Writing How to Write an Isekai

yamete

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Surprisingly, I haven't found much about this on google. Or maybe I'm so dumb at searching, but yeah.

If you know useful resources, just paste the links here.

Also, I'm asking for your recommendations to a more effective and well-written isekai.

Skip the "read a lot of isekai novels" because we all know almost everyone have read tons to the point we know all the tropes.

An advice based on your reading and writing experience will be appreciated.
 

Assurbanipal_II

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My experience, there aren't any good isekai as blatant fanservice and non-sensical plot seems to be the prevalent force behind most of them. But if you think you want to give it a try, do it. :blob_reach:

Short question, will your isekai be realistic or not? And can I have the link?
 

yamete

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My experience, there aren't any good isekai as blatant fanservice and non-sensical plot seems to be the prevalent force behind most of them. But if you think you want to give it a try, do it. :blob_reach:

Short question, will your isekai be realistic or not? And can I have the link?
It's not yet posted. I alsoalsodon't don't have any chapters yet. But I'm planning to make something decent and realistic instead of a wish fulfillment sort
 

CautiousTitan

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Figure out what will make your isekai different and use that to create a unique story. It's not so much about 'Reading a ton of isekai' but learning what makes popular isekai good. You then use the notes you gathered to be your guidepost of what you should/shouldn't do. After that, you have to come up with an isekai that is rare or hasn't been done before. The more original, the better. After that, it comes down to your writing commitment. Good cover, synopsis, characters, and plot is what will make your isekai shine amongst the plethora of isekai that have been made
 

Ral

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Just treat it like any other fantasy stories/novels. Heck, just treat it as any story/novel. There is really nothing particularly special about isekai stories that make it demand a special treatment in terms of writing and storytelling. There is no special technique or anything, to write a good isekai (or any story for that matter) you just have to develop the skills.

Also, it is not "read a lot of isekai novels" but "read a lot." To be better at crafting stories you have to read a lot of everything, fiction and non-fiction. Restricting yourself to a narrow field would make your craft become stale, generic and uninspired. There is so much out there to take ideas an inspiration from, why restrict yourself?

My advice would be, to hone your basics. The basics is the foundation of any great stories. You can't write well if you don't even know the basics. Man, how many criticisms here (and in other platforms) boil down to learning the basics.
 
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AliceShiki

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Surprisingly, I haven't found much about this on google. Or maybe I'm so dumb at searching, but yeah.

If you know useful resources, just paste the links here.

Also, I'm asking for your recommendations to a more effective and well-written isekai.

Skip the "read a lot of isekai novels" because we all know almost everyone have read tons to the point we know all the tropes.

An advice based on your reading and writing experience will be appreciated.
The main thing IMO is making the isekai part actually matter.

Like... You're in a new world, make the main character feel the strangeness of being in a new world and make this a main plot point.

And make their past world memories meaningful and helpful to their new world experience and stuff.

Those are the main things IMO, the rest is up to you~
 
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just add tons of rice to it. there's a reason why Japanese LN Isekais really love that food so damn much. in my region, we couldn't feel that a food was a meal unless it includes rice.

maybe make the MC cultivate lots of rice and overpopulate the entire dark ages medieval world with it, so he could finally shout welcome to the rice fields mothafucka.

but in all seriousness, i think most of the isekai lies in the prologue (the usual ones, like with truck-kun etc.). after that it kinda plays out like your usual fantasy story. if you can write fantasy or probably sci-fi, if you want to include that setting, i guess you can do it.

not sure if it counts as Isekai, but I kinda include traveling through many worlds as one. in that case, my vote for the best Isekai goes to Planescape; Torment. really fantastic world building, pretty deep story, and it's amazing how you can solve most of the encounters without combat.

i think the Earthbound series is also fantastic, and they have brief Isekai moments like in Earthbound Zero and Earthbound, where you visit Magicant. their initial setting also is simliar to modern day Earth.

i really like how they design Magicant, in particular.
 
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Percy84

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Warning: I've never written a story but here what can I think of to avoid some mistakes, most are obvious, people always do them, even this sentence is unoriginal and obviously obvious, still, read and use your brain.

mMMm I'd say to call an isekai "good enough" or more, you would need first and foremost to not have the major "isekai focus" you're starting on. You want to write a proper isekai that is original, well-written, and has that special ingredient you're yourself yearning for, but it should not blind you, I don't think that should be the thing you should focus your attention on, otherwise it will only be predictable arcs and bland characters no one wishes for.

