Nowadays, people become authors just because...

[AncestorDuck]

This is just a small observation of mine. The majority of "newbies" have no story to tell. They write just because they feel like it. This is a wrong approach and also the reason why LLMs are so popular. There is no passion behind it, but a false pretense masking greed.

In 2025, webnovels have become an easy source of high income. Look at the Blue App. Those AI-slop writers earn 3,000-5,000 USD per month. That's crazy. It's not about telling your fantasies or writing down your thoughts anymore; rather, it's about making it as profitable as possible. Currently, this means having as many chapters as possible.

Any options?

 

[dukerino]

People have cranked slop out for profit for centuries. Long before LLMs came onto the scene there were entire forests chopped down to provide the paper for all the bare-chested bodice rippers, airport stand thrillers, formulaic self-help books, and ghostwritten c-lister memoirs. There have always been people writing strictly for profit. System LitRPG harems set in Harry Potter but everyone's a nympho is just the latest iteration.

It's easier to do it now thanks to LLMs and the growing ease of self-publishing, but harder to get anywhere with it thanks to sheer volume. Just keep writing your stuff and if it's good you'll find your audience.

 

[Representing_Tromba]

I disagree with most of what you said but don't have the desire, energy, nor time to explain.

 

[Danja]

I don't like writing with AI.

I tried writing a screenplay with AI. It didn't sound like anyone I knew (it also relied too heavily on narrators and voiceovers).

 

[RepresentingWrath]

You are biased because you don't see full picture. All the 'newbies with actual stories to tell' stop writing once they notice that "write something you love and someone will read it" doesn't work, and they sit with 0 readers. Obviously only those who, at least empirically, know what target audience is, and why it is important, survive.

 

[Tempokai]

Persuasion is survival when the creation is dirt cheap. I'll say it again not because it's catchy, but because it's what works. For every one dude who earns 5K$ a month there are five thousand people who don't.

Sure, you can create. You can create easily. But does that make people read? Most of the times, no. Only those who are persuasive, have credibility, can manipulate emotions ethically, and have outstanding context and articulation in their creation will be seen, not yet another AI slop #421824.

 

[AncestorDuck]

You are biased because you don't see full picture. All the 'newbies with actual stories to tell' stop writing once they notice that "write something you love and someone will read it" doesn't work, and they sit with 0 readers. Obviously only those who, at least empirically, know what target audience is, and why it is important, survive.

Yes, this is right. Its just that it got way easier than back then. 4 years ago, you needed atleast to make a little effort to write and research for your source.

 

[Deleted member 84247]

Persuasion is survival when the creation is dirt cheap. I'll say it again not because it's catchy, but because it's what works. For every one dude who earns 5K$ a month there are five thousand people who don't.

Sure, you can create. You can create easily. But does that make people read? Most of the times, no. Only those who are persuasive, have credibility, can manipulate emotions ethically, and have outstanding context and articulation in their creation will be seen, not yet another AI slop #421824.

Yes. Oftentimes when I see these posts, I look at my own ability to create and draw in an audience. I produce no AI slop, yet I can make chapters and sell them. There were compromises made, but I never compromised on my own genres and stories I wanted to write. Even in the story I write to make money, it is still something that I don't mind writing. The only difference is it's also catering towards the readers who are looking for it. I basically found what the readers wanted where they are at, and I delivered them an experience we both enjoy.

I think people give up too easily. I never earned a dime for years while writing. I simply kept an open mind, allowed feedback to seep into my brain, filtered everything through the En-Chan lens, and I am able to do what I like. A small side note for people who think it's lucky or whatever, yes I am lucky I had a passive income all that time. I could write for learning purposes without being afraid of my well-being. As can those with a job and free time do the same.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Yes, this is right. Its just that it got way easier than back then. 4 years ago, you needed atleast to make a little effort to write and research for your source.

I completely disagree because 4 years ago is when I started uploading. It wasn't better at all, and the fact I got popular with my work is a solid proof. Maybe 10 years ago it was better, I don't know, certainly not 4 years ago.

 

[AncestorDuck]

I completely disagree because 4 years ago is when I started uploading. It wasn't better at all, and the fact I got popular with my work is a solid proof. Maybe 10 years ago it was better, I don't know, certainly not 4 years ago.

I just used a radom timeframe which seemed reasonable. Make it 10 years then.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

People become WRITERS 'just because' - people become AUTHORS' because they have a story to tell. There IS a difference.

