What is the competitive advantage of your story's premise?

[Eldoria]

We can see many similar, almost identical stories with/without different identities of protagonists and antagonists, but the underlying pattern is the same. For example, there are countless novels about regression, cultivation, reincarnation, otome, teen romance, and other tropes written by thousands of authors.

From here, we need to think of story's premise which is interesting, authentic, original, and unique to narrate the story in a different way so that it can have a strong hook to engage readers and also serve as a competitive advantage for our novel compared to other novels in its segment.

Critical Note:
Seeking a competitive advantage isn't just about finding a market. It's more about surviving in a saturated market.

It's true that we can write thousands chapters of mainstream and clichéd stories with various popular tropes and quickly go viral. If our goal is simply to go viral (briefly), that's enough.

Clichéd stories might make readers easily catch on (because readers grasp the popular trope as a hook).

Meanwhile, a competitive advantage makes your story memorable (because readers grasp the story's originality as a hook).

In short, if you want to go viral quickly, writing a clichéd story is the right choice. However, if your story wants to be remembered long after as a pioneer/icon, then originality is key.

And perhaps the best story is a mainstream story with a distinctive originality (the popular and memorable story).

 

[xizl]

I think an interesting premise is great - it captures the viewer's attention, but it doesn't make them stay. Execution, in my opinion, is the most important part. If your premise is old, tired, and has little left to say, a good writer can still wring the dregs of something new from it.

People will read your story, so long as it's well written, even if it were about a man walking to a grocery store. Just my opinion, though.

 

[LuoirM]

I genuinely think the concept is original, and there will always be a market for original, even though the author is shit.
How creative and original, you might ask?

Spoiler: Here's the title and snippet

If there's any other ones with the same trope out there, you guys make sure to let me know

 

[Hoshino]

you tell me-nya.

 

[Wenlock]

I think my competitive advantage is that it doesn't fall in any tropes that most of the literature these days fall in. I didn't write "my own spin" on something familiar. I mean, there are not many stories taking place inside hell either. However, I also made sure that the premise doesn't feel completely alien to the reader.

 

[FRWriter]

Since I am focusing on fanfics, I have the huge advantage of already having a pretty large readership.

People who like the particular Anime/Movies/Games/Novels and stumble across my story will probably check it out.

On the other hand, people who are not interested in those will most likely avoid my story.

Still, overall, I'd say it's a great advantage for new authors. Even with mediocre skills, you get a lot of readers and thus feedback, which can help you improve a lot.

Despite failing miserably, I still got so many comments, especially on WN, that I managed to learn a lot.

By now, I'm sometimes wishing I had focused on creating an original story, one that I could officially publish, but who knows if I would have gotten any readers if I had done that? I think starting out with fanfics is a very smart idea for people who are heavily invested in one of the popular stories and a great way to get some experience.

However, there are even differences with fanfics. I, for one, like to build upon what's already there, choosing to create original settings, new characters, and expand the world. I think that idea makes for a way better long-term story than quickly rehashing the canon events by just inserting a random SI cookie-cutter character.

 

[DireBadger]

Not me. I aim to be squarely in the center of popular genres, and let my writing, storybuilding, and plotting carry the load.

If someone thinks "Oh, I want a magitech romance" I want them to think about 'at any price' as the best example. If they think 'post-apocalypse superheroes.' I want 'the chair guy' to be the example of how it's done right.

I plan on competing in the genres where the competition is fierce, as best-in-class, rather than making up my own genre where I am the sole, forgotten entity.

 

[Juia_Darkcrest]

This seems similar to that other thread but I will reply again.

I do all the popular fanfic/harem/system stuff,

Except my MCs are not kids, one in fact is 83... and his system helps repair his body more so than over powering him. It is a different take on the the genre, how full on adults would actually be treated and respond in these worlds instead of the 16-20 year old MC who is treated like a kid.

 

[Worthy39]

I mean, I wouldn't say I fall into generic, but I don't know if I'd quite call it original, either. Magic, teen caught in the middle, not like it hasn't been done before, but it's not as overused as things like isekai and litRPG.

 

[expentio]

I usually write longer continuations.
My stories are transformation stories with heavy emphasis on the psychological aspects. I pretty much like the concept of "power you don't want". The MCs struggle with their fate, and are meant to act as realistically as possible, as someone, who got just ripped out of their cozy daily life.
The stories do all decently well, and I'd say, coming from the comments, that the characters and their interactions I develop are endearing to many readers.

 

[OrionFall]

We can see many similar, almost identical stories with/without different identities of protagonists and antagonists, but the underlying pattern is the same. For example, there are countless novels about regression, cultivation, reincarnation, otome, teen romance, and other tropes written by thousands of authors.

From here, we need to think of story's premise which is interesting, authentic, original, and unique to narrate the story in a different way so that it can have a strong hook to engage readers and also serve as a competitive advantage for our novel compared to other novels in its segment.

