Honestly, I feel like I shouldn't be asking a question like this as, we've all basically watched/red absolutely GOATED pieces of fiction and non-fiction, but I'm asking here mainly because I feel like most of the guides on Youtube are kind of like.. vague to me if you get it, since I'm currently writing a Murim novel, it is my first one, so I could definitely see some people say "Just write, and focus on making your other novels better from the experience you get from this one."/"It's your first novel, don't expect it to be good," something like that, but I wanna make my first novel like readable at least, since I like the way I'm planning on making my mc.
If you have time, please just read at least like 1 or 2 chapters of my novel, and then give me some tips about some stupid or wasteful things I'm doing.
I don't know, what I find interesting, other can find it bothering. But if you want some attraction toward your story, you should try to write a real synopsis.
Also, a piece of advice, in your tag there the cultivation one, if it's your first story take into consideration that this type of stories are long, and I mean very long, be ready to write a lot of chapters for it.
First, you don't have a synopsis so no one knows what they are getting into. Secondly, you want to have a cover, this isn't as crucial but it helps more than it hurts.
And YouTube isn't going to give you the magical sauce to make the next greatest novel. Otherwise, everyone would be creating the next greatest novel.
As of right now, your novel is for you and if it's good enough, then maybe you will get readers.
I'd go with third person omniscient, but that's just me.
"Keugh... is this.. how I leave this world?"
Melvin was dying. he held his hand to his mouth as he coughed and pulled his cupped hand away to look at it. The odd mix of blood and mucus actually distracted him from the sucking chest wound for a few seconds. For just a moment, he forgot there was a small bullet hole n his back, and the frickin Holand Tunnel out the front.
He fell to his knees, not quite sure who shot him in the back. Given the time of day, it was most likely anyone who knew his schedule. That meant this assassination was a betrayal, "Oh well, whatever all I can do now is hope."
The funny thing was, he had just realized he was doing things wrong. His whole life he'd be a bastard. He'd only thought about number one. He justified it with how life had treated him. His father was a working stiff who never got anywhere. Mom always bitched at dad and only thought about how much happier she could have been if she had only married Jack back in college.
Melvin spent most of his childhood getting the crap beat out of him, so as soon as he had his chance to get ahead, he took it. He had learned nobody cares, so he cared about no one. He was a very good liar and got ahead by backstabbing, betraying, and never ever showing mercy.
One day, that changed.
He realized everything he did was to get back at the people who beat the crap out of him. Everyone he hurt, was just an attempt to make things "right" to make things fair. But one day he realized something. He was just evil.
It started small. he couldn't do his job. He couldn't focus. he started trying to stop, get out. Nothing made him happy anymore so he just stopped doing drugs, stopped having sex, stopped doing everything. He finally made up his mind. He was going to quit.
Unfortunately, his partners figured it out first.
Now he was face first on the sidewalk, people screaming, people running. He doubted anyone would catch the bastard who killed him, nor would anyone care. He just stared at the growing pool of blood under himself as he thought, ~Honestly, I really was going to try and fix things.~ He closed his eyes, ~Ah well, at least there's a special place in Hell for someone like me.~
First sentence gets people to read the first paragraph.
First paragraph gets people to read the chapter,
First chapter gives the reader a question that ONLY YOUR BOOK CAN ANSWER.
So they should be curious about that question, make it a good one.
I rewrote the start of your first chapter to make a point. DON'T WASTE THE READER'S TIME. Everything should have meaning. Your writing is too on the nose.
Really? He was EXPECTING to get reincarnated and was afraid he'd wind up a woman? How? Why? Is this his first time? Doesn't sound like it. But then again
if I could I wish I could go to a different world like Murim with some system, man
Then why is he thinking this? he clearly is EXPECTING to reincarnate, or transmigrate, or whatever. But then the next paragraph he's acting like it was going to happen, and he's just glad he still has testicles.
Oh, and you never tell us the name of the Protagonist, so I called him Melvin, because I like saying Melvin.
Your opening chapter's question is: What is this guy going to do?
My version of your opening is: Is this guy going to make good on turning over a new leaf?
First of all, you write like it's a play or movie script.
Second, your narration is inconsistent. Sometimes it's 1st person, sometimes 3rd. Sometimes part of the narration looks like it was supposed to be the MC's thoughts?
Third, I can't tell what's going on. Who's the MC? What is the story going to be about?
My advice would be to hold off from posting right away and instead you should focus on planning and drafting your ideas. Since it's your first time, you should give yourself more time to figure out what you want to do with this story.
Indeed. If a person really wants us to read their work, they can't go expecting us to do the work of linking their forum account to their main-site account and looking through their stories library and guessing which one is theirs.