I'll start with the isekai setting, how I think it should really be done. The MC gets transported to an other world, sure. Why, how, where, circumstances. For the transmigration, there should be more than just getting isekaied, you don't only get a magic circle out of nowhere or truck-kun then meeting with (a) God (I've read too many of these, I just can't anymore). I don't have many exemples but my favorite isekai by far is The Saga of Tanya the Evil (the books, the anime and manga to me are very different from the original source which really is a pleasure to read). It takes a variation of truck-kun, train-dono, also the 'god' is not a real god, the god can be considered as "evil", he's just inconsiderate of the MC who started a debate with the entity and immediately regretted it. The god is not dumb, neither is the MC, the setting is fantasist but it's well-done, the gods have actually a purpose for sending the MC in another word, testing faith, and you learn a bit later that actually the "god" was in actually not alone, and they stay in the shadows of the humans, allow war, as long as people actually believe in them, they manage each a part of a world and the MC is a sort of experiment on who they bestow curses and misfortunes.

The childhood (not necessary and often brings more bad than good). A 6 years old do not understand philosophy nor politics, at that age you were sleeping and playing, nothing more. Same for 10, you're stupid and blind, you only have flawed views of the world, it just makes no sense that the 10 years old will speak as a teenager/adult would, just stupid and if I were the parents, I would worry about that, not just telling myself "wow my child is a genius, you're so intelligent and proficient at magic". In fantasy/isekai stories I judge good, the childhood is only briefly mentioned in the prologue or first chapter(s). Also obviously that depends if your MC get reincarnated or not, and I've never seen any really good isekai/fantasy with full reincarnation (re-starting as a baby), because if a baby has the mind of a grown-up then obviously it will only bring miseries to the character, and bearing with years of being stuck into a weak body in which you cannot accomplish anything except reading books is hard. I take once again the example of The Saga of Tanya the Evil, her childhood was described as Tanya being Tanya, a quiet but smart kid, not talking with children and solitary, but then I must admit that when she enrolls in the army at 10 years old it's a but unrealistic but it's at least said, the characters actually wonder and fear the entity/demon that is Tanya. She read a lot of books, it can be passed as a genius but she's hardworking, on the surface a war-maniac but is not. She is a complex yet simple character but with logical settings and feelings, it's realistic, because she has actually experienced war herself as a child, she has killed in front of her allies, they know what she has done, she's just a bit extreme but it's plausible!
What I mean is if the character has an isekai childhood, plot holes will come if you're not careful.

Then the rest, either reincarnated as an adult, keeping your adult body or finally grown-up, the character is an adult and should act like one. I understand that Japanese authors wish to write teenagers characters but most teenagers I'm sorry are dumb and do not think, mostly because of modern society that does not emphasize maturity. And so in a sense, their stories are realistic since the decisions that the authors' MC take are often stupid, but I'm often wondering if even their character are somehow smarter than their creator but whatever. You should weight all the decisions your character make but actually think them. The protagonist must think, in advance, what could happen if they did this and that, the consequences, the righteousness if they care about that, not just act on emotions. Being hot-blooded is true but it's bad and we don't want that, we want someone that actually thinks a little and do not take decisions in a hurry, they could keep a journal or just remember to think about certain parameters before actually doing their actions.

I want to come back on what I said in the first paragraph, even though the obvious setting of the story is isekai, if it's just that then we can more or less predict with the world you give what might happen, something you'd better avoid, but it's not going to be an easy task.
If it's a litRPG then get rid of the adventurer guild and the mana-measuring crystal, do something more clever or put it originally somehow. Also "medieval" is important, most of the fantasy sure have kings, lords, nobles and the such but it's not medieval. Medieval is darker, scarier, people are actually poor, to have that you can't just add 3 homeless people in the street and 2 super-rich arrogant nobles, no please no. People are actually intelligent beings, that have more than 1 mask, not "in appearance good but it was a fake smile", sure but there's more to it, I don't think there's a need for a detailed backstory but multi-dimensional character is elemental.
Also, think about everything about the world, not just a map and the currency, how do people live, eat, how is the terrain and resources actually managed, it should not be something that the MC can understand and resolve in 2 days, but way more complicated than that, it's a country we're talking about because he read 3 novels on the net!