 

[PancakesWitch]

are you talking about webnovel or other app? they dont let AI-generated novels get contracts, they get suspended.
about the slop, you're not wrong in some aspects, they are indeed mass-generated and with little "soul" to them, this is also the reason why these slop writers can easily just drop their novels once they see they earn less than before
but that doesnt mean they shouldnt be allowed to do whatever they want, people can express themselves even more than ever before, and calling it a bad thing is just a terrible view over creative freedom and the human spirit in general
just because you're jealous there's people you see as "lesser" earning more money than you could ever be doesnt make them any less authors than you or even proffesionals
you're just a retard honestly

 

[AncestorDuck]

People become WRITERS 'just because' - people become AUTHORS' because they have a story to tell. There IS a difference.

And this would be?

 

[RepresentingWrath]

I just used a radom timeframe which seemed reasonable. Make it 10 years then.

This means it didn't happen in 2025. ?‍

 

[AncestorDuck]

are you talking about webnovel or other app? they dont let AI-generated novels get contracts, they get suspended.
about the slop, you're not wrong in some aspects, they are indeed mass-generated and with little "soul" to them, this is also the reason why these slop writers can easily just drop their novels once they see they earn less than before
but that doesnt mean they shouldnt be allowed to do whatever they want, people can express themselves even more than ever before, and calling it a bad thing is just a terrible view over creative freedom and the human spirit in general
just because you're jealous there's people you see as "lesser" earning more money than you could ever be doesnt make them any less authors than you or even proffesionals
you're just a retard honestly

Seems like someone was triggered by this? Maybe because you're famous for being the ancestor of slop-producing novels where the chapters are filled with system messages way before AI started? And jealous? Me? I haven't uploaded anything for a very long time. I currently don't even see myself as an author.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

And this would be?

Writers write. They may write ad copy, they may write slop, they may write translations, they may just write out parking tickets. They engage in the act of writing.

Authors are a specific subset of writers - writers who create or report (on the reporting side, they may be journalists, they may be "chronicling the worlds that only they see" or they may be biographers), and strive to tell a story, rather than "merely" writing.

 

[MasterY001]

Fight, fight, fight! Give in to your hate! Scream your rage into the void of the internet!

And once you finish, remember everyone has to start somewhere. While some people like me can churn out new ideas in seconds with enough coffee, others need to to rely on things like AI to see their vision. Doesn't matter how crappy their vision actually is.

Also, if you really want money, there are many more reliable and profitable side hustles than web novels. I always recommend day-trading for people who don't have the money or time for crypto. I should get back into it tbh...

Most importantly, remember that selling out is a choice you can make. Limitations have always been a part of being creative, that's what it means to make a work of art. Michaelangelo didn't have an undo button for the Sistine Chapel. Van Gogh didn't have Photoshop so he cut off his fucking ear!

Just do what you feel is best. Self-righteous Renaissance cat, out!

 

[Deleted member 192215]

I'll be honest here. AI is just sh*t at creating stories, maybe all of them, except for coding computers and stuff (lonely rp, text games, etc).

I tried to make a story once with AI in the pass, trying to put it the exact way of my imagination. It just kept re-writing my writing with fancy words, and didn't hope what I imagine to be. So... I decided to quit it, because its 4 s s.

 

[Hans.Trondheim]

You are biased because you don't see full picture. All the 'newbies with actual stories to tell' stop writing once they notice that "write something you love and someone will read it" doesn't work, and they sit with 0 readers. Obviously only those who, at least empirically, know what target audience is, and why it is important, survive.

???

I have a story to tell. But it is often buried by my strange English (which makes native English-speakers/writers cringe), long chapters, my overall writing style (trash, garbage, shit, whatever), and genres (harem and isekai).

Being an introvert, and have no marketing skills didn't help. Add to that, the fear of receiving harsh and stupid comments (harsh and stupid, yes, coz I can take the harsh and useful ones, like that one where I receive low ratings coz he can't take bullying as he had been bullied before), and the urge to just drop everything and move on is there.

Of course, not everyone has the same writing motives as me, which is originally, just to tell a story. Many want to eventually monetize content, but often get buried as well because readers nowadays have 'rigid standards' they wanted to see in the works they read (for example, a harem novel needs to have tons of sex, and the disdain for character growth coz yeah, they want everything bulldozed with unlimited cheat powers).

 

[laccoff_mawning]

I would agree. But I don't think this phenomenon is anything particularly new. I'd expect it to be almost as old as webnovels itself. Isn't the simplest example of this just the "trash-isekai" genre? We all know the types I'm talking about- the ones we could all play bingo with on events that happen in the stories.

I don't think most people are willing to stop and put the time or effort into thinking what makes a story good, or why they love the tropes they do. Instead, they want to plow on and mix their favorite ingredients together into a literary hotpot, without considering the affects each trope has on the others.

But all this is just a consequence of writing being essentially cost-free to put online.