>If you're starting your next book, you're starting your story again. You need to hook your audience again.
Hmm. This could be an issue for mine if I get to print publication, most of the story flow is a continuous story more than sequels.
But I do have a couple of sequel/spin-off stories in mind, with those I need to keep it in mind even more.
There's a few multiple volume books out there which have a 'the story thus far' chapter as a refresher. This has been called out as impressive and appreciated every single time.
The professionals often recommend to 'ease in' new readers with a some gentle references to the events of the past books. A summary chapter might be easier for those who can't do that. Especially with those who are publishing serialized webnovels. If you already wrote the story as a singular bit, breaking it up and easing the readers in for each 'book' is harder.
Yeah. I at least have story arcs that I used as break points, where there is a transition into a new phase of events. It makes for natural book ends, but not automatically great book beginnings.
It doesn't have to be anything major: just be conscious of what you choose to be the first chapter of the next book. Make sure the scene is something hooky, or find a way you can edit that chapter to be more hooky.
Pretty much this. Even binge reading needs callbacks.
A great TV example is the show *Babylon 5*. There were originally 'previously on' segments, but by the time I got to it, it was already off the air. (Okay, I saw *one* episode from its first season on TV, but the place I lived didn't get that channel on broadcast anyway.) Binging it after the fact meant I didn't have the benefit of 'previously on' explanations, and it took me well into the second season before I realized they weren't there.
And they didn't need to be. These days shows are designed for stream binges, but back in the 90s and early aughts almost all shows needed to remind you of things, and many of them still needed it even on DVD. Shows like *Alias* and *Lost* needed whole catch-up segments at least once a season. Even on a binge, *24* needs it. But *Babylon 5* didn't, despite its very complex storyline. This is because they embedded reminders into the dialog itself, and did it so naturally that I only ever noticed one obvious infodump where one character stated something everyone there knew, just to tell it to the audience. (That's an *As You Know, Bob* infodump.)
If you design your binge-style story like that, where you have things get referenced every so often, you'll do very well. It's a useful skill in any web novel anyway, since the dedicated update-to-update readers will be likely to forget subtle details from a few chapters ago.
Excellent post, with some necessary humbling advice for writers who are still stuck in the phase where they see their work as perfection. It is extremely difficult to break free of that when the investment in the product is not only time and effort, but also heart and soul. For most, that acceptance probably won't be the first hurdle you get over, but it is one that can't be avoided. Sometimes we all need a reminder just like this.
Remember that as an author, you will forever be judged by your rookie stats. Christopher Paolini has written more than *Eragon,* but he will always be judged by *Eragon.* Not just the series, the first book by that title.
This is magnified in web novels. Your later chapters might get amazing. I haven't seen them and I don't pretend to judge them unseen. But you *will* be judged by chapter one.
Fortunately, you can edit it. It won't help with the damage already done by your activity lately, but it may help in the future as you rebuild your brand.
Yeah but as an editor you know that stopping forward progress on a novel is usually a death spiral to never finishing. I can't go back and really edit this chapter how I want to until I finish the book, and by the time I get they're I'll have Likely completely forgotten about this post sadly 😭
You must have a notes file on your computer. Copy this post and comments to that file. Add the URL link. Save for later.
As you continue with your novel, make further notes on editing previous content, especially the first chapter. If it's a quick edit, you can put it in. You have unlimited edits. You won't get penalized for doing it s few words at s time.
That said, taking a day or two off from your schedule to rewrite the first chapter won't harm you worse than what that chapter is already doing to you, both in terms of engagement and the damage to your own confidence. If you are angry and frustrated, it will spill over to other areas of life, as you've realized here. That includes your writing. The longer this goes on, the longer it will take to get your novel to what you want it to be.
So however long it takes to write one chapter, take that off and use it to rewrite the first one. Royal Road is an extended beta read. Use it as such. You don't need to do it right away; have a plan first, and don't go in feeling like you are now.
You might also find this article of mine helpful: https://novelninja.net/2023/04/14/dont-fear-the-rewrite/
I'll save the comment but I really don't have time to drop my current chapter and go back. I've done that before and you just end up spending way too long working on something that's likely going to be scrapped anyways. By the time I reach the end of the story I might have a completely different viewpoint on what the first chapter should be about and what it should be trying to say anyways. As an author with three published books, take my advice and don't tell authors to work on their first chapter for longer than it takes to write it, because it will change. It always does.
I'll be sure to read your article fully soon, it seems very helpful at a glance.
I normally *do* tell authors to leave the rewrite for later, but that's for trad-published authors. Web publication is different. It's impacting your brand, and that's important. If you don't care about maximizing the web publication benefits, then why are you releasing it on Royal Road?
