Writing How to write Webnovels?

[UnknownSaint171]

I've been reading web novels, particularly Chinese ones, for a long time now. They make up 80% of my reading material these days. It took me a while to realize that most of these novels don't adhere to the traditional rules of writing.
For instance, they often lack proper usage of dialogue tags like "He/she said" and instead present conversations within quotation marks, expecting the reader to understand while you scroll down. Additionally, inner monologues from the main character are rarely included.

I once asked an experienced writer about this, and although I didn't write down their exact response, I recall that webnovels are typically fast-paced and attention-grabbing. (So I'm here in forums to seek advice lol)

I'm interested in writing stories involving reincarnations, systems, isekais, and more, with the goal of eventually publishing them on platforms like Amazon. However, I wonder if I need to adhere to the "rules of writing" when working on these genres.
I understand that a lot of CN writers or webnovel writers are amateurs. I've been examining stories on English Webnovel and I realize there are all kinds of different writing styles. The really well-written ones seem to follow the rules of writing?
Wanting to be a competent writer, does the way you write these genres really matter?
I really want my writing to be taken seriously when I tell it so,

Anyways, I found this which I found pretty helpful https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-format-dialogue-in-your-novel-or-short-story

 

[SailusGebel]

I've been reading web novels, particularly Chinese ones, for a long time now. They make up 80% of my reading material these days. It took me a while to realize that most of these novels don't adhere to the traditional rules of writing.
For instance, they often lack proper usage of dialogue tags like "He/she said" and instead present conversations within quotation marks, expecting the reader to understand while you scroll down. Additionally, inner monologues from the main character are rarely included.

I once asked an experienced writer about this, and although I didn't write down their exact response, I recall that webnovels are typically fast-paced and attention-grabbing. (So I'm here in forums to seek advice lol)

I'm interested in writing stories involving reincarnations, systems, isekais, and more, with the goal of eventually publishing them on platforms like Amazon. However, I wonder if I need to adhere to the "rules of writing" when working on these genres.
I understand that a lot of CN writers or webnovel writers are amateurs. I've been examining stories on English Webnovel and I realize there are all kinds of different writing styles. The really well-written ones seem to follow the rules of writing?
Wanting to be a competent writer, does the way you write these genres really matter?
I really want my writing to be taken seriously when I tell it so,

Anyways, I found this which I found pretty helpful https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-format-dialogue-in-your-novel-or-short-story

What Are Topics You'd Like To Know More About With Storytelling?

At this point, most of you know I run a YouTube channel where I share my expertise to help people better tackle various things. Due to how I am, I have this rich storehouse of information, examples, and so forth. In truth, I own over two thousand books due to how I am. This means I have a lot I...

forum.scribblehub.com

Err, probably should add something. Browse through Story_Marc's threads, he has a lot of different guides.

 

[Corty]

My best advice is to just start it. No tips and tricks will help if you don't go and do it, gaining the necessary experience in the process.

Have the story idea already in your head?
Just do it.

The rest will work itself out and you will improve as you go along.

 

[K5Rakitan]

Write it, put it aside for at least a month, and then edit it..

 

[Tyranomaster]

I'm interested in writing stories involving reincarnations, systems, isekais, and more, with the goal of eventually publishing them on platforms like Amazon. However, I wonder if I need to adhere to the "rules of writing" when working on these genres.

Do you have a particularly compelling story you want to write, or do you just want to write? There are lots of kinds of writers these days, (there were fewer kinds in the past, but still multiple). There are people who only write web novels, and monetize that through patreon/ko-fi/subscribestar etc. There are those who write a massive epic within the same universe, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings. There are those who produce a "neverending" story like Shield Hero, Overlord, NGNL (JP novels). Then there are those who produce lots of small stories, pulp writers, where the stories are generally formulaic, and they pump out a novel or two every month.

Determine this first, what is your goal, and why are you pursuing it?

