AI380 I will always advice to hold on to ur passion, writing is a gift that people are begging to have but don't have it, so keep on pushing and don't give up

    I guess I will still continue writing, but at a slower pace until I found my motivation to write more.

    Thanks for all the encouragement and sharing of experience, I appreciate it a lot

      AI380 Well, writing for popularity is not wrong, but it is not very right either. I agree with the others. But I think you should make the story to be as versatile as you can because a versatile story can make a lot of ideas and plot in the long run. A lack of plot and a lack of motivation are a recipe for disaster.

      If you get stuck, there is a shortcut and I don't recommend it, but hey, anything will work at that point. It is called Chandler's law. Or you can browse tv tropes for an idea.

      That's all I can say. Just keep writing author

          MaxwellKHA lack of plot is never a problem for me, I still have a whole list of the draft of ideas that not yet written into the chapters.

          My problem here is lack of motivation. I'm not even motivated enough to turn those ideas into stories.

              AI380 yeah... sigh! motivation is pretty pretty hard to conjure. it's also one of my problems in writing. hahaha! coz i love to read more than writing. unless you're starving or living on the streets and wanted to be an author and make it your lucrative job then perhaps you'll create chapters like a madman. but that isn't entirely true also coz there's many rich authors out there who still writes like a madman. hahaha! i guess people are just wired differently. but most importantly, you need to be passionate for your work. i get that your concern is you have done lots of chapters already and yet so little views. hmmmm... i would assume that you're a girl judging by your pix and writes romance. i can't tell much on how to make an epic romance story since i write xianxia but you need to read more romance novels for that and even more time practicing your craft. how to make your characters alive, plot good conflicts and even better cure for said conflicts. let your female lead suffer and let the male lead be there like a knight on a unicorn. most female readers always eat that like pancakes. it's their fantasy or dream or wish for them to happen irl life. to read about a perfect male that's only available in books and nowhere else's. hahaha! so cheers and don't stop writing. =)

                  AI380 However, after writing for so many years, I can hardly see any 'light' in my writing life. At first, I thought probably it's because I have not enough numbers of chapters to get people's attention, so I continue writing more. But then again, I was once again disappointed.

                  You're on an artist writer's path. Everyone will experience a different writing destiny. It all depends on what you need to experience for growth.

                  I had 7 years of my only readers being spambots until I decided to switch it up. Those spambot readers taught me some valuable lessons for my writing journey too.

                  So, right now. I see a writer who is about to realize a breakthrough with their stories. You've recognized something isn't working as intended. Your feelings of disappointment is reaffirming this.

                  I'm not going to be the one to say, "be patient". Rather I'm going to probably say something challenging.

                  Switch it up. Be proactive. Instead of waiting for something to happen. Make it happen. How you do that is up to you. Some things that might help is being active in forums, observing this site, other sites, the industry and keep developing your skills.

                  You can only get more masterful if you keep at it and not give in to doubt. Recognize that doubt is your cue on when something needs to be revised/changed/ditched/explored differently... Switch it up. Look for opportunities. Keep at it. One day you'll achieve your glory.

                  :grin:

                      Veronica8 I had 7 years of my only readers being spambots until I decided to switch it up. Those spambot readers taught me some valuable lessons for my writing journey too.

                      This is awfully similar to what I have experienced in the past.

                      Now I see I'm not the only one that faces this kind of issues, this actually makes me feel better.

                      Thanks for all the encouragement, I'll continue to improve myself and find my own right path.

                          I believe that though having readers motivates you further and makes you all happy that someone else also gets it. The ideas and feelings that you are trying to convey via your story and all.
                          It is best that you limit your motivation to yourself.
                          As long as you have expectations it might hurt if they aren't achieved.
                          So at least I believe, though it may sound extremely naive as i just started, That as long as you love your story and your characters and are curious enough to find out their fates and lead them to an ending they deserve you will be able to storm through all storms.
                          NO matter who is by your side or not.
                          The characters you create will always be yours and yours alone.

                          AI380

                          I have checked your novel. A better cover would do a big difference. In the first chapters, i have seen many issues of verb tense consistencies. You either stick writing narrative with preterit or present, but not both at the same time in the same paragraph. It feels really weird and i think you lost quite a few readers because of this.

                          Some examples in first page of chapter 1:

                          First paragraph:
                          "The final day of summer break, at a random beach in Japan. A seventeen years old young man was walking along the beach. Looking to his face, he is a really good looking person with a 'rich boy look'. The boy's name is Seito Kenji, let's just call him Seito."