Either gotta provide a link in the post or put a link in your signature. If it's in your signature, specify in the post that the link's in your signature.
As for the rest of the OP content, if you want a specific answer you're going to have to ask a specific question. "How do I make my story interesting" is REALLY not a specific enough question by a country mile.
There are just so many things that go into making a story interesting. A story is like a computer in a lot of ways. You have your essential components like the CPU, the hard drive, the power supply and such. Similarly, in a story, you have your essential components like characters, story plot, and setting.
In addition to those main essential components, there are just so many smaller components like wires, transistors, and even the solder that goes into holding the components to the motherboard. Stories also have all manner of very small components you never really even think of.
Anyway, if you're so new to writing that you aren't even asking the right questions, then I think what you should be doing in order to make your story interesting starts from figuring out what makes your story work in the first place. That would mean becoming familiar with all of the vast multitudes of tiny aspects that go into just making a story work in the first place. Having a grasp of those things gives you the tools you need to start coming up with something interesting.
I would say you should keep on with the youtube videos, and don't just look at one uploader either. Look at a lot of different people, and just consume a whole bunch of their 'how to write' related content. This will help pad out your knowledge on all these tiny aspects that go into storytelling.
First of all, you write like it's a play or movie script.
Second, your narration is inconsistent. Sometimes it's 1st person, sometimes 3rd. Sometimes part of the narration looks like it was supposed to be the MC's thoughts?
Third, I can't tell what's going on. Who's the MC? What is the story going to be about?
My advice would be to hold off from posting right away and instead you should focus on planning and drafting your ideas. Since it's your first time, you should give yourself more time to figure out what you want to do with this story.
Indeed. If a person really wants us to read their work, they can't go expecting us to do the work of linking their forum account to their main-site account and looking through their stories library and guessing which one is theirs.
Either gotta provide a link in the post or put a link in your signature. If it's in your signature, specify in the post that the link's in your signature.
As for the rest of the OP content, if you want a specific answer you're going to have to ask a specific question. "How do I make my story interesting" is REALLY not a specific enough question by a country mile.
There are just so many things that go into making a story interesting. A story is like a computer in a lot of ways. You have your essential components like the CPU, the hard drive, the power supply and such. Similarly, in a story, you have your essential components like characters, story plot, and setting.
In addition to those main essential components, there are just so many smaller components like wires, transistors, and even the solder that goes into holding the components to the motherboard. Stories also have all manner of very small components you never really even think of.
Anyway, if you're so new to writing that you aren't even asking the right questions, then I think what you should be doing in order to make your story interesting starts from figuring out what makes your story work in the first place. That would mean becoming familiar with all of the vast multitudes of tiny aspects that go into just making a story work in the first place. Having a grasp of those things gives you the tools you need to start coming up with something interesting.
I would say you should keep on with the youtube videos, and don't just look at one uploader either. Look at a lot of different people, and just consume a whole bunch of their 'how to write' related content. This will help pad out your knowledge on all these tiny aspects that go into storytelling.
I'd go with third person omniscient, but that's just me.
First sentence gets people to read the first paragraph.
First paragraph gets people to read the chapter,
First chapter gives the reader a question that ONLY YOUR BOOK CAN ANSWER.
So they should be curious about that question, make it a good one.
I rewrote the start of your first chapter to make a point. DON'T WASTE THE READER'S TIME. Everything should have meaning. Your writing is too on the nose.
Gee. He's DYING. You think it's a shitty world? SHOW. DON'T TELL.
Really? He was EXPECTING to get reincarnated and was afraid he'd wind up a woman? How? Why? Is this his first time? Doesn't sound like it. But then again
Then why is he thinking this? he clearly is EXPECTING to reincarnate, or transmigrate, or whatever. But then the next paragraph he's acting like it was going to happen, and he's just glad he still has testicles.
Oh, and you never tell us the name of the Protagonist, so I called him Melvin, because I like saying Melvin.
Your opening chapter's question is: What is this guy going to do?
My version of your opening is: Is this guy going to make good on turning over a new leaf?
I don't know, what I find interesting, other can find it bothering. But if you want some attraction toward your story, you should try to write a real synopsis.
Also, a piece of advice, in your tag there the cultivation one, if it's your first story take into consideration that this type of stories are long, and I mean very long, be ready to write a lot of chapters for it.
But in general, this are the 3 things that immediately caught my eye and could scare away the readers. First chapter especially are crucial, since it's the moment when you tell the readers what to expect from your story, you set the tone, etc.
Also my advice is always read what you wrote, even better if you read again after a day or two of break, because you will be able to look at it with a fresh eye.
1) The first sentence is what grabs my attention to read the first paragraph.
2) The first paragraph is what sells the first chapter.
