What makes a good story on this website?

ElijahRyne

A Hermit that’s NOT that Lazy, currentlycomplainen
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Hey everyone. I'm at a bit of a loss as to how I want to start this post, to be honest.

I've been on this site for nearly five years now, and I'm struggling against some kind of invisible barrier. I don't know what's keeping me from going from where I am now to a higher place with more readers, more feedback, and more... well, everything.

So... What makes a good story for you? When you get absorbed into a story to the point that you keep up with all the updates, why is that? Is it a specific theme? Or something that the author does outside the story? Whatever you can think of, please tell me. I'm eager to learn.
A good/entertaining story is what I need. To get one, it depends on the genera, but you mostly will always need realistic/consistent characters, progress to a goal with every/most scene(s), passing grammar/spelling, and love for your story.

My best course of advice is to play/watch a playthrough of the SciADV Visual Novels and/or the main 8 Higurashi VN’s and take notes on every scene/moment you like/dislike and why. Then, if you want to go in depth, at the end of every chapter/stopping point create a review/critique of what happened in the story, character + plot moments, and how they were described to you and how that works/doesn’t work.

I chose VN’s because they are practically just books with pictures, voice acting, and music, and these ones in specific because they are good and flawed enough to be intriguing + long enough to hopefully see results. You can actually do this with any piece of media.


If you just want to get popular write GL smut with good characters.
 

Spacerunner357

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Hey everyone. I'm at a bit of a loss as to how I want to start this post, to be honest.

I've been on this site for nearly five years now, and I'm struggling against some kind of invisible barrier. I don't know what's keeping me from going from where I am now to a higher place with more readers, more feedback, and more... well, everything.

So... What makes a good story for you? When you get absorbed into a story to the point that you keep up with all the updates, why is that? Is it a specific theme? Or something that the author does outside the story? Whatever you can think of, please tell me. I'm eager to learn.
Hi, I really like Like a certain story I have read keeps it going and does stop it like, a fight happens but it it stopped by the chapter ending but doesn't take away from the moment. And when it leaves it off at a good moment for the next part of the story. wanting to see more normally, when the events and how The person the Camera follows acts is really funny and Even Though how they act usually it is still unexpecting (unexpected.) Want me to link the story. One on them
?
 

RavensQuill

Every great story needs an author
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tiddies and women. that's it
All stories that have at least one female character have this. However, I don't think a good story revolves around this. The goal is to write a story, after all. Not porn.

Or maybe I'm the odd one out because I believe that.
 

Bartun

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I know this sounds kind of cliche, but just keep putting everything into your work. I've been on this site for five years, and still haven't had the 'big break'. But don't let that stop you.
 

Tyranomaster

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Other people have written more extensive guides than I have, but I'll give a quick summary on what I think you might need to do, as well as what questions you need to ask yourself.

First and foremost, you need to ask yourself what are you actually aiming for? Some genres perform better than others, and over time genres shift in popularity. A common response you'll see is, "Write in a popular genre", which is bad advice for most people. The popularity of the genre only really determines the ceiling for the number of readers you can get. Unpopular genres can still garner hundreds of readers. Changing what genre you are writing won't change the fundamental issue you're likely running into.

So, what can you draw from this first question? You need to pick what you want and determine what success looks like within that market, or what success looks like to you. I'm not saying you need to be content with some arbitrary number when you might eventually reach it, just that being aware of limitations in a market is important so you don't have unrealistic expectations.

With that out of the way, lets look at the second thing. Looking at your profile, there are a few completed and a few incomplete stories. None of which are breaching 100 chapters. By nature of the way most writing websites work (searching by books), your discoverability will be low. Someone already mentioned consistency, which is true, but doesn't paint a full picture. Consistency can be broken into two parts. Predictability for readers, and exposure on the front page to the same audience in recent postings.

The fact of the matter is, 95% of readers don't go to the author profile to see other works by them. When they finish a book they liked, they just go back to search and find something else. By having relatively low chapter counts (I know that 50 seems like a lot, but it really isn't in the grand scheme of things), you're essentially restarting the climb every time, and not reaching the first rest point where you start to garner readers long term. This links back to the first question. If you prefer to write these sorts of short(er) stories, it will hurt your reader count. I'd argue that you could probably keep your style of writing by configuring your works into more of an anthology, where some central theme is used (think horror anthologies), where you can separate the books in volumes (in chapter titles), and keep them all as a central series. That would help discoverability, but it might not work for you. It just depends on what style your writing follows, and how much you are willing to limit your own design space.

Consider that most series don't actually start garnering larger reader counts until after 70-100 chapters, and you can see where your problem might be occurring.