                          "was walking" should be followed by "he was", "the boy's name was"

                          If you choose to use present tense, then you have to use "is walking" instead.

                          Second paragraph:

                          "Seito stopped, he looked at the sea and most importantly the bikini girls, and his friends who were playing in the water. Then another girl with a T-Shirt and short pants walks toward him. Seito looks at the girl and he spoke"

                          Same issue. 1st paragraph ends with present tense, but you use preterit in this paragraph and once again ends with present tense.

                          If you keeps "stopped,looked at, were playing", then "walks toward" and "looks at" must become "walked toward" and "looked at".

                          I'm not an english native but it feels weird to read even for me because verb tense consistency exists in almost every language (if not all of them).

                          About the novel itself, you missed the visibility period brought by the 1st month in new ranking. So if i was you, i would first fix these issues then republish your novel again by deleting this one and creating another with almost the same name.

                              Arkinslize About the novel itself, you missed the visibility period brought by the 1st month in new ranking. So if i was you, i would first fix these issues then republish your novel again by deleting this one and creating another with almost the same name.

                              Well, it will be the same as wanting someone to change their own name that was given to them since they are a child.

                              I will certainly fix those said issues, but I'm not going to republish it with another name, it is the identity of the book.

                              Although I don't like some of your points but I still thank you for your advice.

                                  AI380 use grammarly. This at least will help with any misspelling and past and present tense problem. It's not entirely 100% correct. But, it at least help. Better than nothing.

                                      Carciphones_02 I used Grammarly, but those verbs mistakes still exist as he/she said. And I can't afford to get an editor.

                                      I'm so fed up with people trying to dig out all the grammatical errors I made, without even reading the contents, even used Grammarly, and somewhat proofreading before publishing it, they can still find the mistake.

                                          Pleasedeteme I realized that the first time I posted in the April thread, but still want to give it a try, who knows miracle might happen, but in fact, it doesn't.

                                          Maybe I will search for threads where people ask for recommendations to promote my story there. But most of them are just asking without actually looking at the replies.

                                              Pleasedeteme Don't worry, I read the rules, it's not wrong if someone is asking for recommendations and your novel fits the category.

                                                  Pleasedeteme I have done that quite a lot last month, and it would indeed boost up the views a lot. But since we all know that the views and reviews are from the fellow writers here, so I would only do it again when I have no choice.

                                                    Pleasedeteme sounds like a nice plan however I'm not the kind who just wants to use a word document for writing checking really, I would rather keep typing on Inkstone than let's say MS Word or Libreoffice Word but as long as people can get the story is my point, I will also allow people to give feedback on how to improve writing if there is any sides that they and if my novel ever gets attention

                                                        @AI380 btw i have added your book to my library so when I have time I can check it out! :D

                                                          AI380 I'm so fed up with people trying to dig out all the grammatical errors I made, without even reading the contents, even used Grammarly, and somewhat proofreading before publishing it, they can still find the mistake.

                                                          Erm, you should not be fed up. Grammatical errors do put off readers. It can totally be one of the reasons why you do have a lot of readers which you are upset about. Even if your content is marvelous, it you leave the errors that you have presently left in your book, a lot of people would not prefer reading it. I am just talking about a bunch of people. Surely, there are people who keep content over grammar but we are here figuring out about the lack of readers so of course, the focus will be on the former.

                                                          When we have a problem, we have to look for the solution. Your problem right now is lack of views/readers. Since we all know how important grammar is in a story, why not fix the basic errors first? Writing is all about editing.

                                                          The person above has given a golden advice. Fix your errors and republish again. Also, I see you have misunderstood his/her statement. The person has clearly said with a somewhat similar title and not a different title. This is only to help getting your book in the new ranking which will automatically increase its exposure. And people will stick to your book when they will see it because you have now edited it as well. Now the only reason to step back for them would be if the content is not what they prefer.

                                                          Don't stop writing. Believe in yourself. Work hard and invest in your craft. You will definitely get the exposure you desire. All the best.

                                                          Cheers.

                                                              GorujoKun Oh... Thanks☺️

                                                              LostInFictions Yes, I realized about that, and I have tried very hard to improve that, ever since I migrated to this place, I have edited my story lots of time, but then, there are still some grammatical errors that I don't even realize it's a mistake.

                                                              I really need some time to relearn how to use proper verbs...

                                                              But I would more appreciate if people actually look into my story content instead of my grammatical errors.

                                                                    AI380 But I would more appreciate if people actually look into my story content instead of my grammatical errors.

                                                                    That's what i want for every single of my valid readers!

