Are isekai fans too impatient?

[Rosica]

Wouldn't jumping into traffic be the fastest way, though?

In Arizona, America, ambulance truck-kun jump into you.

 

[TheKillingAlice]

In Arizona, America, ambulance truck-kun jump into you.

Fair enough. That doesn't usually happen where I come from.

 

[Erysion]

They are so impatient!

Not only they are so impatient. Impotent too.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

There is a series of books you are quite likely aware of, with a guy who is isekaied into a flying reindeer, more or less, after applying for a job online.

Yes, that is an Isekai - closer to the common usage of the term than, say, the animation series Suicide Squad: Isekai. which actually puts the term in the title.

And my isekai has it happen between the first and second chapters, because I'd rather explore the MCs backstory via flashbacks and asides, and have the story move forward steadily, but that's a personal call.

Also, I'm going to assume that "LOFTR" stands for "Lord of F*cking the Rings" because there's nothing you can do to stop me.

I thought that was National Lampoon's Bored of the Rings...

 

[SirContro]

Wouldn't jumping into traffic be the fastest way, though?

Truck-Kun is a valid strategy, but there are two problems.
1. There's no telling which Truck is Truck-Kun. They may just die, and that's the end of their story. It's a lot less risky to simply increase the chances of death as opposed to speedrunning it because if you weren't lucky enough to isekai, at least you lived more in this world. Isekais don't necessarily have to happen because of Truck-Kun; there is also an abundance of isekai that trigger just because you have a sad backstory, and not having health insurance is very sad.
2. Even if Truck-Kun is the truck that runs you over. It's actually pretty common to survive a truck crash, especially when trucks are going slower in the city where most Truck-Kun incidents happen. So to ensure Truck-Kun does reincarnate you, you absolutely can not have health insurance. Otherwise, you will likely be taken to the hospital and forced to continue living after your attempt with a few broken limbs, many shattered bones, brain damage, and a hefty bill, even with insurance.

 

[OokamiKasumi]

One of the stories I want to try writing sometime soon is an isekai. I'm hesitant to even try, though, because every time I ask how to write an isekai, people tell me they'll drop the book if the isekaization doesn't happen in the first chapter. ... There are things that need to happen in our world to set up the plot in the other world.
...
So, yeah. Is this story DOA from lack of instant gratification, or would people read it even if it takes a while to get to the fun stuff?

Best Advice:

Books like Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone or The Hunger Games don’t jump straight into the core premise either, they just make sure something interesting is happening right away. ... If there’s tension, conflict, and questions pulling the reader forward, they won’t care that the isekai happens in chapter 4.

As long as what's being Said, Felt, and Done is Exciting, and charged with Emotion, you'll keep your Readers interest -- isekai or not.

This includes what the POV Character is Thinking.
-- Don't spend paragraphs and paragraphs inside the POV character's head. Keep the Emotional rollercoaster moving, and the internal monologue snappy. Snark and Sarcasm are always fun to read.

Don't forget to describe your characters' Expressions!
-- The easiest way to keep you Readers informed while keeping your POV blind as to what a non-POV character is thinking without Head-hopping is by describing the Expressions on their faces.

Don't just SAY it! ~ SHOW IT!

"I love you too." She rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically. "Oh yes, I truly do love you."​

"I love you too." She dropped her chin and pouted. "Oh yes, I truly do love you."​

"I love you too." She glared straight at him. "Oh yes, I truly do love you."​

"I love you too." She turned away and wiped the tear from her cheek. "Oh yes, I truly do love you."​

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Best Advice:




Don't just SAY it! ~ SHOW IT!

"I love you too." She rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically. "Oh yes, I truly do love you."​

"I love you too." She dropped her chin and pouted. "Oh yes, I truly do love you."​

"I love you too." She glared straight at him. "Oh yes, I truly do love you."​

"I love you too." She turned away and wiped the tear from her cheek. "Oh yes, I truly do love you."​

Shocked, he replied: "I had no idea you felt that way about sheep. Let's start a farm together!"
She sighed. "You are a moron. I said 'you' not 'ewe'."
"You want to plant a yew tree?"
"You don't have your hearing aids in, do you?"

 

[Lysander_Works]

Sounds more like they wish to avoid any "prologues" or chapters that initially info dump.
Your own methods should work fine, just make sure those first chapters are very engaging. Doesn't matter if it's about background or how MC feels, hook more important.

 

[TinaMigarlo]

One of the stories I want to try writing sometime soon is an isekai. I'm hesitant to even try, though, because every time I ask how to write an isekai, people tell me they'll drop the book if the isekaization doesn't happen in the first chapter. Maybe the second if it's really well written. And for the book I'm planning, that just won't work. There are things that need to happen in our world to set up the plot in the other world. Without going too deep into spoilers...

Ch 1: Meet the MC. MC has interests. MC has goals. Meet MC's family. MC doesn't like his family. MC's family doesn't like MC.
Ch 2: Learn MC's backstory and why his family doesn't like him. Interact more with family, setting up eventual shocking plot twists.
Ch 3: MC's interests leads him to magical item. Magical item is taken from MC by his family.
Ch 4: Magical item calls to MC. MC tries to get it back. Family catches him. Confrontation. Magic happens. Commence isekatization.
Ch 5: Isekaization complete. We now return you to your regularly scheduled tropes and cliches.

