Webnovel.Forum

HinataPerolada The scale is on 0-15, so I can see how it might be confusing. :laughing: I purposefully made it that way instead of 1-20 which would be the same size scale. But it's easier to translate 1-20 into a percentage out of 100% instead of out of 15. Since I stress on the score being qualitative, I wanted to prevent people from making that quantitative conversion. Thus, a score of 0 or less than 5 is technically "bad." That's why anything less than 5 isn't further listed elsewhere on the website except for the initial assessment post.

And that's quite all right! I completely understand it's not for everyone. Even if you do change your mind in joining us, you aren't required to be active. :)

Edit: I forgot to add in my previous first reply to you, yes, Webnovel does contract regardless of content. Typically, as long as it gains a lot of views and collections, then almost anything can be contracted. Sometimes, even stories with not a lot of readership traction still get contracted if editors like the stories. Some stories are well-written, but others, not so much. I've seen plenty of substandard writing on contracted novels here. However, a large amount of writers are non-native English speakers, and even with those that are, they usually do minimal to no proofreading. Essentially, most stories are just drafts with constant output to match consumer demand daily. That's just how it works on Webnovel; it's neither bad nor good. But because of this, that's why a lot of serious writers could gain from critical feedback on how to improve their work. I believe a lot of good writers on here don't have a chance to really enhance their stories to the next level because of the fast pace they have to work at.

Book_Keeper
My question was a serious one. Is a book with an 8 worth to be continued...? What am I doing with my time?

I have a contract for this novel, and I'll keep my word and finish what I started, but I wonder... is it worth it? If I hadn't a contract, I'd probably throw it away to start over or even, just write something else.

Yes, I'm sure it's a characteristic that is both good and bad, about Webnovel's business novel. It won't help that WN doesn't allow cuts on the word count of the locked chapters. You cannot edit them for sake of clarity unless you make it the exact word count as before. Which is weird, uh? But it has to do with their payment method, I guess.
Anyway, I digress.
Thank you very much for the opportunity, and also for your time. It made me think about myself, and it's good.

HinataPerolada I have a contract for this novel, and I'll keep my word and finish what I started, but I wonder... is it worth it? If I hadn't a contract, I'd probably throw it away to start over or even, just write something else.

It's a question I think every writer asks themselves. I certainly ask this all the time since I don't attract a solid readership. To date all my works I consider are failures, but I'll still give them some sort of finish since each one is adding value to my craft development.

The cues to drop a story is when you no longer feel the passion to write it. There's no point in continuing a story where you yourself isn't bothered to reach the ending. Better to put it back in a slush pile or recycle parts of it for another.

Since you're asking these questions also tells me you're developing well as a high-quality author :grin:

Keep it up. Though there maybe times when you'll feel disheartened, don't forget the initial joys that made you want to write your own story in the first place.

Note to OP: Sorry. I derailed your thread a bit. :pray:

HinataPerolada Apologies for my confusion. The About page does explicitly say, "All factors are scored on a scale of 0 to 3. Thus, the highest score is 15, and the lowest is 0." So I think I read your previous reply above my last one incorrectly. Regardless, moving onto your most recent reply.

It does not matter whether a book is rated low or high---this is not indicative of whether it's "worth it" or "valuable" to write. That's my belief just as with anything done in life. If people stopped doing something just because they didn't get it "right" or "perfect" the first time around, then everything would be stagnant. Although it's good to experiment and continue tweaking a novel where the final product may even be very different from the original, continuing to refine the idea while staying within the same scope and storyline is just as fine. I don't believe in any "bad ideas" for a story, only "bad" writing. A good writer can make any idea well done. But a great idea doesn't make a poor writer into a good one. A good writer takes years of practice and determination honing their skills. So it is completely okay if some writing pieces don't turn out the way expected.

The simple question is, do you enjoy writing your story? If you do, then keep at it. Contract or not, it does not matter. If you need the money gained from the contract and have no other ways to provide for yourself, that is a different issue. But if writing is purely your hobby with or without a hope to be a serious published author down the road, then it's only about whether you like writing your story or not. It does not, for one second, matter what I, or others think of your story for you to continue writing it. Any feedback on it is only for your sole discretion whether to refine your story more depending on how seriously polished you want your story to be. My only mission as a book blogger/reviewer/reader is to offer my two cents among many others' feedback on how to improve it.

Of course, qualitatively significant or not, a numerical score doesn't lend much to what specifically needs to be improved in a certain story. That's why I only offer more in-depth feedback via Discord. But that's just my personal choice with respect to my time and goals for Virtual Bookshelf. So, I completely understand you about not being sure what to do with the score.

As some general guides, I do believe it's good to finish stories instead of dropping them each time and never finishing any but starting many. Writers can learn a lot about the writing process this way. But, that doesn't mean they should have to force themselves if they don't enjoy it. If you want to have a catalogue of stories to establish yourself as an author on this site, then yes, I do think continuing this story to the end is good. And whether or not your current story is written the best it can be, that's okay. You can always make your next story even better with what you learned from writing this one and taking in all the feedback prior. There are many avenues that writers can improve with no right or wrong way. I don't want to discourage writers, but I also don't want to be dishonest about what I think. I also don't expect all writers to agree with my opinion or take the score to improve their stories. Everything with a grain of salt.

I feel like I also digressed a bit with my lengthy response. I sort of answered both of your last replies at once as soon as I clarified myself on what you meant last time. Anyway, Veronica8's response was great, and no, you did not derail it one bit---thank you instead for inputting your own experience and thoughts too!

All good writers have likely asked themselves these sorts of questions at one point. And I'm sincerely happy to see your desire to write. I can only wish your the best and continue supporting in whatever way I can.

Lastly, on Webnovel. It's a unique business model; at least, it's uncommon here in the U.S. I believe. So, it has its positives and negatives. The main positive I see is being able to reward and encourage many small and undiscovered authors comparative to other sites with a chance to monetize their work and grow their audience. But at the same time, the method does not filter quality, so a reader cannot expect all contracted stories to be fully polished.

I did not know that the word count has to be same as before in order to edit them. That's an unfortunate hindrance which only can hurt writers and readers, so I hope that changes for the future. At the very least, make it within a range since it's based on a coin for every 200 words (last I remembered).

No problem! I enjoy any writing questions thrown my way. It's great that you're seriously thinking about all of this! That attitude will help you be successful in writing. Thank you too!

Edit: When you write this long response and then go back to revise it due to a single out of place apostrophe.... :sweat_smile:

These are my own novels I have written that I would like for you to review if you can.
Sci-fi genre: The Moon Shines On Starlight

https://www.webnovel.com/book/the-moon-shines-on-starlight_18854014805302305
Fantasy genre: Totally In Love

https://www.webnovel.com/book/totally-in-love-by-l.-roberson_18848271505278505
Book and Literature/horror genre: The Unleashed Wicked Short Stories Series
https://www.webnovel.com/book/the-unleashed-wicked-short-stories-series_18862122506502305