3) The first chapter gives me a question that the reader should be curious about and your book should be the only way to answer that question.
I have a pattern.
Single Line at the start of the chapter to be a zinger.
Then I have a little exposition at the start of most chapters.
A paragraph explaining the setup.
Paragraphs are broken up by topic.
Occasionally a one-liner where I hit the reader with a single idea.
I will sometimes put something all by itself after many carriage returns to make it ESPECIALLY stand out.
"When having a conversation I have words inside quotations and get rid of the word 'said' whenever possible." Eldritch had discovered that people are smart enough to figure it out for themselves, "You just need a comma and some quotes to get people to know who is talking. The important part is to start a new chapter whenever the speaking subject changes.
My imagination interrupted, "This would be an example of that." It looked around and wiggled its tendrils, "Actions can be done by anyone and rolled into the paragraph." Eldritch nodded as my Imagination continued, "As long as who is talking inside the quotes remains the same."
"So Expositions should be all at the start of the chapter, with maybe a small wrap-up at the end, but if you get in the habit of having conversations like this, you can group things up in a way that is easier on the reader's eyes. It knows where one speaker ends and another begins. In fact, if you keep up the pattern, you won't even need to point out who is talking, the reader will figure it out by style of speech, or the fact only two people are talking."
Then, finally, I try to have a final zinger line to end the chapter on.
It's cheap psychological manipulation, but it works.
How about an example?
Author Note: This is my first time writing a novel, so bear with me now.
"Keugh... is this.. how I leave this world?" He coughs blood, and after a slight pause he laughs and smiles. "Oh well, whatever all I can do now is hope."
My life was full of stupid shit honestly, I never spent my time well.. if I could I wish I could go to a different world like Murim with some system, man, I should've stopped reading those weird novels, but whatever honestly, in the end, it's the survival of the fittest, even in this so-called "comfortable" world. All I hope now is that I at least don't go to hell, or get reborn, since me going to Heaven is the equivalent of letting a crazy murderer not go to jail while being caught.
"G-goodbye you shitty world." he tries to yell out loud while on the concrete ground, but only to output a barely audible voice with a lot of people looking down at him in worry, with sirens in the background.
Suddenly, he wakes up on a bunch of leaves and some grass, with rays of sun on his face. Still not comprehending what has happened, he looks around to see many tall trees with lots of leaves on them. He then feels a different type of clothing on his body, he sees himself wearing a red and black Hanfu. (I believe a Hanfu is the things people wear in wuxia or murim please tell me what the name is of what they wear.) When he tries to look around he notices his long hair going all the way down to his upper back. Upon noticing all of these details, he begins to check if he still has his manhood.
"Oh... thank god, I'm still a man." He redirects his attention back to his surroundings. "So where am I? By the looks of it it seems like I'm in a different universe?" He begins to remember the life he's lived giving him a irritated expression on his face. "AGH! Whatever, I just need to be better then last time, this time I will try to actually do something with my life."
And then out of nowhere a blue square appears right in front of him, not bounded by gravity or the laws of physics.
[Initializing...]
After looking in confusion for a little bit, a light begins to pop up in his head, causing him to grin a little bit at the realization of what has just appeared right in front him.
"My god, haha... is that a fucking system!? Please let it be a system and not just me being crazy." At those words the blue square begins to show numbers indicating the percentage of something.
[Initializing... 4% 7% 13% 25% 43% 77% 99%]
"What the hell, I'm not hallucinating? It really is a system!"
[Initializing... 100% Congratulations, Thank You For Playing Our Game!"
"Keugh... is this.. how I leave this world?"
Melvin was dying. he held his hand to his mouth as he coughed and pulled his cupped hand away to look at it. The odd mix of blood and mucus actually distracted him from the sucking chest wound for a few seconds. For just a moment, he forgot there was a small bullet hole in his back and the frickin Holand Tunnel out the front.
He fell to his knees, not quite sure who shot him in the back. Given the time of day, it was most likely anyone who knew his schedule. That meant this assassination was a betrayal, "Oh well, whatever all I can do now is hope."
The funny thing was, he had just realized he was doing things wrong. His whole life he'd be a bastard. He'd only thought about number one. He justified it with how life had treated him. His father was a working stiff who never got anywhere. Mom always bitched at dad and only thought about how much happier she could have been if she had only married Jack back in college.
Melvin spent most of his childhood getting the crap beat out of him, so as soon as he had his chance to get ahead, he took it. He had learned nobody cares, so he cared about no one. He was a very good liar and got ahead by backstabbing, betraying, and never ever showing mercy.
One day, that changed.
He realized everything he did was to get back at the people who beat the crap out of him. Everyone he hurt, was just an attempt to make things "right" to make things fair. But one day he realized something. He was just evil.