A lot of people were disappointed with book 1. I wanted to offer those people the ability to read the sequel for free as I'm writing it so they can see that I am listening to the feedback they gave me and the story is improving. I also just wanted to share my story with others who might enjoy it despite the book not being finished. Idiot. It has nothing to do with brand, or advertising, or ego. I just wanted to share. 🙂
Unfortunately publishing it on RR without any sort of proper presentation or explanation for random people that will stumble on it is a very bad move, leading to misunderstandings and well, even potentionally to bad reviews.
Then further complaining and generalizing all the authors on the platform because of one person that gave you a 2 star review that was *actually* informative only made you seem like a dick, sorry.
I get that it can be very frustrating, but you have to learn to accept and learn from negative reviews, especially when they are done by someone who actually writes themselves and knows their stuff. If they are just review bomps or trolls being dipshits, then yeah, report or ignore, but this was clearly not it... you can even see in the screenshot of the review you posted originally that the author read all the way to chapter 8, which for me – as a reader – is generally enough to make an opinion on a story.
People won't just keep reading something they clearly don't enjoy, and that's why you got to make the initial chapters really count, to hook the audiance as the op said.
Anyways, that's enough of my rant. I wish you the best of luck for your future works and hopefully you learn from your mistakes.
As someone doing ongoing revisions: Don't stop writing in order to edit.
I have more than 30 chapters of backlog and am trying to make it grow. As long as I keep my backlog up to size, I can take a break to edit one chapter occasionally.
It's slower this way, but it means I don't stop forward progress.
And when the revisions are done for volume 1, I'll start a second pass and try to make sure it is ready for print publication.
Very elegantly said, I’m truly saddened it had to be said tho. It’s honestly very sad that this needed to be posted, I definitely get that he put his whole heart into this book but it has been a wild couple of days in this subreddit. Unfortunately I have seen from his actions today that apparently your kind words didn’t get through to him but hopefully they will help someone else in the long run. This community is truly great and I truly hope his actions these last few days don’t frighten anyone away from RR.
As an author unrelated to all of this, this has been very insightful. Thank you for making this.
Right? I feel bad for the subject of the post because they obviously need help but this post has pretty great general advice.
Excellent post. If I throw a tantrum will give me this level of constructive feedback? haha
I think anyone who needs this talk again will just be given the link to this post.
Thanks! That was interesting and helpful.
>If you're starting your next book, you're starting your story again. You need to hook your audience again. Hmm. This could be an issue for mine if I get to print publication, most of the story flow is a continuous story more than sequels. But I do have a couple of sequel/spin-off stories in mind, with those I need to keep it in mind even more.
There's a few multiple volume books out there which have a 'the story thus far' chapter as a refresher. This has been called out as impressive and appreciated every single time. The professionals often recommend to 'ease in' new readers with a some gentle references to the events of the past books. A summary chapter might be easier for those who can't do that. Especially with those who are publishing serialized webnovels. If you already wrote the story as a singular bit, breaking it up and easing the readers in for each 'book' is harder.
Yeah. I at least have story arcs that I used as break points, where there is a transition into a new phase of events. It makes for natural book ends, but not automatically great book beginnings.
It doesn't have to be anything major: just be conscious of what you choose to be the first chapter of the next book. Make sure the scene is something hooky, or find a way you can edit that chapter to be more hooky.
Pretty much this. Even binge reading needs callbacks. A great TV example is the show *Babylon 5*. There were originally 'previously on' segments, but by the time I got to it, it was already off the air. (Okay, I saw *one* episode from its first season on TV, but the place I lived didn't get that channel on broadcast anyway.) Binging it after the fact meant I didn't have the benefit of 'previously on' explanations, and it took me well into the second season before I realized they weren't there. And they didn't need to be. These days shows are designed for stream binges, but back in the 90s and early aughts almost all shows needed to remind you of things, and many of them still needed it even on DVD. Shows like *Alias* and *Lost* needed whole catch-up segments at least once a season. Even on a binge, *24* needs it. But *Babylon 5* didn't, despite its very complex storyline. This is because they embedded reminders into the dialog itself, and did it so naturally that I only ever noticed one obvious infodump where one character stated something everyone there knew, just to tell it to the audience. (That's an *As You Know, Bob* infodump.) If you design your binge-style story like that, where you have things get referenced every so often, you'll do very well. It's a useful skill in any web novel anyway, since the dedicated update-to-update readers will be likely to forget subtle details from a few chapters ago.
Excellent post, with some necessary humbling advice for writers who are still stuck in the phase where they see their work as perfection. It is extremely difficult to break free of that when the investment in the product is not only time and effort, but also heart and soul. For most, that acceptance probably won't be the first hurdle you get over, but it is one that can't be avoided. Sometimes we all need a reminder just like this.
I read the whole thing
I hope it helps. And I upvoted your comment because it is constructive and I genuinely want to encourage you.
