Writing Corty's Tip Jar

Corty

Corty

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Think of this thread as a continuation of my [Tutorial] For new users of Scribble Hub! So, if you need basic help navigating the site, setting up your story, or an explanation of what the different genres mean, go check that out first!

Now, to get some major things out of the way, I will take this as a place where I put my tips and ideas when they strike me. After reading the usual questions, the repeating offenders, so to speak, I decided to start this thread where I will add my two cents to it every now and then. There will be no order; I will rant or write about what I am thinking at the moment. Or just post a 'question' and give it my answer. The "table of contents" titles are links to specific posts, so you can click on them to take you to the message where I talked about that specific thing.

Oh, and I'm using dark mode activated, so if the colors are hard to read in bright mode, then join the Dark Side. Aaaaand, if you are on mobile, browse this thread in landscape mode as I formatted it on PC. In portrait mode, it gets all wonky and bad to read.

Last Update: 2024, June 10.​

Table of Contents:





My Advice for Beginners​

Okay. You decided to pick up a pen keyboard and start your journey as a writer! Great! Welcome! It won't be easy, but hopefully, you can stick to it. It will be hard. It will be tiring and not be what you thought it would be. Still with me? Good. Many of you may think hard about how to start it. What should I write about? How do we get that sweet, sweet validation of readers via likes and 5-star ratings?!



Come closer... here is my answer:

You don't.

I don't really care what others tell you:
  • Oooh, you just have to write a good story!
  • Just follow the trend!
  • Write a harem!
  • Do a flip smut!
  • If you write something popular, it will be an instant winner, money starts falling from the sky, and people will slide into your DMs with cat pictures.
Heard it all, and no, they are, at best, half-truths. Will your book get more eyes if you write in a genre that is trending? Of course! Will it be successful? Nope. Want to get people's eyes on your work? Then, pick a genre that currently draws the most views collectively. But don't expect to rocket jump to the top of the list at once!

You are still a newbie, and only one thing is certain:
Your story will be sub-par.



Now, if you are still with me and didn't click away to comment that I'm a bastard, wrong, stub my toe into a desk or something, then let me explain. Everyone starts out with stories that are bad. You don't have the experience, only the drive to write something that, in your head, looks awesome. You can imagine the cool scenery, the fight scenes, the badass MC, whatever there is in your brainbox; it just oozes coolness.

But you won't be able to translate that onto digital paper. Not at first. Nobody is like that. If they say they did it, they lie.

Then what should I do?



Write it. Write it. And... Write it. Take all those creative juices in your head, squeeze them out through your fingers onto a chapter, and publish it. Don't be afraid of doing so; don't go looking up a bazillion tricks and tips videos, how to play the system, or whatever.

Just. Write. It.



Now, to clarify it a little. I'm not saying you should go and ignore all the great guides that are also present on this site. Or else... why am I even writing this? What I want to iterate for you here is to don't get lost in them. Looking at the millions of tips and opinions will just confuse you and discourage you at first. As a beginner, don't stress about it. Go and write your story, and you will improve. Learn. Adapt.

When your experience rises, and you at least get into the groove of writing and learn how to express and put those awesome thoughts into words, then you can go and look at the tips and tricks threads! Then you will understand them! Without knowing that writing is hard, all those pieces of advice will either mean nothing, or you won't really remember them while doing the deed. I can listen to a tutorial on how to paint a miniature, but even then, my first attempt will be a total mess. This is the natural progression of things, and you can't skip it!

So... I just... write?

Exactly. Your only goal right now, as a beginner, should be to get your story out, get experience on how to transform the images in your mind into words, and let the readers decode it. If the awesomeness in your head manifests itself in theirs, too, you have already made great progress! Here are some tips or goals you should set for your first story:

  • Get a realistic amount of readers by the end of it.
  • Have the following down in your story:
    • A clear goal for your MC
    • Your plot, if not fully planned, at least has 2, 3, or more major plot points you want to hit while writing.
    • Set an ending for your story. It makes it so much easier. You know what you want to achieve, and you work towards that.
    • A fixed set of characters. It's your first story, don't go overboard, keep it simple!
  • Set yourself a word count per chapter that you CAN achieve. I see dozens of threads asking what is a good one. Differs from person to person, work to work. I will have a more detailed discussion about this later. For now, try 1000 words per chapter. Make it a goal, but don't stress about it! You only got out 600? No problem... make the next chapter 800! Then 1000!
    • Chapter count is important. Many people only pick up a story if you already have 20+ chapters! So don't expect readers to flow in after having up three chapters! Writing is all about work, work, work & consistency!
      • IMPORTANT: Scribble Hub has a system in place to prevent spam posts! Don't post chapters one after another, or your story will be marked as spam and won't show up on the front page! Space it out if you are posting multiple chapters a day! Leave 1 or 2 hours between them!
  • Set regular intervals when you post!
    • People love to know when to expect a chapter. Two a week? Three a week? On every Friday? Whatever it is, make sure you make it consistent! Post that chapter on the same day and at the same time!
  • Don't give up! Ignore the ratings for now. 3-star? 4-star? 5-star? You are an all-star in the making!
    • We will talk about the rating system later on, but honestly, for the start, ignore it. Don't let it drag you down; I know it's hard, especially when you are passionate about your story. That is why I never rate lower than 3-stars. I get it.
  • Interact with your future readers, even if it's just a cookie blob. Believe me, it can go far. You won't get much at the start. So it is best to thank them for commenting, even if it's nothing more but a "tftc"!
  • Criticism is not bad. They are not attacking you. It's good. If you receive one, check it. If it has points that talk about the cohesion of your story, the logic behind character decisions, how XYZ acts in your story, etc. Don't go and immediately dismiss them as haters!
    • Go back and check those parts. It is very much possible you couldn't translate your thoughts to paper. That is why experience is needed, so next time you succeed!
    • Clearly, troll critics with the comments of: "worst things since ham sandwich without ham," and the others can go lick a salt-brick. Ignore them.