It started small. he couldn't do his job. He couldn't focus. he started trying to stop, get out. Nothing made him happy anymore so he just stopped doing drugs, stopped having sex, and stopped doing everything. He finally made up his mind. He was going to quit.
Unfortunately, his partners figured it out first.
Now he was face first on the sidewalk, people screaming, people running. He doubted anyone would catch the bastard who killed him, nor would anyone care. He just stared at the growing pool of blood under himself as he thought, ~Honestly, I really was going to try and fix things.~ He closed his eyes, ~Ah well, at least there's a special place in Hell for someone like me.~
Now, compare these two What is the QUESTION?
The original: What is this guy going to do?
My Rewrite: Is this guy going to make good on turning over a new leaf?
Which question is more compelling? Which one is more likely to get you to read to the end of the book to find out?
People like a question that goes somewhere and isn't open-ended. Keep that in mind.
2. Run it through a simple spell checker like Word.
3. Go to ChatGPT and type "Rephrase The Following Paragraph" Take one paragraph of at least 3 sentences and save it in a separate file. Feed that paragraph to ChatGPT. Copy the resulting paragraph to a separate file. Make a hybrid paragraph of the best of both.
4. Repeat step 3 until you have done every paragraph.
5. Turn on Grammerly. Just use the spell-checking feature. Screw the suggestions.
6. Go through your chapter to search for the following words:
Suddenly
Very/really
Started
Just
Somewhat/slightly
Somehow
Seem(s)
Definitely
If you see any of these words, reconsider them. Usually, these words are misused. If someone is speaking, no problem, but outside of the conversation, they usually are a bad sign.
7. If any sections don't feel right use the following at random:
prowritingaid.com/rephrase
sudowrite.com/app
writesonic.com/
But they do not allow unlimited use, so just use these occasionally to get a different perspective on how you phrased something.
8. Put it through Text Edit and turn on the text-to-speech feature. Listen to the chapter and fix it as it reads it out loud to you.
9. Go through and check for words that you keep using over and over. Using the same word too often will stand out. Try to have at least three different ways of referring to any main character. Avoid using the same word more than once in any given paragraph, or at least no more than once a page (pronouns/conjunctions not included, obviously). The English language is incredibly diverse, so the more you force yourself to get creative using alternatives, the more interesting your work is.
10. Turn on Grammerly one last time for spell-checking.
-----------------
START AT THE END.
You need to know what the ending of a plotline is, At least the final gut punch you plan for the reader to have. You can have an epilogue afterward, but you need that final scene in your head at least. Just writing because "I have a cool idea." Doesn't work. You need to know the ending.
Most books are three acts.
You need a plot that starts then finishes in Act/Act, in order of importance:
1/3
1/1
3/3
2/2
1/2
2/3
What I mean is you introduce a plot in Act 1, then it ends in Act 3, followed by Act 1 ends in Act 1.
The overall plot, that goes from plot 1 to plot 3 is the most important, but 1/1 is the second most important because it KEEPS THE READER READING.
That means, before you start the story, you need to have 6 endings. I don't care how much you write it out, but you need 6 plots and 6 plot endings. ANYTHING ELSE IS BOTH UNNEEDED AND DANGEROUS. You also need to know how the plot STARTS. So you need 6 beginnings and 6 endings. However, if you work those out ahead of time, everything else is just filler to get the story to move from one key scene to the next.
For example:
1/3: Joe is summoned and he has to defeat the demon lord
1/1: Joe is dropped into a strange situation and needs to adjust.
3/3: Joe will have a setback he needs to overcome
2/2: Joe will go on a training montage.
1/2: Joe will encounter the miniboss and have to overcome them.
2/3: Joe will have a romance subplot where he meets a girl and they fall in love by the end.
So three things begin in the first act, 2 starts in the second, 1 in the last.
There is one conclusion in the first, 2 in the second, then 3 in the ending
(and if you do it well, it all comes together in one scene.)
It's simple, it's formulaic, IT WORKS.
If you do this, you won't "write in the wrong direction" because you know where the ending is. Once you work out those 6 starts and 6 ends, everything else in the book is just connective tissue.
--------------------
If you are having problems making a character Here's my cheat sheet
Name
Race
Apparent Age
Actual Age
Sex
Gender
Height
Weight
Eye Color
Hair Color
Parents (How many, Sex, general Relations)
Place of birth
Current mental Age group: (Childhood/teen Age/Young Adult/Older Adult/Elder)
Where PC/NPC spent their (Childhood/teen Age/Young Adult/Older Adult/Elder)
Note Worthy Events of (Childhood/teen Age/Young Adult/Older Adult/Elder)
Current Socio-Economic Standing (Poor/Lower Class/Middle Class/Upper Class/SuperRich)
Nobody lives in a vacuum. However, everyone rhymes. get in your head the above groups and some stereotypical traits for each.