Third, and this may not apply as I haven't actually read any of your works, sometimes plots are simply too generic or inauthentic. Inauthenticity is something readers can smell from miles away. This again loops back to the first point, but if you hate isekai and LitRPG, even if you attempt to write one just because it is popular, it's very likely that most readers will turn away from it because of that inauthentic engagement. It'll leak through. Write what you enjoy writing. It makes it easier to write and keep a schedule that way as well. Far too often I see people encourage others to write things they don't like because they are popular genres. Every genre has a learning curve involving tropes and archtypes that readers expect. Encouraging people to write something they aren't familiar with is like telling someone who says "I want to earn more money" to just go get a job as a stock broker or CEO, since they make a lot of money. It lacks the nuance that you have to read and learn about the genre first. Sure, they can go to school to learn business practices, then earn more money, but fundamentally that isn't really what the person was asking for. Realistically, they should get advice on asking for raises and looking for ways to improve their existing skills for promotions.

That brings it together as the third point - Really focus on honing your skills and determining what you want YOUR stories to convey. Write the stories you want to, but begin focusing on what you can improve about your own writing. Grammar? Flow? Plot hooks? Cliff Hangers? These are things you can work consciously towards improving. Every author can (and should! Successful or not!) focus on improving their fundamentals at all times.

I hope this helps, even if it is a bit long winded.
 

RepresentingWrath

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However, I don't think a good story revolves around this.
Maybe you should stop being wishy-washy and decide what you want first?
I don't know what's keeping me from going from where I am now to a higher place with more readers, more feedback, and more... well, everything.
Do you want to write 'good' story, or do you want more readers?
 

SternenklarenRitter

Representing Scholarship
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Stories have a lot of different structural elements. Plot, characters, worldbuilding, humor, grammar, 'poetry', etc. Different readers have different thresholds for each of these that must be met before the story has even a chance to be enjoyable for them. For example, I don't find stories with poor characterization or clumsy prose to be enjoyable at all. On the other hand I don't really care much about plot, or typos and the mechanical correctness of sentences and paragraphs. Most of these elements are easy to understand, and therefor simple to improve. However 'poetry' (there's probably a better "official" name for this that I don't know) is more about developing your 'style' as an author. If you find yourself using tons of pronouns or frequently use the same adjectives, your 'poetry' is probably not very good. AI especially struggles with 'poetry,' if you need a counterexample.
 

fcures

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Well, a lot of degen stuff gets views
 

RavensQuill

Every great story needs an author
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Maybe you should stop being wishy-washy and decide what you want first?

Do you want to write 'good' story, or do you want more readers?
I already know what I want to write, and it's what I do write. I'm asking the readers what they think makes a good story.

Why did you put 'good' in quotes like that? Also, is it not possible to do both?
 

RepresentingWrath

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I already know what I want to write, and it's what I do write.
Then don't make a thread titled: "What makes a good story on this website?" Good story on this website and good story for forum users are two different things.
I'm asking the readers what they think makes a good story.
They are not readers. I know, I know you will say Decaded started reading your story, or someone else. It doesn't matter. The truth of the matter here, not a lot of people here read on main site. Some will read what their buddies wrote, some read super specific niche stuff, most don't read at all.

Ok, let me paraphrase it. By pleasing forum members you please 10-20 people that might read, 90% chance they won't, your work. At the very same time you lose 500-800 potential readers. Why? Because those 500-800 readers won't read the thing those 10-20 people want.
Why did you put 'good' in quotes like that? Also, is it not possible to do both?
Not when you put it like that. Asking forum members that don't read popular stories on SH is like asking a vegan what is the best steak, and how to cook it. Not a chef, not a cook, but just a random vegan guy or girl.

How to do it properly, first you define what good is for yourself, then you compare it to what is actually popular here. Only after that you can answer if it's possible to do both or not.
 

HisDivineShadow

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All you need is a story with popular tags, a good cover, a good title, a good synopsis, and to post constantly. The quality of your work is like the least important part of being successful.
It could hook me for a page or two, but not enough to bring me back.
 

RavensQuill

Every great story needs an author
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Then don't make a thread titled: "What makes a good story on this website?" Good story on this website and good story for forum users are two different things.

They are not readers. I know, I know you will say Decaded started reading your story, or someone else. It doesn't matter. The truth of the matter here, not a lot of people here read on main site. Some will read what their buddies wrote, some read super specific niche stuff, most don't read at all.

Ok, let me paraphrase it. By pleasing forum members you please 10-20 people that might read, 90% chance they won't, your work. At the very same time you lose 500-800 potential readers. Why? Because those 500-800 readers won't read the thing those 10-20 people want.

Not when you put it like that. Asking forum members that don't read popular stories on SH is like asking a vegan what is the best steak, and how to cook it. Not a chef, not a cook, but just a random vegan guy or girl.

How to do it properly, first you define what good is for yourself, then you compare it to what is actually popular here. Only after that you can answer if it's possible to do both or not.
I had to double-check, but I posted this in Reader-General. I feel that's the appropriate place. Also, I'm not fishing for readers. I'm asking opinions.