I think that is it for starters and as an introduction to what to expect here.



See you all the next time.
 
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Corty

Corty

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KersenBloemNL said:
This is a great thread lol. I have a whopping 4 readers (which I know of) right now, and even that amount makes me happy, I really hope that more people would check out my story some day, when my writing has gotten better, but i'm still improving every step along the way.
Click to expand...
Keep it up~ It is not easy, but I'm happy to hear you are enjoying doing it!
 
SailusGebel

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Now that I've skimmed through your guide, I have a suggestion.

Chapter count is important. Many people only pick up a story if you already have 20+ chapters! So don't expect readers to flow in after having up three chapters! Writing is all about work, work, work & consistency!

You should probably mention here to NOT bulk upload on SH when you are just starting. Because of SH anti-spam system, and because uploading a chapter a day will get you more readers than uploading 20 chapters in the first day and none the following week.
 
Corty

Corty

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SailusGebel said:
Now that I've skimmed through your guide, I have a suggestion.

Chapter count is important. Many people only pick up a story if you already have 20+ chapters! So don't expect readers to flow in after having up three chapters! Writing is all about work, work, work & consistency!

You should probably mention here to NOT bulk upload on SH when you are just starting. Because of SH anti-spam system, and because uploading a chapter a day will get you more readers than uploading 20 chapters in the first day and none the following week.
Click to expand...
Added a warning about spam filters. :blob_cookie:
 
Corty

Corty

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Publishing​

So, you have your book ready. You have at least five chapters finished and ready to go! Yes, I said at least five! My tip here is when you start a story, don't just put up one chapter... you waste your efforts like that!

Why?

Let me explain!




When you publish your story, you will be on the front page and in the center of attention under the Latest Series tab! It is one of the best and biggest boosts you will see besides trending! You need a little luck as when new books are uploaded, you are getting slowly pushed out. But what about the rest? That is all up to you! :blobthumbsup:

Now imagine... you click on the freshest book dropping, and you see only one chapter. Well, most people simply click away for something more meaty. From one chapter, readers won't be able to tell if it is something interesting or not, and they won't even bother! At least, the majority won't. Have at least five or more chapters? Now, that is something that can be exciting!

Next, I will walk you all through how to set your book up here!
  1. Cover image. One of the most important aspects of your book! An image can sell your story or, at the very least, draw people in to click on it! This is a fact. Make sure that you already resize your image to the stated dimensions! 250x350! Don't sleep on this; otherwise, your cover will look like shit. Work on it until it looks correct!
  2. Title. It is something you made up. Now, I won't tell you how to name your title. Some, like long ones, explain the story in their title alone. Personally, I hate that. Some add their genre, like "LitRPG-Survival" or something similar. I also hate that. But that is just me, so do what you want, name your series what you think is cool, and best describe it! Just don't clickbait because it won't go well!
  3. Description. Your story's synopsis. It is another important part. The initial hook that makes people read it. Don't make it too short, but also don't go overboard! Write down an introduction or something you think will pull readers in, making them curious about what the story is! Many, myself included, put other notes there, too, like heads up for people on what to expect, schedule, or other warnings. People simply don't look further than their noses, so it is good to have additional information right in their faces.
  4. Genres. You can choose nine at max! These will describe what type of story you are making! They are best looked at in pairs. As to what each and every one of them means, check out my Scribble Hub Tutorial, where I go into them in detail!
  5. Main Genre. You will have to give one genre as your story's main one so others know what to expect and what the main plot will be!
  6. Tags. You can set 25 tags from an extensive list. I suggest you to do so. Believe me, it is pretty easy to fill it out, and you will start juggling what to include and what not... I wish it had more slots. Also, this will determine your book's ranking in those tags and their lists! There are people who browse them and look for stories that way! So don't sleep on it. Do not forget: More tags mean more chances for clicks! Why not give you all the advantages you can get?
  7. Language. Don't ask me why this is here. It's probably a reminder to only post English stuff.
  8. Copyright. For most of your stories, select the first, All Rights Reserved. It means it is yours; you are the owner of your story. Public Domain stories are free to grab. The moment you set it that, it is no longer yours. It is OURS. Creative Commons is like you opening up your story. It is yours, but others can freely implement stuff from it or borrow your universe to write their own story inside of it.
  9. Content Warning. Click it and activate those warnings that are present in your story. Pretty straightforward.


