i've answered this question about LitRPG many times. Lemme just start copy pasting that answer. Oh and yeah, I can't answer much for young master, not rly what I read, but I assume it's more self-insert stuff, and xianxia settings of the few I've seen have viillains that are so evil they grate on your nerves and you just want to see them die.
For me the appeal of LitRPG is in two things.
A, A more concrete, less arbitrary power system. There are actual numbers, after all. Bullshit wins are less likely to happen, the combatants' parameters are set up properly from the very beginning.
That is, at least, in theory. In parctice? Eeeehhhh... Hit or miss, if I'm being generous.
B. I don't actually care as much for numbers go up that most people. What I absolutely love are Skills and Evolutions. It is so fucking hype, it makes me fucking excited, and well, I'll be honest, I like self-inserting, and that do be prime self-inserti material for my brain.
EXTRA!
C. I'm isekai trash and there is so much overlap. LitRPG ones are my favorite type of Isekai too.
That bit about a hated villain is very interest. Made me think of how happy I was to see Umbridge taken down. Will definitely keep this in mind, thank you so much!
Yep people like to be able to see themselves as the protagonist. Think of it as writing a character for D&D but they have a very slight personality which you can put your own into. So far as character creation, I have some issues there socially but what I would recommend best is to look into other works and try to emulate where the emotion of the side characters would be important. Fake it till you make it if you have issues putting yourself into a different character.
Ah, this is helpful info. I very much enjoy the progression side of D&D as well. I guess I just never thought of it that way, in spite of my writing being inspired by my D&D activities xD
Thanks a million for this input!
I only had a really brief look, but I think I might see the issue.
Scribblehub is a very Light Novel / Young Adult heavy site, and your stuff reads more like Sanderson Epic Fantasy. There is a market for this (I love the Broken Earth series and anything by Anne Leckie myself) but the audience isn't really here. It's more on places like Wattpad or Amazon.
Understanding the market you're in is very helpful. This will be very useful information to keep in mind.
SH is not your audience. If you post here, you do it for exposure and not much else.
That does seem to be the theme that I'm seeing. I suppose I should embrace that a bit more in future. Treat the readers like customers. I do very well with my own customers, so perhaps that's one of the steps I should take.
For starters, I hate the double-spacing in this.
www.scribblehub.com
Ah, yes. A very early mistake of mine lol. I'm going thru and fixing all of that as I edit and re-release my stories. It's slow work for sure, considering I type about 25k words a week xD
You would probably have a lot better chance of making money with your stories if you polished them up the completed ones and try for traditional publishing or indie publishing. There aren't that many people who can make a living off of writing webnovels and most of them are backed by either a writing house or have been building up an audience since the peak webnovel era of 2012-2015.
Considering the amount of times I check out new stories (less than a month posted) that outshine my novels with ease, I politely refuse to believe that I'm being hampered by the simple fact that I've been typing for 3 years, as opposed to 8. I have experience enough, I just need to change my interactions. That's what this post is helping me learn.
Web novels that thrive are geared for reader self-insert. All those tropes you mentioned are vehicles for self-insert. Even if you go over to the romance Wattpad side, the tropes that are popular are also for reader self-insert. Premise (in SH's case, tags) comes first before quality. Tolkien can publish his stuff on SH, and it'll get ignored until the hobbits are gender-swapped and turned into GL, and then stats are included for Aragorn.
A few years ago, you could've made a place in Royalroad, but not anymore. RR is litrpg land and not just any litrpg, should be self insert. As of now, there is no actual home for your work. The choice is to go indie publishing (very hard to get into trad publishing).
Now, it's a different story if you want to write anything that'll earn money. But at that point, I'd probably just get a job and continue writing what I want on the side to not compromise what I'm passionate about. I personally know a few writers who write very well but don't have a place in RR, SH, Webnovel, etc., and they adapt to the trend.
And then get burned out and quit writing.
This is irrelevant. It's like opening a French restaurant in Chinatown. Even if you got the best French cuisine served ever, what the hell are you doing in Chinatown? Get my point? Don't use it as a metric of your writing skills.
I think this is my favorite reply by far. Blunt enough that I can get the point, and phrased in a way I can understand.
I do remember my first novel (Tome of the Body) doing very well in RoyalRoad. In fact, it's still my highest-rated story.
Unfortunately, regarding the issue of just getting a job and writing on the side, this is not an option for me. Well, it is, in the sense that I do writing commissions. But I have very harsh physical disabilities that prevent me from even doing something as simple as walking. I know there are jobs I could still do, but writing is uber fun. I love typing a lot, and I couldn't give it up or make it a side thing, if that makes sense. This is like therapy to me xD
Hmm... People keep mentioning burnout. But I take a healthy break between novels. That analogy is very helpful as well. I shall consider this in future. Thank you very much for your advice!
Obviously they're trying to sell French food to the lost French people,
The failure is an unintended side-effect,
French food to the lost french people. This is very true to me.
But it's also not disheartening! Because my goal and passion in life is to spread my stories as far and wide as I can. If it's just a matter of serving different food, I know I can become a multi-purpose writer. It's the same world either way, and the same stories. As long as I'm not required to make every character fuck every other character, then I can do anything.
Thankyou for the help!