I understand that a lot of CN writers or webnovel writers are amateurs. I've been examining stories on English Webnovel and I realize there are all kinds of different writing styles. The really well-written ones seem to follow the rules of writing?

"Rules of Writing" is a bit strong of a statement. No one owns English, and sets the rules, its a conglomerate of general practices that make sense to most speakers of the language. The important thing is that the writing is clear and makes sense. The harder stuff, like prose and flow, are useful to keep in mind, but imo they change over time, and "flow" is generally just if it sounds normal today. We would say now that a lot of Tolkien's writing and Shakespeare have bad flow because they sound odd to the modern way of speaking.

With that said, until you get feedback from an audience, you won't know for sure if you need to practice your prose and flow. I mean, actively practice them as well, just like school, where you repeat things over and over until it's second nature. The last thing you want while writing is to be interrupting yourself thinking about grammar rules while trying to tell a story. Post editing can help alleviate some of this.

Wanting to be a competent writer, does the way you write these genres really matter?

It depends to whom you are referring as the judge of competency. If readers enjoy it, then you're competent. That said, trying to make your language more clear and more enjoyable is something you continue to do as you write. In my 100k words in my story, I know I've improved drastically from when I started.

I really want my writing to be taken seriously when I tell it so...

If by taken seriously, you mean not considered a joke, then making sure it'd get an A in an English Language class is the way to do that. 95% error free, and the errors that exist aren't egregious.

If instead you mean you want people to not consider it parody or a bad story, that means more than just English language skills. That's down to your story telling and your story setting.


From my own experience, I was lucky to hit it off as well as I have on my "first" story. I haven't written a full story before, but I've run D&D campaigns, which obviously has helped my story telling skills. The story I'm writing had been bouncing around in my head for seven years before I started publishing. It's a passion project. What I'm attempting falls in between "Neverending Story" and Long Epic. I've got large parts of the world built out and figured out, which means I'm writing a story within a world, rather than building the world with the story. The web novel is actually the first draft (merely written chapter by chapter, and then self skimmed once). I'm writing it as I go, with general story points that I want to hit. It's become popular enough that when I finish the web novel, I'll begin the re-write, and the full re-write will be self published on Amazon (years from now). The web novel was to test the waters on whether people would want to even read my story or not. If not, I'd have dropped it months ago, and gone back to working on TTRPGs more.

I can't give advice outside of my own experience, but my experience says if you have a good idea, and write to a decent standard, the rest can be fixed in post for a final version.

 

[phaeous]

I've been reading web novels, particularly Chinese ones, for a long time now. They make up 80% of my reading material these days. It took me a while to realize that most of these novels don't adhere to the traditional rules of writing.
For instance, they often lack proper usage of dialogue tags like "He/she said" and instead present conversations within quotation marks, expecting the reader to understand while you scroll down. Additionally, inner monologues from the main character are rarely included.

I once asked an experienced writer about this, and although I didn't write down their exact response, I recall that webnovels are typically fast-paced and attention-grabbing. (So I'm here in forums to seek advice lol)

I'm interested in writing stories involving reincarnations, systems, isekais, and more, with the goal of eventually publishing them on platforms like Amazon. However, I wonder if I need to adhere to the "rules of writing" when working on these genres.
I understand that a lot of CN writers or webnovel writers are amateurs. I've been examining stories on English Webnovel and I realize there are all kinds of different writing styles. The really well-written ones seem to follow the rules of writing?
Wanting to be a competent writer, does the way you write these genres really matter?
I really want my writing to be taken seriously when I tell it so,

Anyways, I found this which I found pretty helpful https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-format-dialogue-in-your-novel-or-short-story

You must write a fic such that the amazing story has an absolute anchor in existence.