As for any story, think about the story ahead, perhaps not the end but I'd say you must have an idea or things you think should happen later on in the story, don't put useless arcs because why not, and no slave harem please. What I would advise is to wait 1 week at least before coming back on what you have written and realize how bad it actually was even though on the moment it seemed godly.

Here is what I can currently think of, I don't have any prior experience to back this off, just some thinking and a critical mind that for me are a must for writing but also reading.
 

Tryin_to_find_life

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Surprisingly, I haven't found much about this on google. Or maybe I'm so dumb at searching, but yeah.

If you know useful resources, just paste the links here.

Also, I'm asking for your recommendations to a more effective and well-written isekai.

Skip the "read a lot of isekai novels" because we all know almost everyone have read tons to the point we know all the tropes.

An advice based on your reading and writing experience will be appreciated.
It is simple, really. Just reverse everything that normal isekai has. I will put the list which I think will help.
Do this:
More male allies

Kills every cocky shit

Villian is sometimes too strong or sometimes is a mastermind

MC is not a soft hearted person. Basically, ainz

Develop all characters related to MC

No harem. If needed for story, make it like an actual harem where the first wife and youngest wife fights and shit and MC regrets making harem in the end.

The allies are actually helpful

MC doesn't have 24279364739202 mana

Minds his business


Doesn't free elf, beastmen slaves wherever he goes and they follow him to repay the debt

Everyone can use chantless magic

MC doesn't kill bamboo spear persons with a meteor and the allies don't overreact

MC doesn't says where am I? Did I die? This must be the isekai trope that everyone's been talking about

Person benefit matters

No magic academy

No fat noble trying to fuck MC's ass after he breathes in front of him

No simping unless it's a m*lf maid

No dere

No loli that tries to be cute

Not child prodigy

Actually, no romance just war. Jk

No dekai oppai

MC is self aware

No one looks down upon MC

No 'I don't wanna hurt human since I was a human uwu' Just kill them whenever you want In every possible way

Doesn't says it's normal, no?

Doesn't reveal his cards until he knows who the real opponent is

No smartphone

No all attribute magic, bam I learned it

MC should be killed at least once

Don't keep long titles
Btw, my Novel's name is
Archdemon reincarnation

Make a good power system

If MC has something like status window and others find out about it. MC says 'I was built different'.

MC isn't an upstanding hard-working member of society

MC is not a magnet

MC is overpowered? Make at least 10 people more overpowered than him, As simple as that. If MC asks them how they're so strong, they say they were built different

Kills bitches unlike a certain Captain America v2.0

Elf are not the nature loving mfs

Beastmen are evil

Dwarves are greedy


Humans are failures

MC goes to train 26 hrs per day
I'm just talking shit now
Just keeping the above mentioned shits will help you make a good isekai, I think.
I came here searching for tips and here I am. Anyway, if you want to give me some suggestions please do it
 

K_Jira

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Oct 27, 2021
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It is simple, really. Just reverse everything that normal isekai has. I will put the list which I think will help.
Do this:
More male allies

Kills every cocky shit

Villian is sometimes too strong or sometimes is a mastermind

MC is not a soft hearted person. Basically, ainz

Develop all characters related to MC

No harem. If needed for story, make it like an actual harem where the first wife and youngest wife fights and shit and MC regrets making harem in the end.

The allies are actually helpful

MC doesn't have 24279364739202 mana

Minds his business


Doesn't free elf, beastmen slaves wherever he goes and they follow him to repay the debt

Everyone can use chantless magic

MC doesn't kill bamboo spear persons with a meteor and the allies don't overreact

MC doesn't says where am I? Did I die? This must be the isekai trope that everyone's been talking about

Person benefit matters

No magic academy

No fat noble trying to fuck MC's ass after he breathes in front of him

No simping unless it's a m*lf maid

No dere

No loli that tries to be cute

Not child prodigy

Actually, no romance just war. Jk

No dekai oppai

MC is self aware

No one looks down upon MC

No 'I don't wanna hurt human since I was a human uwu' Just kill them whenever you want In every possible way

Doesn't says it's normal, no?