A guy whose morality is Objective 1, Subjective 1, Social 5, Outcome 1 is the kind of guy who believes in "Good" Outside himself and seeks to internalize it. he thinks society is corrupt, and willing to commit crimes if the outcome is positive.
ie Batman.
Charisma is personality, Manipulation is how controlling you can be, and appearance is how you look.
So your typical otome Villainess is a Chr 1, Manip 4, App 4.
When you get good at it, you can "shorthand" a character with ease
--------------------------
How to self-motivate:
Tell yourself, "NO ONE LOVES YOU! YOU ARE A WASTE OF SKIN! YOU ARE ONLY WORTH SOMETHING WHEN YOU DO SOMETHING! IF YOU AREN'T DOING SOMETHING, WHAT GOOD ARE YOU? EVERY MOMENT YOU WASTE NOT DOING SOMETHING PRODUCTIVE, A BABY KITTEN DIES! IF YOU ONLY TRIED HARDER, THERE WOULD BE LESS DEAD LOVED ONES IN YOUR LIFE! EVERYONE YOU EVER LOVED THAT DIED IS YOUR FAULT BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T WORK HARD ENOUGH!"
Then I get back to writing.
---------------------------
On units of measurement:
If you wanna use metrics in your story, go ahead. It's your story
But I always use "We put a flag on the fuckin' moon" units.
--------------------------
On How Much You Write:
Brevity is the soul of wit.
Something pounded into my head was, "WHAT CAN YOU CUT OUT OF YOUR STORY?"
Every word you include is a fraction of a second to read. Every fraction adds up. Time is the currency of exchange between an author and a reader. I am asking you for time. I am asking you to SPEND TIME ON ME. So, I go through and I pare it down. Carefully and deliberately ask myself, "What Does This Bring To The Story? Is it redundant? Have I already told this to the reader? Does repeating it serve a purpose? If not, how do I cut it? If it is new, then how can I make it serve a second purpose? Is there a way to have this information have a second meaning? A third meaning? Can I combine it with something else? Will It change when the reader knows the ending and will it be BETTER? Is there a better plot point I can use instead? Can I subvert their expectations and give them something BETTER than they expected and if so, how much can I keep hidden from the reader so they truly can't see it coming, yet will think it was obvious in retrospect?"
Smaller. Tighter. More concentrated. BIG is the enemy. Flowery fluffy filler is a sign of weakness. Hit him hard, let the reader breathe, then hit him again, but short rabbit punches.
I know that quality is what matters, but in the back of my head, I have this Big Is Evil, hang-up. 500k Well Written Words is fine. the 500k isn't the problem.
Except it's a problem.
Part of me wonders, like it or not, is it too much? Then I say, "If it's quality, then it doesn't matter. You can have large quantities of quality. It does happen."
1 concept that people find interesting. I've seen genderbender stories with horrible grammar that get abandoned after 5 chapters, but with a ton of engagement because it has a concept certain readers find interesting.
2 Prose. No matter how good your concept is if you have to google every other word, or if it's so bare bones that the script for a third grade play has more detail than it's gonna be a chore to read.
3 Interconnected plot. Never mention any information that isn't relevant, or won't become relevant later down the line. When you ask the reader to remember something, but don't give them any reason why to remember it, you're asking for trouble.
I've read stories on this site that would be amazing, but failed to connect threads together in obvious ways. Stories where a really fun interesting character is introduced, given a lot of detail, and then never appears again. Don't do that.
I didn't read your work, sorry. Here is a tip; listen to text-to-speech read your writing aloud.
Three things that people care about in storytelling. External Conflict, The obvious problems that happen and need to be solved. Internal Conflict, A problem that a character faces about themself. Character Arcs usually address this. Relationships, not necessarily romantic but are some of the most important things to people.
If you can make all three of these meaningful, then that is a good start.
It's even better if you can summarize the importance of your story into one sentence and use that to help guide some of your decisions.
I don't think this is what you were asking for so I'll stop there.
Tell yourself, "NO ONE LOVES YOU! YOU ARE A WASTE OF SKIN! YOU ARE ONLY WORTH SOMETHING WHEN YOU DO SOMETHING! IF YOU AREN'T DOING SOMETHING, WHAT GOOD ARE YOU? EVERY MOMENT YOU WASTE NOT DOING SOMETHING PRODUCTIVE, A BABY KITTEN DIES! IF YOU ONLY TRIED HARDER, THERE WOULD BE LESS DEAD LOVED ONES IN YOUR LIFE! EVERYONE YOU EVER LOVED THAT DIED IS YOUR FAULT BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T WORK HARD ENOUGH!"