Okay, you published your story. Now you can visit it. Please be aware that your story needs human moderation before becoming visible! This may take somewhere between 2 to 24 hours! Depending on your time zone and the admins' time zone! So be patient! You will get a notification when it has been approved! :blobthumbsup: If your story is still not up after 48 hours, you can make a thread about it in the Bug Reports category on the forums!

Let me explain some things about your page next!



  • 1A - The collective clicks you have on your story.
  • 1B - Showing how many people clicked the little heart at the end of your chapters.
  • 1C - Your chapter count.
  • 1D - Your release schedule. It is automated, and it keeps track of when and how often you post chapters. Sometimes it is weird how it counts the days, so don't be surprised if it is sometimes one or two numbers off. Dunno why.
  • 1E - Your reader counts as how many people put your book on their reading list. Even those counted who put it on a "dropped" list. Oh well.
  • 2 - Your rating and how many people rated your story. At first, don't bother. But later on, when you feel you have finally improved, it can hurt when you get a 1-star rating. But that is life; you will have to get used to it. Can't please anyone, and you must work hard to keep your story in the 4-star range! But believe me, when you are doing good, your readers will support you. My best advice is to grow a thick skin.
  • 3 - This is where your synopsis is shown. You can't format the text in any way, shape, or form.
  • 4 - This is where your genre choices are shown.
  • 5 - Your selected tags. It is good to somewhat foreshadow what to expect later on in your story! To show your long-term plans for it!
  • 6 - Now, this is something I have not talked about yet, but I will now. If you have multiple stories, you can link them under each other! Scroll a bit down, and I will explain! You can only do this after you publish your story!
  • 7 - This is the box where your warnings show up if you ticked any when creating your book.
  • 8 - This is where you will see where each of your readers put your work. This entirely falls upon each user and how they handle their lists so... don't be surprised if it is inconsistent or doesn't make sense.


As you can see, if you go into editing your story and go to the MISC tab, you can select your previous works and link them! You can select a bunch, like side-story, adaptation, alternate story, shared universe, etc. It is a pretty neat feature, and as you can see, I use it to link my fantasy stories as they all play in the same universe, only in different realms. It is one feature that is totally underrated here.:blob_salute:



Well, that was it from me now. Don't get used to me doing this every day; I just had some spare time. :blob_cookie:

See you guys in the next one when inspiration strikes me!
 
Last edited:
SailusGebel

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- This is where your genre choices are shown.
- Your selected tags. It is good to somewhat foreshadow what to expect later on in your story! To show your long-term plans for it!

You can mention here that the more tags you have, the better your visibility would be at least on SH. Obviously this isn't panacea and it won't help you gain thousands of views from the get-go, but a little bit of extra clicks is better than no extra clicks. And if an author don't want to spoil too much of the book, it's still good to compromise on a couple tags or genres.

Please be aware that your story needs human moderation before becoming visible! This may take somewhere between 2 to 10 hours!

It can take up to 24 hours before approval. If your story didn't become visible for more than two days, you can make a thread in a bug report thread.
 
Corty

Corty

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SailusGebel said:
- This is where your genre choices are shown.
- Your selected tags. It is good to somewhat foreshadow what to expect later on in your story! To show your long-term plans for it!

You can mention here that the more tags you have, the better your visibility would be at least on SH. Obviously this isn't panacea and it won't help you gain thousands of views from the get-go, but a little bit of extra clicks is better than no extra clicks. And if an author don't want to spoil too much of the book, it's still good to compromise on a couple tags or genres.

Please be aware that your story needs human moderation before becoming visible! This may take somewhere between 2 to 10 hours!

It can take up to 24 hours before approval. If your story didn't become visible for more than two days, you can make a thread in a bug report thread.
Click to expand...
I’ll add them tomorrow as I am already in bed :blob_salute: Thanks for the extra info.
 
melchi

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Some basics about writing fiction might be nice too. Like having a consistent tense. I wish I would have read that before having to go back and edit 10000 words worth of stuff
 
Corty

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melchi said:
Some basics about writing fiction might be nice too. Like having a consistent tense. I wish I would have read that before having to go back and edit 10000 words worth of stuff
Click to expand...
Dunno about that. I will leave those types of advices to others. I never even thought about that while writing.

I don’t keep my story tense all the time, I think. My style of writing is having an end goal and working towards it, doing it in small arcs with their own little adventures that build up to the big picture.
 
Envylope

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Corty said:
Dunno about that. I will leave those types of advices to others. I never even thought about that while writing.

I don’t keep my story tense all the time, I think. My style of writing is having an end goal and working towards it, doing it in small arcs with their own little adventures that build up to the big picture.
Click to expand...
I think tense in a story is less noticeable to non native English speakers.
 
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