 

[Succubiome]

I understand that a lot of CN writers or webnovel writers are amateurs. I've been examining stories on English Webnovel and I realize there are all kinds of different writing styles. The really well-written ones seem to follow the rules of writing?
Wanting to be a competent writer, does the way you write these genres really matter?
I really want my writing to be taken seriously when I tell it so,

You seem competent at writing from your post. As long as you can get your ideas across, I think it's more important to start writing than to fully understand writing styles? Just do your best, look up things you aren't certain how to do, and be open to constructive criticism about your writing style.

Really, I think a strange or idiosyncratic writing style is fine as long as it's easy to read and understand. For example: you've read a lot of CN novels without dialogue tags or internal monologue, even though those things are very common in EN writing-- so clearly those things aren't neccessary for someone to enjoy a story, though they can make storytelling easier in some situations and some people may enjoy them.

If people like your story and you are doing something weird with your writing style that inhibits their enjoyment, they will probably tell you.

Spoiler

This is what happened to me-- I wrote many chapters using a weird way of indicating speaker because of some questionable rule of writing I had picked up somewhere. A lot of people understood it fine from context, so no one complained... until I had a five person conversation and some people understandably got confused about who was saying what, and were kind enough to tell me.

 

[Midnight-Phantom]

Write it, put it aside for at least a month, and then edit it..

That's so true .. don't know if I should take it seriously as I do that or laugh that someone said it out loud ..

I've been reading web novels, particularly Chinese ones, for a long time now. They make up 80% of my reading material these days. It took me a while to realize that most of these novels don't adhere to the traditional rules of writing.
For instance, they often lack proper usage of dialogue tags like "He/she said" and instead present conversations within quotation marks, expecting the reader to understand while you scroll down. Additionally, inner monologues from the main character are rarely included.

I once asked an experienced writer about this, and although I didn't write down their exact response, I recall that webnovels are typically fast-paced and attention-grabbing. (So I'm here in forums to seek advice lol)

I'm interested in writing stories involving reincarnations, systems, isekais, and more, with the goal of eventually publishing them on platforms like Amazon. However, I wonder if I need to adhere to the "rules of writing" when working on these genres.
I understand that a lot of CN writers or webnovel writers are amateurs. I've been examining stories on English Webnovel and I realize there are all kinds of different writing styles. The really well-written ones seem to follow the rules of writing?
Wanting to be a competent writer, does the way you write these genres really matter?
I really want my writing to be taken seriously when I tell it so,

Anyways, I found this which I found pretty helpful https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-format-dialogue-in-your-novel-or-short-story

Hey, I too haven't shared my story yet, and I'm trying my best to make it the best one I can post without any regrets. So take my advice with a grain of salt.

First of all, I noticed you mentioned that you mostly read Chinese novels, and I'm guessing most people here do the same. It's strange how difficult it is to find sites like SCB, RR, or RRB via Google. Honestly, I stumbled upon this site accidentally while searching for a novel site. When you search on Google, you usually end up with sites that have subpar novels or ones written for older audiences, not the kind of stuff you'd see in anime or manga.

Chinese novels have been actively written for a long time, but most of them are machine-translated, and the translations are pretty bad. However, AI technology has been improving, and in the future, we can expect better translations and rewrites of many novels. That way, we'll truly understand what happens in those stories. As an avid anime watcher, you'll notice that each language has its own way of expressing things, so translating them accurately requires someone who knows both languages very well.

Now, when it comes to adhering to writing norms, it mainly depends on you. There are plenty of novels out there that don't care about conventions but are still enjoyable to read. Take Gintama, for example, an anime that doesn't give a damn about the concept of copyright.

My suggestion is to create a draft and ask questions in forums. I've been doing the same, and the community has been really helpful. They have more age and experience than you, and many have already posted their works, so they have firsthand experience with dealing with these things. Keep an open mind throughout the process and listen to their advice. Finally, I wish you a great day, and I hope your work receives a lot of attention when you gather the courage to post it..