1) The first sentence is what grabs my attention to read the first paragraph.
2) The first paragraph is what sells the first chapter.
3) The first chapter gives me a question that the reader should be curious about and your book should be the only way to answer that question.
I have a pattern.
Single Line at the start of the chapter to be a zinger.
Then I have a little exposition at the start of most chapters.
A paragraph explaining the setup.
Paragraphs are broken up by topic.
Occasionally a one-liner where I hit the reader with a single idea.
I will sometimes put something all by itself after many carriage returns to make it ESPECIALLY stand out.
"When having a conversation I have words inside quotations and get rid of the word 'said' whenever possible." Eldritch had discovered that people are smart enough to figure it out for themselves, "You just need a comma and some quotes to get people to know who is talking. The important part is to start a new chapter whenever the speaking subject changes.
My imagination interrupted, "This would be an example of that." It looked around and wiggled its tendrils, "Actions can be done by anyone and rolled into the paragraph." Eldritch nodded as my Imagination continued, "As long as who is talking inside the quotes remains the same."
"So Expositions should be all at the start of the chapter, with maybe a small wrap-up at the end, but if you get in the habit of having conversations like this, you can group things up in a way that is easier on the reader's eyes. It knows where one speaker ends and another begins. In fact, if you keep up the pattern, you won't even need to point out who is talking, the reader will figure it out by style of speech, or the fact only two people are talking."
Then, finally, I try to have a final zinger line to end the chapter on.
It's cheap psychological manipulation, but it works.
How about an example?
Author Note: This is my first time writing a novel, so bear with me now.
"Keugh... is this.. how I leave this world?" He coughs blood, and after a slight pause he laughs and smiles. "Oh well, whatever all I can do now is hope."
My life was full of stupid shit honestly, I never spent my time well.. if I could I wish I could go to a different world like Murim with some system, man, I should've stopped reading those weird novels, but whatever honestly, in the end, it's the survival of the fittest, even in this so-called "comfortable" world. All I hope now is that I at least don't go to hell, or get reborn, since me going to Heaven is the equivalent of letting a crazy murderer not go to jail while being caught.
"G-goodbye you shitty world." he tries to yell out loud while on the concrete ground, but only to output a barely audible voice with a lot of people looking down at him in worry, with sirens in the background.
Suddenly, he wakes up on a bunch of leaves and some grass, with rays of sun on his face. Still not comprehending what has happened, he looks around to see many tall trees with lots of leaves on them. He then feels a different type of clothing on his body, he sees himself wearing a red and black Hanfu. (I believe a Hanfu is the things people wear in wuxia or murim please tell me what the name is of what they wear.) When he tries to look around he notices his long hair going all the way down to his upper back. Upon noticing all of these details, he begins to check if he still has his manhood.
"Oh... thank god, I'm still a man." He redirects his attention back to his surroundings. "So where am I? By the looks of it it seems like I'm in a different universe?" He begins to remember the life he's lived giving him a irritated expression on his face. "AGH! Whatever, I just need to be better then last time, this time I will try to actually do something with my life."
And then out of nowhere a blue square appears right in front of him, not bounded by gravity or the laws of physics.
[Initializing...]
After looking in confusion for a little bit, a light begins to pop up in his head, causing him to grin a little bit at the realization of what has just appeared right in front him.
"My god, haha... is that a fucking system!? Please let it be a system and not just me being crazy." At those words the blue square begins to show numbers indicating the percentage of something.
[Initializing... 4% 7% 13% 25% 43% 77% 99%]
"What the hell, I'm not hallucinating? It really is a system!"
[Initializing... 100% Congratulations, Thank You For Playing Our Game!"
"Keugh... is this.. how I leave this world?"
Melvin was dying. he held his hand to his mouth as he coughed and pulled his cupped hand away to look at it. The odd mix of blood and mucus actually distracted him from the sucking chest wound for a few seconds. For just a moment, he forgot there was a small bullet hole in his back and the frickin Holand Tunnel out the front.
He fell to his knees, not quite sure who shot him in the back. Given the time of day, it was most likely anyone who knew his schedule. That meant this assassination was a betrayal, "Oh well, whatever all I can do now is hope."
The funny thing was, he had just realized he was doing things wrong. His whole life he'd be a bastard. He'd only thought about number one. He justified it with how life had treated him. His father was a working stiff who never got anywhere. Mom always bitched at dad and only thought about how much happier she could have been if she had only married Jack back in college.
Melvin spent most of his childhood getting the crap beat out of him, so as soon as he had his chance to get ahead, he took it. He had learned nobody cares, so he cared about no one. He was a very good liar and got ahead by backstabbing, betraying, and never ever showing mercy.
