Things I've learned so far.

[Context5812]

• Dan Harmon's Story Circle
• "How to write a damn good novel" by James Frey
• Scaffold your story in an outline - even if you don't follow it to strictly.
• Try to tell your story in 30 average sized chapters of around 3000 words.
• Inhabit your characters in the scene - their choices and behavior has to make sense.
• Avoid as many breaks as you can in a chapter - leaving a single sentence alone means that its super important. Like imagine the moment Brutus stabs Ceasar
• All your expository material could be turned into dialogue between your characters.
• Paint enough of the scene so your readers can imagine it in their minds. You may know what's going on in the scene, but you need enough description so your reader can imagine the set that the characters are playing in.
  • He's drinking tea
  • He's in a tea shop
  • He's looking out of the window to see the hustle and bustle of city traffic
  • A furious woman is sitting across from him.
  • An opened envelope lies on the table between them
  • Don't go too much into detail that your readers get bored
• Proof read your chapters only after you've written five chapters ahead.
• Write the stories you'd want to read

 

[CharlesEBrown]

That is solid advice for writing a traditional novel - the word count is high and chapter count low for a webnovel though.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

 

[Ruti]

You forgot the most important thing, which apparently is not common sense: NO WORD WALLS IF ITS NOT A CHARACTER ON A LONG RANT

 

[Madmcgee]

The danger with exposition within a conversation is that it's still exposition. Sure, putting it in a convo elevates it and makes it palatable, but it can and will sound like an info dump if it's bulky or without interesting context.

I'll also poke fun at only proofreading after 5 chapters.

Maybe its just me, but when I'm really hauling ass while writing, I can easily mix up eyecolors and names, etc, if I'm not going back after the chapter to actually read whatever the f**k I wrote

 

[Ruti]

The danger with exposition within a conversation is that it's still exposition. Sure, putting it in a convo elevates it and makes it palatable, but it can and will sound like an info dump if it's bulky or without interesting context.

and don't forget that you shouldn't spend 120 chapters on a side story (looking at you, 4 cut hero)

 

[Context5812]

The danger with exposition within a conversation is that it's still exposition. Sure, putting it in a convo elevates it and makes it palatable, but it can and will sound like an info dump if it's bulky or without interesting context.

I'll also poke fun at only proofreading after 5 chapters.

Maybe its just me, but when I'm really hauling ass while writing, I can easily mix up eyecolors and names, etc, if I'm not going back after the chapter to actually read whatever the f**k I wrote

1) You're exactly correct. We shouldn't turn our characters into wikipedia readers. That's what I was trying to go for. Interesting good dialogue that paints the world.

2) Each character that's important gets a descriptive blurb in my notes that I refer back to.

 

[SurfAngel_1031]

• Dan Harmon's Story Circle
• "How to write a damn good novel" by James Frey
• Scaffold your story in an outline - even if you don't follow it to strictly.
• Try to tell your story in 30 average sized chapters of around 3000 words.
• Inhabit your characters in the scene - their choices and behavior has to make sense.
• Avoid as many breaks as you can in a chapter - leaving a single sentence alone means that its super important. Like imagine the moment Brutus stabs Ceasar
• All your expository material could be turned into dialogue between your characters.
• Paint enough of the scene so your readers can imagine it in their minds. You may know what's going on in the scene, but you need enough description so your reader can imagine the set that the characters are playing in.
  • He's drinking tea
  • He's in a tea shop
  • He's looking out of the window to see the hustle and bustle of city traffic
  • A furious woman is sitting across from him.
  • An opened envelope lies on the table between them
  • Don't go too much into detail that your readers get bored
• Proof read your chapters only after you've written five chapters ahead.
• Write the stories you'd want to read

My chapters are between 7-9k each, so I never get five chapters ahead.
I have my editing team read it section by section as I am doing it, and they catch most errors before the final edit.
Which brings me do my point of the reply :)
If I were you, I would find a friend that loves reading your things to read what you have and help you edit. A fresh set of eyes is always a good thing in the context of what we are doing.

 

[Ruti]

1) You're exactly correct. We shouldn't turn our characters into wikipedia readers. That's what I was trying to go for. Interesting good dialogue that paints the world.

and if you need exposition badly? Just write it out, have a character speak it, and then have the MC just zone out. and have the full exposition cut off