If you don't want to share those opinions, that's fine. But I'd rather stick to the topic, thank you.
It could hook me for a page or two, but not enough to bring me back.
This makes sense. The quality of a story is what keeps you going, after all, right?
Well, a lot of degen stuff gets views
That it does! I'm hoping to find some wiggle room between degen and exciting xD
Other people have written more extensive guides than I have, but I'll give a quick summary on what I think you might need to do, as well as what questions you need to ask yourself.

First and foremost, you need to ask yourself what are you actually aiming for? Some genres perform better than others, and over time genres shift in popularity. A common response you'll see is, "Write in a popular genre", which is bad advice for most people. The popularity of the genre only really determines the ceiling for the number of readers you can get. Unpopular genres can still garner hundreds of readers. Changing what genre you are writing won't change the fundamental issue you're likely running into.

So, what can you draw from this first question? You need to pick what you want and determine what success looks like within that market, or what success looks like to you. I'm not saying you need to be content with some arbitrary number when you might eventually reach it, just that being aware of limitations in a market is important so you don't have unrealistic expectations.

With that out of the way, lets look at the second thing. Looking at your profile, there are a few completed and a few incomplete stories. None of which are breaching 100 chapters. By nature of the way most writing websites work (searching by books), your discoverability will be low. Someone already mentioned consistency, which is true, but doesn't paint a full picture. Consistency can be broken into two parts. Predictability for readers, and exposure on the front page to the same audience in recent postings.

The fact of the matter is, 95% of readers don't go to the author profile to see other works by them. When they finish a book they liked, they just go back to search and find something else. By having relatively low chapter counts (I know that 50 seems like a lot, but it really isn't in the grand scheme of things), you're essentially restarting the climb every time, and not reaching the first rest point where you start to garner readers long term. This links back to the first question. If you prefer to write these sorts of short(er) stories, it will hurt your reader count. I'd argue that you could probably keep your style of writing by configuring your works into more of an anthology, where some central theme is used (think horror anthologies), where you can separate the books in volumes (in chapter titles), and keep them all as a central series. That would help discoverability, but it might not work for you. It just depends on what style your writing follows, and how much you are willing to limit your own design space.

Consider that most series don't actually start garnering larger reader counts until after 70-100 chapters, and you can see where your problem might be occurring.

Third, and this may not apply as I haven't actually read any of your works, sometimes plots are simply too generic or inauthentic. Inauthenticity is something readers can smell from miles away. This again loops back to the first point, but if you hate isekai and LitRPG, even if you attempt to write one just because it is popular, it's very likely that most readers will turn away from it because of that inauthentic engagement. It'll leak through. Write what you enjoy writing. It makes it easier to write and keep a schedule that way as well. Far too often I see people encourage others to write things they don't like because they are popular genres. Every genre has a learning curve involving tropes and archtypes that readers expect. Encouraging people to write something they aren't familiar with is like telling someone who says "I want to earn more money" to just go get a job as a stock broker or CEO, since they make a lot of money. It lacks the nuance that you have to read and learn about the genre first. Sure, they can go to school to learn business practices, then earn more money, but fundamentally that isn't really what the person was asking for. Realistically, they should get advice on asking for raises and looking for ways to improve their existing skills for promotions.

That brings it together as the third point - Really focus on honing your skills and determining what you want YOUR stories to convey. Write the stories you want to, but begin focusing on what you can improve about your own writing. Grammar? Flow? Plot hooks? Cliff Hangers? These are things you can work consciously towards improving. Every author can (and should! Successful or not!) focus on improving their fundamentals at all times.

I hope this helps, even if it is a bit long winded.
This is actually super helpful input!

I just had to go thru my stories and double-check them, and there's definitely a trend between story length and view counts...

Regarding incomplete stories, some of these things are commissioned stories, and thus not finished (nor are they likely to be finished, as the customers enjoy frequent chapters). Regarding the chapter count... I don't think I can say anything on that. I like to think of myself as a novelist, and that definitely clashes with the 100+ expectation. That being said, I could look into finding some mix between my novels and longform content. Maybe posting my trilogies as one individual story? Worth thinking about.

Thanks for taking time out of your day to share your thoughts. You've given me a lot to think about.
 
Last edited:

HisDivineShadow

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This makes sense. The quality of a story is what keeps you going, after all, right?
It's the quality that carries me through until morning—that moment when you slip out of reality.
I had to double-check, but I posted this in Reader-General. I feel that's the appropriate place. Also, I'm not fishing for readers. I'm asking opinions.

If you don't want to share those opinions, that's fine. But I'd rather stick to the topic, thank you.
Maybe he meant that you need to stay true to your own style. At least that's how I understood his message
 

CharlesEBrown

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Ah wait - we all missed the simplest answer to the question:
What makes a good story on this site?
The same thing that makes a bad story or most of the mediocre stories on this site (most - the rest are made by The Butler): Writers. :s_tongue:
 
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