One day, that changed.
He realized everything he did was to get back at the people who beat the crap out of him. Everyone he hurt, was just an attempt to make things "right" to make things fair. But one day he realized something. He was just evil.
It started small. he couldn't do his job. He couldn't focus. he started trying to stop, get out. Nothing made him happy anymore so he just stopped doing drugs, stopped having sex, and stopped doing everything. He finally made up his mind. He was going to quit.
Unfortunately, his partners figured it out first.
Now he was face first on the sidewalk, people screaming, people running. He doubted anyone would catch the bastard who killed him, nor would anyone care. He just stared at the growing pool of blood under himself as he thought, ~Honestly, I really was going to try and fix things.~ He closed his eyes, ~Ah well, at least there's a special place in Hell for someone like me.~
Now, compare these two What is the QUESTION?
The original: What is this guy going to do?
My Rewrite: Is this guy going to make good on turning over a new leaf?
Which question is more compelling? Which one is more likely to get you to read to the end of the book to find out?
People like a question that goes somewhere and isn't open-ended. Keep that in mind.
2. Run it through a simple spell checker like Word.
3. Go to ChatGPT and type "Rephrase The Following Paragraph" Take one paragraph of at least 3 sentences and save it in a separate file. Feed that paragraph to ChatGPT. Copy the resulting paragraph to a separate file. Make a hybrid paragraph of the best of both.
4. Repeat step 3 until you have done every paragraph.
5. Turn on Grammerly. Just use the spell-checking feature. Screw the suggestions.
6. Go through your chapter to search for the following words:
Suddenly
Very/really
Started
Just
Somewhat/slightly
Somehow
Seem(s)
Definitely
If you see any of these words, reconsider them. Usually, these words are misused. If someone is speaking, no problem, but outside of the conversation, they usually are a bad sign.
7. If any sections don't feel right use the following at random:
prowritingaid.com/rephrase
sudowrite.com/app
writesonic.com/
But they do not allow unlimited use, so just use these occasionally to get a different perspective on how you phrased something.
8. Put it through Text Edit and turn on the text-to-speech feature. Listen to the chapter and fix it as it reads it out loud to you.
9. Go through and check for words that you keep using over and over. Using the same word too often will stand out. Try to have at least three different ways of referring to any main character. Avoid using the same word more than once in any given paragraph, or at least no more than once a page (pronouns/conjunctions not included, obviously). The English language is incredibly diverse, so the more you force yourself to get creative using alternatives, the more interesting your work is.
10. Turn on Grammerly one last time for spell-checking.
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START AT THE END.
You need to know what the ending of a plotline is, At least the final gut punch you plan for the reader to have. You can have an epilogue afterward, but you need that final scene in your head at least. Just writing because "I have a cool idea." Doesn't work. You need to know the ending.
Most books are three acts.
You need a plot that starts then finishes in Act/Act, in order of importance:
1/3
1/1
3/3
2/2
1/2
2/3
What I mean is you introduce a plot in Act 1, then it ends in Act 3, followed by Act 1 ends in Act 1.
The overall plot, that goes from plot 1 to plot 3 is the most important, but 1/1 is the second most important because it KEEPS THE READER READING.
That means, before you start the story, you need to have 6 endings. I don't care how much you write it out, but you need 6 plots and 6 plot endings. ANYTHING ELSE IS BOTH UNNEEDED AND DANGEROUS. You also need to know how the plot STARTS. So you need 6 beginnings and 6 endings. However, if you work those out ahead of time, everything else is just filler to get the story to move from one key scene to the next.
For example:
1/3: Joe is summoned and he has to defeat the demon lord
1/1: Joe is dropped into a strange situation and needs to adjust.
3/3: Joe will have a setback he needs to overcome
2/2: Joe will go on a training montage.
1/2: Joe will encounter the miniboss and have to overcome them.
2/3: Joe will have a romance subplot where he meets a girl and they fall in love by the end.
So three things begin in the first act, 2 starts in the second, 1 in the last.
There is one conclusion in the first, 2 in the second, then 3 in the ending
(and if you do it well, it all comes together in one scene.)
It's simple, it's formulaic, IT WORKS.
If you do this, you won't "write in the wrong direction" because you know where the ending is. Once you work out those 6 starts and 6 ends, everything else in the book is just connective tissue.
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If you are having problems making a character Here's my cheat sheet
Name
Race
Apparent Age
Actual Age
Sex
Gender
Height
Weight
Eye Color
Hair Color
Parents (How many, Sex, general Relations)
Place of birth
Current mental Age group: (Childhood/teen Age/Young Adult/Older Adult/Elder)
Where PC/NPC spent their (Childhood/teen Age/Young Adult/Older Adult/Elder)
Note Worthy Events of (Childhood/teen Age/Young Adult/Older Adult/Elder)
Current Socio-Economic Standing (Poor/Lower Class/Middle Class/Upper Class/SuperRich)
Nobody lives in a vacuum. However, everyone rhymes. get in your head the above groups and some stereotypical traits for each.