Doesn't reveal his cards until he knows who the real opponent is

No smartphone

No all attribute magic, bam I learned it

MC should be killed at least once

Don't keep long titles
Btw, my Novel's name is
Archdemon reincarnation

Make a good power system

If MC has something like status window and others find out about it. MC says 'I was built different'.

MC isn't an upstanding hard-working member of society

MC is not a magnet

MC is overpowered? Make at least 10 people more overpowered than him, As simple as that. If MC asks them how they're so strong, they say they were built different

Kills bitches unlike a certain Captain America v2.0

Elf are not the nature loving mfs

Beastmen are evil

Dwarves are greedy


Humans are failures

MC goes to train 26 hrs per day
I'm just talking shit now
Just keeping the above mentioned shits will help you make a good isekai, I think.
I came here searching for tips and here I am. Anyway, if you want to give me some suggestions please do it
If there's an isekai story like this, i'll definitely read it. If you decide to write something like this, please tell me... 😭
 

Minx

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It is simple, really. Just reverse everything that normal isekai has. I will put the list which I think will help.
Do this:
More male allies

Kills every cocky shit

Villian is sometimes too strong or sometimes is a mastermind

MC is not a soft hearted person. Basically, ainz

Develop all characters related to MC

No harem. If needed for story, make it like an actual harem where the first wife and youngest wife fights and shit and MC regrets making harem in the end.

The allies are actually helpful

MC doesn't have 24279364739202 mana

Minds his business


Doesn't free elf, beastmen slaves wherever he goes and they follow him to repay the debt

Everyone can use chantless magic

MC doesn't kill bamboo spear persons with a meteor and the allies don't overreact

MC doesn't says where am I? Did I die? This must be the isekai trope that everyone's been talking about

Person benefit matters

No magic academy

No fat noble trying to fuck MC's ass after he breathes in front of him

No simping unless it's a m*lf maid

No dere

No loli that tries to be cute

Not child prodigy

Actually, no romance just war. Jk

No dekai oppai

MC is self aware

No one looks down upon MC

No 'I don't wanna hurt human since I was a human uwu' Just kill them whenever you want In every possible way

Doesn't says it's normal, no?

Doesn't reveal his cards until he knows who the real opponent is

No smartphone

No all attribute magic, bam I learned it

MC should be killed at least once

Don't keep long titles
Btw, my Novel's name is
Archdemon reincarnation

Make a good power system

If MC has something like status window and others find out about it. MC says 'I was built different'.

MC isn't an upstanding hard-working member of society

MC is not a magnet

MC is overpowered? Make at least 10 people more overpowered than him, As simple as that. If MC asks them how they're so strong, they say they were built different

Kills bitches unlike a certain Captain America v2.0

Elf are not the nature loving mfs

Beastmen are evil

Dwarves are greedy


Humans are failures

MC goes to train 26 hrs per day
I'm just talking shit now
Just keeping the above mentioned shits will help you make a good isekai, I think.
I came here searching for tips and here I am. Anyway, if you want to give me some suggestions please do it
Did you just necro'd a 2 years old thread?
 

UnknownSaint171

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Jan 1, 2019
Messages
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Surprisingly, I haven't found much about this on google. Or maybe I'm so dumb at searching, but yeah.

If you know useful resources, just paste the links here.

Also, I'm asking for your recommendations to a more effective and well-written isekai.

Skip the "read a lot of isekai novels" because we all know almost everyone have read tons to the point we know all the tropes.

An advice based on your reading and writing experience will be appreciated.
It depends, are you trying to write it out JP naming style or English names?
I have been seeing a rise in Original's Isekais recently. Maybe try looking at them as an example.

But I also think is reading Isekai and loving it, the best way to boil your writing blood.
 

SakeVision

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Youjo senki is a good isekai, mostly because it's written like a regular novel with a lot of research, effort and thoughtful worldbuilding put into it, with a main character who is not supposed to be a self insert and a plot that was at least roughly planned out from the beginning....and not what most isekai authors try to write
Alright, which one of you bone suckers forgot to sage a post before attempting necromancy?
how do you sage on forums
 
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