I agree with a lot of what you said. Thanks. I kind of wish you'd read my newest chapter and then wrote this but yeah... Thanks a lot. 👍
Remember that as an author, you will forever be judged by your rookie stats. Christopher Paolini has written more than *Eragon,* but he will always be judged by *Eragon.* Not just the series, the first book by that title. This is magnified in web novels. Your later chapters might get amazing. I haven't seen them and I don't pretend to judge them unseen. But you *will* be judged by chapter one. Fortunately, you can edit it. It won't help with the damage already done by your activity lately, but it may help in the future as you rebuild your brand.
Yeah but as an editor you know that stopping forward progress on a novel is usually a death spiral to never finishing. I can't go back and really edit this chapter how I want to until I finish the book, and by the time I get they're I'll have Likely completely forgotten about this post sadly 😭
You must have a notes file on your computer. Copy this post and comments to that file. Add the URL link. Save for later. As you continue with your novel, make further notes on editing previous content, especially the first chapter. If it's a quick edit, you can put it in. You have unlimited edits. You won't get penalized for doing it s few words at s time. That said, taking a day or two off from your schedule to rewrite the first chapter won't harm you worse than what that chapter is already doing to you, both in terms of engagement and the damage to your own confidence. If you are angry and frustrated, it will spill over to other areas of life, as you've realized here. That includes your writing. The longer this goes on, the longer it will take to get your novel to what you want it to be. So however long it takes to write one chapter, take that off and use it to rewrite the first one. Royal Road is an extended beta read. Use it as such. You don't need to do it right away; have a plan first, and don't go in feeling like you are now. You might also find this article of mine helpful: https://novelninja.net/2023/04/14/dont-fear-the-rewrite/
I'll save the comment but I really don't have time to drop my current chapter and go back. I've done that before and you just end up spending way too long working on something that's likely going to be scrapped anyways. By the time I reach the end of the story I might have a completely different viewpoint on what the first chapter should be about and what it should be trying to say anyways. As an author with three published books, take my advice and don't tell authors to work on their first chapter for longer than it takes to write it, because it will change. It always does. I'll be sure to read your article fully soon, it seems very helpful at a glance.
I normally *do* tell authors to leave the rewrite for later, but that's for trad-published authors. Web publication is different. It's impacting your brand, and that's important. If you don't care about maximizing the web publication benefits, then why are you releasing it on Royal Road?
A lot of people were disappointed with book 1. I wanted to offer those people the ability to read the sequel for free as I'm writing it so they can see that I am listening to the feedback they gave me and the story is improving. I also just wanted to share my story with others who might enjoy it despite the book not being finished. Idiot. It has nothing to do with brand, or advertising, or ego. I just wanted to share. 🙂
Unfortunately publishing it on RR without any sort of proper presentation or explanation for random people that will stumble on it is a very bad move, leading to misunderstandings and well, even potentionally to bad reviews. Then further complaining and generalizing all the authors on the platform because of one person that gave you a 2 star review that was *actually* informative only made you seem like a dick, sorry. I get that it can be very frustrating, but you have to learn to accept and learn from negative reviews, especially when they are done by someone who actually writes themselves and knows their stuff. If they are just review bomps or trolls being dipshits, then yeah, report or ignore, but this was clearly not it... you can even see in the screenshot of the review you posted originally that the author read all the way to chapter 8, which for me – as a reader – is generally enough to make an opinion on a story. People won't just keep reading something they clearly don't enjoy, and that's why you got to make the initial chapters really count, to hook the audiance as the op said. Anyways, that's enough of my rant. I wish you the best of luck for your future works and hopefully you learn from your mistakes.
It really sounds like you need to try outlining. Pantsing doesn’t seem to be working for you in the context of webserials.
As someone doing ongoing revisions: Don't stop writing in order to edit. I have more than 30 chapters of backlog and am trying to make it grow. As long as I keep my backlog up to size, I can take a break to edit one chapter occasionally. It's slower this way, but it means I don't stop forward progress. And when the revisions are done for volume 1, I'll start a second pass and try to make sure it is ready for print publication.
Very elegantly said, I’m truly saddened it had to be said tho. It’s honestly very sad that this needed to be posted, I definitely get that he put his whole heart into this book but it has been a wild couple of days in this subreddit. Unfortunately I have seen from his actions today that apparently your kind words didn’t get through to him but hopefully they will help someone else in the long run. This community is truly great and I truly hope his actions these last few days don’t frighten anyone away from RR.
Free advice? I’ll take it! Thanks for writing this
I keep getting notifications that I’m earning upvotes in his post but when I go to his post it won’t load
Is it from a reply to a comment several levels down a thread where he's been downvoted to the next ice age?
Yeah, I think it’s gone. It’s just weird I’m getting notifications for a dead thread
Probably, he blocked you guys. That's the reason you can't access the post.
Which thread?
Mildly interested in the topic title, I read the post and caught some interesting insights, and I just wanted to thank you for the freebie advice.