 

[Deleted member 54065]

I've been reading web novels, particularly Chinese ones, for a long time now. They make up 80% of my reading material these days. It took me a while to realize that most of these novels don't adhere to the traditional rules of writing.
For instance, they often lack proper usage of dialogue tags like "He/she said" and instead present conversations within quotation marks, expecting the reader to understand while you scroll down. Additionally, inner monologues from the main character are rarely included.

I once asked an experienced writer about this, and although I didn't write down their exact response, I recall that webnovels are typically fast-paced and attention-grabbing. (So I'm here in forums to seek advice lol)

I'm interested in writing stories involving reincarnations, systems, isekais, and more, with the goal of eventually publishing them on platforms like Amazon. However, I wonder if I need to adhere to the "rules of writing" when working on these genres.
I understand that a lot of CN writers or webnovel writers are amateurs. I've been examining stories on English Webnovel and I realize there are all kinds of different writing styles. The really well-written ones seem to follow the rules of writing?
Wanting to be a competent writer, does the way you write these genres really matter?
I really want my writing to be taken seriously when I tell it so,

Anyways, I found this which I found pretty helpful https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-format-dialogue-in-your-novel-or-short-story

First rule in starting off a novel as a newcomer: don't worry about the rules. The reason is, the more you think about what to do or not to do, the more you'd hold up writing your ideas because you'll keep on worrying how to get it right the first time.

Write something first. You won't get it right the first time anyway.

If you're not comfortable after writing a few chapters, then you may consult the rules. But then again, unless you're aiming to publish in a traditional publishing house, rules don't matter much. As long as you're understood and your grammar is fine, then wing it.

Non-native English speakers don't care much about advance English writing rules (i.e., passive and active voices).

 

[Deleted member 113259]

Just write a web novel.

 

[Sola-sama]

Just write a web novel.

 

[Deleted member 113259]

@Sola-sama Technically he didn't think of it. He's overanalyzing everything like the specific rules of writing before even working on a first draft.

 

[Sola-sama]

@Sola-sama Technically he didn't think of it. He's overanalyzing everything like the specific rules of writing before even working on a first draft.

True.

I too, used to doubt myself before even writing my first story.
Let's get real, your first story WILL ALWAYS be bad. But if you don't take that first step, you wouldn't be able to get first-hand experience and improve. What important is not the 'first step', but always the 'next' one. Now that you have think of writing a webnovel, the 'next' step is to actually write one.

 

[Deleted member 113259]

Let's get real, your first story WILL ALWAYS be bad.

Nah, man. Couldn't be me. My story is perfect as long as you ignore all the imperfections.

 

[Sola-sama]

Nah, man. Couldn't be me. My story is perfect as long as you ignore all the imperfections.

It's like saying Adolf Hitler is a saint if you ignore his warcrimes. Yeah, let's pretend that I agree with your statement. You're the most perfect person/character/eldritch entity in the known and unknown universe xD

 

[Deleted member 113259]

It's like saying Adolf Hitler is a saint if you ignore his warcrimes. Yeah, let's pretend that I agree with your statement. You're the most perfect person/character/eldritch entity in the known and unknown universe xD

So you do agree with my statement.
In all seriousness, only one man has ever been perfect. OP shouldn't be too down that his story will be filled with imperfections and should just start writing.

 

[Tyranomaster]

I think there exists a healthy middle ground between "Just go for it!" And "Write and edit everything before posting a Web Novel."

Something like, write to about 10-15k words, and see what you think of your own writing. Edit or rewrite that, repeatedly, until you get your story to the point where you like it (it could even be the first time!).

Three reasons for this.
First, as you'll likely discover, you'll have things you want to change. Once you are happy with those first 10-15k words, your story tone and style is going to be pretty well set.
Second, you'll get a good feeling for the pace that you can write at without exhausting yourself. This is important as regular scheduled publishing is one of the most important things to growing and retaining audience.
Third, you'll build up a backlog for initial release. People say anything between 14 and 30 chapters released daily when you first start your novel is crucial to building the initial following, and I can attest, it helped me immensely.