A guy whose morality is Objective 1, Subjective 1, Social 5, Outcome 1 is the kind of guy who believes in "Good" Outside himself and seeks to internalize it. he thinks society is corrupt, and willing to commit crimes if the outcome is positive.
ie Batman.
Charisma is personality, Manipulation is how controlling you can be, and appearance is how you look.
So your typical otome Villainess is a Chr 1, Manip 4, App 4.
When you get good at it, you can "shorthand" a character with ease
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How to self-motivate:
Tell yourself, "NO ONE LOVES YOU! YOU ARE A WASTE OF SKIN! YOU ARE ONLY WORTH SOMETHING WHEN YOU DO SOMETHING! IF YOU AREN'T DOING SOMETHING, WHAT GOOD ARE YOU? EVERY MOMENT YOU WASTE NOT DOING SOMETHING PRODUCTIVE, A BABY KITTEN DIES! IF YOU ONLY TRIED HARDER, THERE WOULD BE LESS DEAD LOVED ONES IN YOUR LIFE! EVERYONE YOU EVER LOVED THAT DIED IS YOUR FAULT BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T WORK HARD ENOUGH!"
Then I get back to writing.
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On units of measurement:
If you wanna use metrics in your story, go ahead. It's your story
But I always use "We put a flag on the fuckin' moon" units.
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On How Much You Write:
Brevity is the soul of wit.
Something pounded into my head was, "WHAT CAN YOU CUT OUT OF YOUR STORY?"
Every word you include is a fraction of a second to read. Every fraction adds up. Time is the currency of exchange between an author and a reader. I am asking you for time. I am asking you to SPEND TIME ON ME. So, I go through and I pare it down. Carefully and deliberately ask myself, "What Does This Bring To The Story? Is it redundant? Have I already told this to the reader? Does repeating it serve a purpose? If not, how do I cut it? If it is new, then how can I make it serve a second purpose? Is there a way to have this information have a second meaning? A third meaning? Can I combine it with something else? Will It change when the reader knows the ending and will it be BETTER? Is there a better plot point I can use instead? Can I subvert their expectations and give them something BETTER than they expected and if so, how much can I keep hidden from the reader so they truly can't see it coming, yet will think it was obvious in retrospect?"
Smaller. Tighter. More concentrated. BIG is the enemy. Flowery fluffy filler is a sign of weakness. Hit him hard, let the reader breathe, then hit him again, but short rabbit punches.
I know that quality is what matters, but in the back of my head, I have this Big Is Evil, hang-up. 500k Well Written Words is fine. the 500k isn't the problem.
Except it's a problem.
Part of me wonders, like it or not, is it too much? Then I say, "If it's quality, then it doesn't matter. You can have large quantities of quality. It does happen."
Then I say, "No it doesn't. You arrogant FOOL!"
Have fun.
Writers do not chill out.
Calm waters do not a skilled sailor make.
Honestly, I feel like I shouldn't be asking a question like this as, we've all basically watched/red absolutely GOATED pieces of fiction and non-fiction, but I'm asking here mainly because I feel like most of the guides on Youtube are kind of like.. vague to me if you get it, since I'm currently writing a Murim novel, it is my first one, so I could definitely see some people say "Just write, and focus on making your other novels better from the experience you get from this one."/"It's your first novel, don't expect it to be good," something like that, but I wanna make my first novel like readable at least, since I like the way I'm planning on making my mc.
If you have time, please just read at least like 1 or 2 chapters of my novel, and then give me some tips about some stupid or wasteful things I'm doing.
Yeah, people who are vague or give incompetent, generic ass advice are the worst. If only there was someone who gave incredibly specific and detailed advice on topics, including explanations for why and examples around...
Anyway, I looked at your first chapter. I could dissect a lot, but I'm just going to start with this.
Well, you can’t! Or at least, kind of. Interest is relative. What interests you won’t necessarily be the same as someone else, and there are tons of other factors that can play in. For example, is the story the first of that genre for the reader? That will change people‘s views greatly.
Anyways, I don’t have any advice advice. I just write for fun so I don’t really care,
So. Writing an interesting story is extremely difficult. But first you have to decide what you want to tell. What is the main theme of your series. If it's fantasy, what does it bring new to the genre? Everyday? Then who exactly is the story about?
Basically, you don't necessarily want to create a great story. The main thing is that in the end you like it. And the rest is not very important
