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Maybe I'm talking out of my own ass here but you and I write different stories. For me, I value character and themes above plot and happenings. For every devious plan and cunning strategy you make, I do emotional introspections. I do not have the benefit of brevity. You can always go back to making a smart plan, but you only have one shot on eliciting a feeling for a certain scene.

If you want me to make short 2k chapters, I'll be more than capable of doing so. Hell, check out my story Kapal. I can do that just as easy. It's just that for Caninstinct, I don't have that privilege. Every plot point has to be in place and well-built/established or else all falls apart into a hilarious stretch when the big story beats comes.

Is it my fault for choosing to make a story like this that forces my hand to work against the optimal product for web serials? Yes. Will I blame anyone for it (myself included)? No.

But hey, let a man complain about his own choosing every once in a while, eh?

The 420 character limit sucks. Aside from that, it is okay to vent. I am a big friend of unreasonable venting, in fact. It helps.

But just a curious question, did you ever read my writing?

Only some. I usually stick to my own lane in terms of independent content.

Fair enough. Was just curious.

Sure, but all in all, I've seriously taken that "cut your word count" advise from everyone I've ever talked to. This is the shortest I could go. Any less and it'll be an animalistic, bastardized version of The Room.

I looked into your story once again. You are not objectively worse than much of the stuff on this site. You and I know, in the end, it comes down to your premise. What does your story offer me?

The scene is as long as it needs to be. If you indeed pursue quality, don't restrict yourself with constant artificial word count. It ruins the pacing, the consistency, and pretty much the story. My advice for "cut down your word count" is to make every word counts, not to limit the word count.

@Assurbanipal_II in a quick, "monke explains" description: wolf who excels at street fighting gets attacked but doesn't want to fight back, find out why in a series of abstract flashbacks/introspection whilst the story progresses in real time.

The real explanation will take more than 420 characters. Possibly even a giant essay on the condition of animal roles shoehorned into human personalities.

@GDLiZy I know that meme as much as every other author worth their salt in the community. I've long abandoned the objective word limit already and focus solely on cutting the fats and bringing the essentials. But still, in the end, an author still needs an audience, and the tightrope between artistic intent and mainstream appeal is a scary one to traverse.

It's just that my intent tends to lean more towards the former, and less for the latter.

All I can say is, write what you enjoyed, so other people will enjoy it too. Find the right mainstream, for mainstream, or the lack thereof, isn't the indication of quality. Otherwise, it's better to write for fun than to write what you don't like. If your goal is making money, writing simply isn't what you're looking for.

But Bene, you need something to sell. You need a vehicle where you put into your message. Readers are like rabbits. They need a carrot, otherwise they won't bite.

@GDLiZy that I know all too well myself. I know the reality of my situation. Just sucks, y'know? Least I could do is bitch about it and go back to work.

@Assurbanipal_II what you see on my front page is the carrot already. It's as @GDLiZy has said; my current story just isn't cut for mainstream appeal. All I can do is focus on the task at hand. I can, at anytime, write out a view bait that'll net me good cash money. I understand the machine as well as anyone else in the forum. It's just, for now, that's not what I want to do.

Meh ... Still, so much competition recently. More and more cash grabbers on this site. It's annoying.

You can't blame them. They're lucky enough that their intent is the cutomers' wish. You're one of them too, you know; not that you're a cash grabber, but that it just so happens that your content has mass appeal.

They are not lucky. That is the point. Hitting the check pot is one thing, deliberately designing your stories like Hollywood production checklists is another. At least, they are successful with their ambitions.

Well, they're sleeping well at night, that's for sure.