Critical Note:
Seeking a competitive advantage isn't just about finding a market. It's more about surviving in a saturated market.

It's true that we can write thousands chapters of mainstream and clichéd stories with various popular tropes and quickly go viral. If our goal is simply to go viral (briefly), that's enough.

Clichéd stories might make readers easily catch on (because readers grasp the popular trope as a hook).

Meanwhile, a competitive advantage makes your story memorable (because readers grasp the story's originality as a hook).

In short, if you want to go viral quickly, writing a clichéd story is the right choice. However, if your story wants to be remembered long after as a pioneer/icon, then originality is key.

And perhaps the best story is a mainstream story with a distinctive originality (the popular and memorable story).

As someone who comes from a fine arts background, I think it has less to do with an interesting premise (Though a good hook is always helpful) and more to do with having something to say. There are countless stories with the same and similar premises, but those that truly connect with readers are the ones that aren't just written for the sake of spawning yet another thing, like the things the writer likes to read.

 

[Author_Riceball]

In short, if you want to go viral quickly, writing a clichéd story is the right choice. However, if your story wants to be remembered long after as a pioneer/icon, then originality is key.

And perhaps the best story is a mainstream story with a distinctive originality (the popular and memorable story).

You can simultaneously do both.

People will read your story, so long as it's well written, even if it were about a man walking to a grocery store. Just my opinion, though.

People will read it but the issue is how to get more people to read a gem as opposed to just one guy.

 

[JayDirex]

We can see many similar, almost identical stories with/without different identities of protagonists and antagonists, but the underlying pattern is the same. For example, there are countless novels about regression, cultivation, reincarnation, otome, teen romance, and other tropes written by thousands of authors.

From here, we need to think of story's premise which is interesting, authentic, original, and unique to narrate the story in a different way so that it can have a strong hook to engage readers and also serve as a competitive advantage for our novel compared to other novels in its segment.

Critical Note:
Seeking a competitive advantage isn't just about finding a market. It's more about surviving in a saturated market.

It's true that we can write thousands chapters of mainstream and clichéd stories with various popular tropes and quickly go viral. If our goal is simply to go viral (briefly), that's enough.

Clichéd stories might make readers easily catch on (because readers grasp the popular trope as a hook).

Meanwhile, a competitive advantage makes your story memorable (because readers grasp the story's originality as a hook).

In short, if you want to go viral quickly, writing a clichéd story is the right choice. However, if your story wants to be remembered long after as a pioneer/icon, then originality is key.

And perhaps the best story is a mainstream story with a distinctive originality (the popular and memorable story).

Now now. We all know there's nothing new under the sun.

All stories are derivative, mash ups, borrowed parts, from every prior story we ever ingested.

Yet we authors still say to ourselves: "I know there's a million {Insert genre} stories. But mine is different, because in my story this happens: (author starts writing story slightly different from other stories- YET has a Waifu or Edgelord on the cover.

"Original" art ;)

 

[DireBadger]

Now now. We all know there's nothing new under the sun.

All stories are derivative, mash ups, borrowed parts, from every prior story we ever ingested.

Yet we authors still say to ourselves: "I know there's a million {Insert genre} stories. But mine is different, because in my story this happens: (author starts writing story slightly different from other stories- YET has a Waifu or Edgelord on the cover.

"Original" art ;)

Can't blame the writer for catering to his audience. The vast majority of nerdy boys are excited by pretty girls.

Most of the audience for adventure stories is male. Males have a built-in preference for excitement or pretty girls.
An exciting cover is incredibly hard work, and visually, what excites one person won't excite another.

You already have a hard time finding an appreciative audience, why make it even harder by NOT putting a cute girl, guaranteed to attract attention, on the cover? That's as stupid as trying to sell cheeseburgers by showing a fat guy in a dirty wifebeater eating one while watching a sports event, surrounded by piles of cartons from the same chain. Realistic? Sure, but unless you are going for comedy, it won't sell a book.

Look at my covers to 'sentenced to paradise' and 'at any price'. which one do YOU think gets more attention?

 

[JayDirex]

Look at my covers to 'sentenced to paradise' and 'at any price'. which one do YOU think gets more attention?

everybody knows the answer. SHE IS BEAUTIFUL!!!

 

[DireBadger]

everybody knows the answer. SHE IS BEAUTIFUL!!!

View attachment 42502

Heh, thanks. While technically she is a modified AI character (Heavily modified) she took me almost 40 hours of work to get right. It kept trying to turn her into a goblin, give her fangs, or even show off too much skin. I had to completely redesign her eyes (still not that happy with them) and her hair, and merge together like 12 separate pieces of art to make her... and now I am concerned about actually turning it into a cover.

