stakes or give them context on why sh*t is about to go down. Hype the readers. If you write drama, make them care. If the characters are unlikable or unrelatable, they make the scene boring.

4) Consistent updates - I got most of my collections from my first month. Currently about two months in, with about three weeks of break included in that time. They look at that weekly chapter update rate and if it's too low, most won't add it to their library.

5) Good cover and synopsis. Visuals matter when you want to get people's attention. Covers get them to click on your novel. Synopsis makes them try reading it.

(I'm currently at 1700+ in collections.)
Hope to see you still posting a few months after this post. Most don't last long because, you know, life. Don't worry about making mistakes. Your novel is your baby, don't let other people's judgement make you abandon your baby.

Eventually you'll want to edit your work, do it after finishing the volume first. That way it would serve as an outline. Use the comments as points to work on, but don't take everything in stride. Good luck!

I feel like most writers/artists have this same issue.

Comparison will kill you.

We can't judge ourselves based on others success. There's no one here to regulate whether you quit or not. It's the internet after all. It's ultimately up to you to decide what you want to make on here but stopping your online story by a few years won't do anything but stagnate yourself.

GreenFoxx211

I'm somewhat new but I just want to say keep trying and see through till the end. Those at the highest rankings at one point started from the bottom and climbed their way up so you can to... not that I'm saying you're in the bottom... more or less, just keep trying and you will attract readers to your story and even if you think your work is not being rewarded if there's a single reader that still read your story then try and give them a sense of closure. Not everyone starts at the top :)

GreenFoxx211 Quitting is never a question to be asked. Quit if you feel like it and move on— easy.

Buuut before that, ask yourself: what do you have in mind when you started writing? What’s your aim? What motivated and inspired you? Is quitting the only way?

Yes, there are thousands of novels out there—better ones at that. But, why quit? Why compare? Don’t get me wrong, sometimes comparing is also good as a fuel. But, those people worked really hard and they never quit. Hence, if their work are being recognized, then the credits goes to their hard work.

You see, you don’t owe anyone for dropping a novel— not your few readers and not WN or whatever platform you used to publish your story. That’s correct in a way because they can move on and forget about it.

But, don’t you think you owe something to yourself? You started something, you must finish it no matter how long it will take. Whether it gets recognized or not, the most important thing is experience.

You’re grammar, flow, plot and all might be considered suuuuper bad now. You’d receive harsh criticisms every now and then but, don’t take that in a negative way. Instead, use it as your fuel, your drive to improve as a writer and give justice to the story you created and believed in.

If you think your novel is not good enough or doesn't have potential then don't expect others to have a different view from yours.

exits

Clowniac wow this comment is so true and hits the heart like cupids arrow. I started recently, even though I've been wanting to be an author since I was 6. When I finally started only a week ago, I didn't really get as popular as dreams had promised me. Although I knew it was just the start, I wondered how many people who were destined for success, lost their way because of the numbers. This is when I realized, I too was not writing for views merely, although they are important too, but because I wanted to see the story that I had been wanting to see but no one else wrote. I became an author to become my own eyes. In a way, to remain and flourish as an author, one needs to remember, that your first fan is you yourself. Not in a narcissistic way, but in a self confident way. Keep pushing... keep pushing.. harder... harder, until the audience finally come.

Instead of giving up now, learn and improve as a Writer. The only time you should ever give up is when you no longer want to write a story, not if you are feeling it's not good enough. Success is never instant. Each story has a story behind their success.