I don't want this to be another book where the only interesting thing about the main character is that he's the star of an isekai. Things are happening in the story even before he gets sent to the other world. The main character has a personal stake in the plot, even if he doesn't know it yet. The story just won't work if I skip all of that and yeet the sucker into another dimension right off the bat. It'd be like if Harry Potter began with Harry arriving at Hogwarts and filling the readers in on his parents, Voldemort, and the Dursleys later, if at all.

Some people have suggested that I just put the important stuff into flashbacks, but not only does that sound amateurish, it'd also feel really clunky for my main character to be like "Gee willikers, what a crazy magical adventure I'm having! It reminds me of the time my parents died when they accidentally drove off a cliff and my grandma told my sister it was my fault! By the way, did I ever tell you that my sister hates me for what happened to our parents, and also she's a genius and our grandma has been teaching her this weird language I've never heard of but neither of them give a crap about me? Also, I really like to swim and..."

So, yeah. Is this story DOA from lack of instant gratification, or would people read it even if it takes a while to get to the fun stuff?

count? my heart bleeds for you.
I like the *idea* of an isekai? and i wanted to do something with one.
but really, every time I bring up doing *anything* with it?
I swear, its like there are rules to making one.
I wish you luck at it, i wish you all the luck in the world.
pave the way for us, and make those isekai fans accept something different.

there should just be a computer program, you enter the blanks, and it spits you out a litRPG OP MC Isekai. That's the way people talk about the tropes.

 

[Worthy39]

If you just want to get as many readers as possible who think your work is average, but still enjoyable, go the route where you just jump straight into the action. If you want fewer readers who think your isekai is a masterpiece, go for your own ideas.

 

[Ararara]

Yes, I think they are impatient. So if you do it like this, complaints or readers skipping/skimming those first 5 chapters wouldn't surprise me. People know the isekaing will happen, and are used to (from all the other isekai stories) that everything from Real World won't matter once the MC dies.

 

[OokamiKasumi]

Don't just SAY it! ~ SHOW IT!

Shocked, he replied: "I had no idea you felt that way about sheep. Let's start a farm together!"
She sighed. "You are a moron. I said 'you' not 'ewe'."
"You want to plant a yew tree?"
"You don't have your hearing aids in, do you?"

How I would write this:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He blinked, eyes wide then gasped. "I had no idea you felt that way about sheep!" He grinned. "Let's start a farm together!"

With a sigh, she rolled her eyes then set her hands on her hips. "You are a moron." She leaned toward him and enunciated. "I said 'you' not 'ewe'."

Frowning, he tilted his head to the side. "You want to plant a yew tree?"

She blinked then scowled. "You don't have your hearing aids in, do you?"

 

[BearlyAlive]

They sure are. Blame the whole instant gratification culture currently destroying humanity. Consumerism was bad enough, but at least there, people still cared about quality...

 

[Eldoria]

As long as what's being Said, Felt, and Done is Exciting, and charged with Emotion, you'll keep your Readers interest -- isekai or not.

This includes what the POV Character is Thinking.
-- Don't spend paragraphs and paragraphs inside the POV character's head. Keep the Emotional rollercoaster moving, and the internal monologue snappy. Snark and Sarcasm are always fun to read.

Don't forget to describe your characters' Expressions!
-- The easiest way to keep you Readers informed while keeping your POV blind as to what a non-POV character is thinking without Head-hopping is by describing the Expressions on their faces.

Don't just SAY it! ~ SHOW IT!

"I love you too." She rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically. "Oh yes, I truly do love you."
"I love you too." She dropped her chin and pouted. "Oh yes, I truly do love you."
"I love you too." She glared straight at him. "Oh yes, I truly do love you."
"I love you too." She turned away and wiped the tear from her cheek. "Oh yes, I truly do love you."

I agree with your answer. Body language is a subtle expression of emotion. Showing emotions through body language is a great way to make readers feel the character's emotional dynamics and avoid characters being too flat.

However, this approach is not without criticism or, more precisely, not suitable for all readers (well, I'm not sure there is a universal approach for all readers). Yesterday I even received criticism because the narrative was too full of micro-expressions (body language), making the reader confused.

However, after further examination... it turns out that the reader is a passive reader and has a preference for the character's raw emotions through the narrator's voice.

She is more accustomed to reading omniscient POV narratives that allow the narrator to describe the character's emotions through emotional labels (e.g., he is angry). For her, it may be more efficient to receive the information "he is angry..." (telling) than to show emotions through body language. She is more of a passive reader (listener) than an active reader (interpreter).

Well, there is nothing I can do about her reading preferences. Ultimately, every narrative has its own strengths and weaknesses, as well as its target audience.

 

[Kurayami]

Not only they are so impatient. Impotent too.

I thought of the same joke! Darn.

 

[SirContro]

Not only they are so impatient. Impotent too.

I wasn't aware Anon liked isekai. (Epic callback)

 

[Rosica]

I thought of the same joke! Darn.

This is because Erys and you are the same being.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

there should just be a computer program, you enter the blanks, and it spits you out a litRPG OP MC Isekai. That's the way people talk about the tropes.

That's called "AI" and you can find examples of it on Pocket FM...

Though if you REALLY want a literary "paint by numbers" find the group (real-world academic group) that is responsible for "Gothic Romance" novels. I had a teacher in college whose wife tried to write one. They sent her a long document (he said the number of pages but this was 30 years ago so I don't remember exactly - 48 maybe?) listing the number of times she had to mention rattling chains, the minimum and maximum number of secret doors she could have play a role in the story, how many moaning, ghostly noises there had to be...