                                                                    I'm also the kind who just cares on how the story goes and the errors in writing or grammar not being so serious, so if you ever convince me to review your novel (in which case for AI380 i did by myself this time) I'll only be focused on the story and not the minor errors.

                                                                    But unfortunately not everyone is like me in this situation so yeah it's hard to write books for reputation reasons because of this.

                                                                    I can also advice actually reading books, by just reading books, you can learn how writers actually write their stories from plot to how they do the dialogues, the reaction of characters, characters behaviors and etc. And unfortunately i don't really read books so it's a disadvantage for me and for others who wanna write as part of their passion but I would still advise against that!

                                                                      @AI380 I understand that but we, as writers, cannot control what readers like the story because of. Some readers like the story for its content. Some end up adoring the grammatically right sentences. Some end up faling for the way scenes are sequenced. We cannot control what they see in the story that keeps them going. We only have control over our efforts.

                                                                      🌸

                                                                        Pleasedeteme nah.. i use the free one. Even i'm broke right now. But yeah.. what i like about grammarly is the auto correct of capital letters. The dots, the comma, the spacing.. also, correcting my misspelling. It even make sure i double check the use of past and present tense also the use of singular and plural.

                                                                            Sythcake Criticism is almost very common to popular writers and yes it can cause that but that doesn't mean that they should feel bad, I understand that they could over react at first but as long as writers think about their expectation as how good their book can become the more they write, the better they will be convinced to keep writing and ignore criticisms that make them feel bad.

                                                                                Carciphones_02 Yeah free version just tends to fix most of your grammar but there is no guarantee it will make your writing even better however yes it really helps, I remember the first time i wrote just by using Grammarly, it had me assist most of the times while I was writing without even having to check back and that's the point but as I said: "There is no guarantee it will make your writing better"

                                                                                    LostInFictions Yes, I realized about that, which is why I will try to fix issues that are been pointed out, as much as I can. Although some are out my limits, for example, some grammatical errors that I don't even realize about it.

                                                                                    But I hold quite firmly to my story content, I would not easily change it.

                                                                                        My ultimate advice as a newbie whose only been writing a year.

                                                                                        Write for yourself.

                                                                                        Do you have a story to tell? A character you want to be given life through your words?

                                                                                        Then write.

                                                                                        Do you wish to make money and become famous? Do you want to win awards and have your story used in classrooms for literary examples of excellence?

                                                                                        Then worry about views, if people aren't viewing and are harshly trolling your work then maybe it's time to go back to the storyboard and rework your story to match those goals.

                                                                                        But if you just want to share your stories even if only one other person reads your work...

                                                                                        Then don't give a shit what anyone says. If you enjoy your story, write it. Eventually somewhere down the line someone who sought that sort of story will read it and smile and make everything worth it.

                                                                                        Pleasedeteme i also don't write on inkstone. One time, when i write on it, my chapter dissappeared without trace. From that day.. i write on notes app, then copy after finish and paste it on inkstone.

                                                                                          Pleasedeteme I suggest you to put those fillers and important information in auxiliary chapters. You know, people will find things to complain.

                                                                                              Pleasedeteme I read it, I think it's alright, it gives a mysterious feeling to the plot, which is also a technique to push the storyline.

                                                                                                  Pleasedeteme yeah.. filler episode is not good in early chapters. As you can see in many popular novel, most of the filler episode are in the latest chapter not in early one. we should put many event in the beginning so the readers are excited for the updates, they keep waiting for what will happen next.

                                                                                                  Filler episode should only be used after important event. For example, after a war arc, all the characters are exhausted. Give them a filler episode so, they can rest.

                                                                                                  Or, based on any celebration, like Christmas and holloween, you can also make a filler chapter for this. But, keep it short. At least a chapter only.

                                                                                                  Also, a filler episode where the MC don't really have any mission in mind. Just make him go out of his house and get to know other characters. Better if this filler episode has a good information for future event. For example, MC get to know that his friends is a good cooker. In the future event, when they are separated from the other in the forest, MC will leave the cooking job to his friend.

                                                                                                  You can change it to other skill than cooking. Like, Lockpicking, stealth, swordfighting, embroidery, and many other skill. Just make sure the filler episode is not for the sake of you to updates quickly everyday. Make sure the filler episode has a good information for future reference.

                                                                                                      Pleasedeteme if you mean that gibberish comments, I think it's a troll.
                                                                                                      And I can't really see that as filler

                                                                                                          Pleasedeteme if you feel those chapters are actually filler, you can change it to auxiliary as a prologue or something, you don't need to delete it.

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