Hope this helps.

 

[Akaichi]

Do what I did... I was really board someday after not finding any decent novel about the idea I had ( I was in a mood for some good harem with intrigue and a villian op protagnist). So I just wrote it. Before I knew it I had 5 chapters so I posted them, and to my surprise others liked them! (After reaching chapter 20 and the introduction some harem elements some began to curse at me... but regardless it was my novel.)

Just don't write it expecting anything, do it for fun.

Webnovels are long, and they take a lot of time, if it is not fun for you, it would not be for the reader!

As for the rules, in art there are no rules.
But if you want something decent, there are guidelines... They are (mostly) the same for normal novels (see brandon sanderson's course and the writing excuse podcast), but here, normal structures doesn't really work here, so I really advise you to think of that before hand (How the novel would evolve).
Instead of making the reader flip the page, you have to make him wait for the next chapter. So you would have to go into action fast and leave the world building for later, sprinkling it slowly in a smart way.
Some Chinese reincarnation novels do this correctly, by making the protagonist face an enemy as soon as he wake up, or explaining the dilemma he was in, to hook the reader. Some even just copy the title and the first few chapters from another novel and change it a bit... (most of those are garbage, but sometimes, there are some good ones.)

And finally, IMHO good webnovels are about a good promise... This is usually given in the genre, story tags, the title, the synopses, and the first couple of chapters.
It is promising the reader something about the adventure he is about to go through.
It is like the carrot that will keep the reader hooked for the first few arcs before the story really establishes itself (you can change the promise then... But only by a better one)

Look at how Japanese light novels do it with titles half a page long (I am not telling you to do that), Chinese novels on the other hand (the good ones) give you the promise in the synopsis and the first few chapters when the protagonist get to learn the powers of the world around him.

Finally, expect to be cursed at a lot... Don't give up, learning this trade takes time and swimming in a lot of spit. After a while you develop some really thick skin and begin to enjoy reading crtics (some times they are right, sometimes you will wish to hire some goons to go after them.)

 

[Story_Marc]

I shared this elsewhere before, I'll copy it here.

ACTION-ORIENTED WRITING
Webfiction is all about action- they’re designed to be written fast and read faster.

Readers of webfiction aren’t looking for novels with long paragraphs and deep introspective prose. They want simple, practical and cinematic stories that they can read during a quick 10-minute bus ride to work or while on their lunch break. In fact, if they see giant blocks of text, they tend to go looking for another story because they think they won’t have time to finish it.

So, the writing style of webfiction is built around actions and descriptions of action, using short prose with a focus on dialog and few long descriptions. Filled with tight prose, punchy sparse adjectives and active verbs, it's designed to convey the story in an efficient way for a writer who has to crank out a chapter or two a day in addition to doing another job to pay the bills.

Characters speak in lots of clear, direct dialog and actions are described in straightforward and simple ways. Since dialog reads faster than exposition, webfiction writers will usually have characters express important information instead of saying it directly to the audience, using head-hopping to give different perspectives and points of view. It’s a very cinematic style of writing which is more focused on what happens than how characters feel about it.

I'm not saying you have to do it this way, I'm just providing a bit of info. I recommend doing whatever resonates with you most.

Everything else, well, I'd recommend getting started first to get stuff down, then seek help from someone you consider competent that can help you out a bit more with refining what you're doing. You can't wait around, but I'm not going to pretend that writing is just getting words down, nothing else. This is a huge art form and there is a lot to learn if you wish to do it well. But, as I often tell people, you shouldn't worry too much about being ideal or well out the gate so much as getting a basic foundation. Create a foundation and then aim to gain a bit more skill every time you are writing or focused on stuff with writing, 1% at a time. It all adds up.

That's how I became who I am.