But seriously, pretty girls sell books. Sure, there are some 'hard cases', but in this day and age? Bucking the trend doesn't work while the internet exists. I am not saying you should make a meatball cover like most modern pornlit, but relationships are getting more and more impossible... is it any surprise a young audience prefers a meaningful connection with a girl in their fiction?

 

[CharlesEBrown]

I just write. If it gets to the point where a "real" publisher is interested, I'll let them worry about the competitive side of the equation.

 

[Bartun]

How many other stories have a talking dinosaur in them? ?

 

[Zagaroth]

As mentioned above, nothing is entirely new. Everything evolves from something else. But that's fine, that describes life as well. Every person on this planet has evolved through a long, long chain from the exact same single celled organism far in the past. So to does each generation of stories evolve and change, and occasionally introduce a new element to the art. Once upon a time, there was nothing like dungeon cores or stat screens in any story; this makes us the new kids on the block. But now anyone using any of these newer elements is competing for a relatively smaller audience than fantasy as a whole, until these subgenres are entirely integrated into mainstream fantasy and sci-fi.

For my story specifically, I have reduced it down to its key, most important parts:

"It is a fantasy story about a 3-person relationship and them figuring out their new lives, which includes dealing with the bigoted cultists from one person's backstory."

Is there more? Of course there is, but this is the heart of the story. I can tell almost anyone on the planet the above summary, and they will understand my story sufficiently well that they can decide if they want to learn more about my take on it.

------------------

From here, we can get into the details that differentiate it more from similar stories. 2 of the MCs are dungeon cores, and the third is a priestess of the goddess of passions. This a romance heavy story, so naturally this world's dungeons can make avatars. However, I wanted to de-gamify the trope more, so I remade Living Dungeons into Spiritual Nexuses (leaning on the concept of them being Genius Loci), which have Nexus Cores.

But the basic ability of a nexus to analyze and recreate without any sort of limitation is problematic, so they do have rules and restrictions, but these are not defined by stat screens and have very little to do with numbers, outside of some abilities being discovered/awakened when a nexus has a specific number of zones.

This is not unusual in RW myths and stories, numbers are very important to magic, such as the thirteen members of a coven, and a kitsune's tails. So these are the sort of numbers used by the divine rules. "When you have grown this much, you are ready to lay claim to this potential."

-----------------

I could go on from there of course, but I think that suffices to show that I have made some changes/evolutions to the pieces that went into my story.

These changes create both a weakness and a strength. People who really love progression and dungeon core sometimes do not want their story 'diluted' with things like romance, and some people who like everything else about the story can find the chapters about dungeon building to be overwhelming and boring.

It is, however, more approachable for people not familiar with the sub-genre. It can, potentially, reach a wider audience and draw them in. Will this be sufficient to compete? Well, the future holds that possibility; I have signed a contract, and turned in my first book (the contract is for the first three volumes of my serial, and can expand from there).

 

[Para23]

We can see many similar, almost identical stories with/without different identities of protagonists and antagonists, but the underlying pattern is the same. For example, there are countless novels about regression, cultivation, reincarnation, otome, teen romance, and other tropes written by thousands of authors.

From here, we need to think of story's premise which is interesting, authentic, original, and unique to narrate the story in a different way so that it can have a strong hook to engage readers and also serve as a competitive advantage for our novel compared to other novels in its segment.

Critical Note:
Seeking a competitive advantage isn't just about finding a market. It's more about surviving in a saturated market.

It's true that we can write thousands chapters of mainstream and clichéd stories with various popular tropes and quickly go viral. If our goal is simply to go viral (briefly), that's enough.

Clichéd stories might make readers easily catch on (because readers grasp the popular trope as a hook).

Meanwhile, a competitive advantage makes your story memorable (because readers grasp the story's originality as a hook).

In short, if you want to go viral quickly, writing a clichéd story is the right choice. However, if your story wants to be remembered long after as a pioneer/icon, then originality is key.

And perhaps the best story is a mainstream story with a distinctive originality (the popular and memorable story).

Competitive advantage huh? I’m definitely not winning anything but I think mine is that I did a lot of world building that came from straight up making shit up and then fixing the rough parts later. Basically rationalizing hallucinations lmao. I tried to use a genre that people know to then expand it into my weird world building, but i don’t know if I accomplished that. I took the whole Hunter association and dungeon crawling thing and made it entirely supernatural with like grim reapers and and ghost’s coming back for a vengeance. It’s also post apocalyptic just for fun, and Demi-humans exist but since the story is almost grim dark (idk somebody described it as that) they cut off their non-human parts so they don’t get killed by the military. Lots of experimentation going on too, oh I also added in a game system (it’s kinda a bit conspiracy what the system actually is, cuz it sure is biased and not very professional)
As for characters, they’re all messed up in the head one way or the other. I traumatize my ocs for fun(artist habit lol). I really do like exploring the more morally gray areas tho
Anyway sorry for the rant, here’s the link to it if I failed to explain anything properly Decay Hunter