Writing Making my first novel.

[The_LivingLegend]

Hello scribblehub, I have recently really been wanting to try my hand at writing a novel on this site, so I have a few questions about it in general:

• What should I try to hit on the word count for each chapter? I want to be able to let the readers get atleast some development in the story because I always hated reading chapters that were too short for anything to happen, but then I also dont want to make chapters too long so that I have to have a longer delay between updates inorder to write.
• Since I am gonna edit these novels by myself, should I try and use grammarly? I cant really afford to hire an editor for a novel that I am not even sure I will have the drive to finish later on, so I want to edit them myself. I want to know if I should use grammarly, since it will help me just dump the chapter there, use the suggested edits that I want, and just reread the chapter to make sure its good.
• I also want to know what I should do for any sort of schedule on a chapter. I want to let any readers be able to have atleast some information on when to come back and read the next chapter, but I also know that I am not that fast a writer and I especially dont want to establish a schedule only to break it a bunch of times. Is it better to have a schedule an try to write fast or have no schedule and be able to write and edit as much as I want untill I feel its fine for the chapter to go live. This sort of depends on the wordcount I will try and hit per chapter. I also heard that posting a bunch of chapters at once is good, so should I just hit a minimum amount of chapters and post them all at once?
• How will I deal with hate / bad reviews? I am sort of self consious of everything I write in general, so I know reading a bunch of comments proclaiming how shit my novel is will hurt my drive to write a lot. So I want to ask before they start coming. I know that as a new writer, I will get them and I will try and incorporate and advice coming forom them, but how do I deal with the ones that just say 'its shit'. Do I ignore them, reply back with a happy response, try to argue or what? This is also pretty hypocritcal coming from me because I know for sure that I have done this and I am sorry to any authors that read those comments.
• Also does anyone know any good name generators for skill names and place names that I can use. My naming sense is really bad so I need a generator that will carry me.

These are all the questions that I have for now. I want to thank anyone thats answers these in advance.

 

[The_LivingLegend]

Forgot to ask about what I should do for a cover: My drawing skills are really bad but I also dont want to just have the default scribblehub cover, so should I try stringing a bunch of royalty free images together to see if I can make something atleast a little good? But then I see a bunch of novels on here with obviously copyrighted images that they do not own, so is it not a problem to just pull any random image I want into my cover?

 

[DubstheDuke]

1. As far as length goes I think that people are fine with anything between say 1500 and 3000. 2000 is a pretty good count to aim for, from what I have seen.
2. I don't even use grammarly, but that's probably a good idea. There's no need to hire an editor, but I'm sure there are some people on the discord who would be willing to edit your content. I personally just self edit, though I don't get many views so take what I say with a grain of salt.
3. Having at least some sort of schedule would be good. Even if it's just 1 or 2 chapters a week, I would suggest having it both for the sake of your readers, and for the sake of yourself. If you don't have a schedule to stick to, will you really end up writing instead of just putting it off?
4. I wouldn't suggest mass releases as this just floods the readers with content and doesn't give your novel as much publicity as spreading them out would.
5. You're gonna get hate on your novel no matter what. I've had someone who wrote a literal 1000 word essay on how bad my novel was as a review before it got removed due to the toxicity it contained. Point being, don't worry about it. Some people will enjoy your stuff, others wont. Don't worry. Always try to make it better, but don't sit there and rip your hair out. If you enjoy what you're writing then it's good, even if someone else doesn't think so. If you don't enjoy your own writing, there is a problem that needs to be fixed.
6. Also, don't mistake constructive criticism for hate. If someone is legitimately trying to give you tips or advice to improve your novel, at least give it some thought. You don't have to listen because sometimes advice can be bad, but at least try to be open minded and don't fall into the track of 'my novel is good. Period. Anyone saying otherwise is just tasteless.'
7. There are so many tools not just for name generators but for a whole lot of other stuff. Charater databases, world maps and databases, etc. Just look em up! Name generator, world anvil, fantasy map generator, all those sorts of things. You'll find something. I'm too lazy to find some right now.

 

[Deleted member 29316]

Forgot to ask about what I should do for a cover: My drawing skills are really bad but I also dont want to just have the default scribblehub cover, so should I try stringing a bunch of royalty free images together to see if I can make something atleast a little good? But then I see a bunch of novels on here with obviously copyrighted images that they do not own, so is it not a problem to just pull any random image I want into my cover?

Well, there are some authors here that do grab royalty-free images on google to give their works a good cover. Just make it clear because there are some that might mistake your cover as something you grabbed from their story. (Something like that happened before...)

And there are artists that ask for a commission here. If you're lucky, there are some that might give you a free cover.

 

[Karver]

I think that the most important thing is to have a love for what you are doing and to continually seek improvement in your skills that you excel in while also improving the areas in which you are lacking. If you can't find the motivation to write, then everything else goes by the wayside because you won't have a novel to begin with. I think that if you find enjoyment in writing then that is paramount to all else. Proper naming sense and a good feel for word count can come later in my opinion, but a novel that is written without any passion is a far more critical issue.

Edit: I looked into your page and my above comment on "won't have a novel to begin with" was not meant to be a personal attack. I do apologize if it was taken as such.

 

[The_LivingLegend]

1. As far as length goes I think that people are fine with anything between say 1500 and 3000. 2000 is a pretty good count to aim for, from what I have seen.
2. I don't even use grammarly, but that's probably a good idea. There's no need to hire an editor, but I'm sure there are some people on the discord who would be willing to edit your content. I personally just self edit, though I don't get many views so take what I say with a grain of salt.
3. Having at least some sort of schedule would be good. Even if it's just 1 or 2 chapters a week, I would suggest having it both for the sake of your readers, and for the sake of yourself. If you don't have a schedule to stick to, will you really end up writing instead of just putting it off?
4. I wouldn't suggest mass releases as this just floods the readers with content and doesn't give your novel as much publicity as spreading them out would.
5. You're gonna get hate on your novel no matter what. I've had someone who wrote a literal 1000 word essay on how bad my novel was as a review before it got removed due to the toxicity it contained. Point being, don't worry about it. Some people will enjoy your stuff, others wont. Don't worry. Always try to make it better, but don't sit there and rip your hair out. If you enjoy what you're writing then it's good, even if someone else doesn't think so. If you don't enjoy your own writing, there is a problem that needs to be fixed.
6. Also, don't mistake constructive criticism for hate. If someone is legitimately trying to give you tips or advice to improve your novel, at least give it some thought. You don't have to listen because sometimes advice can be bad, but at least try to be open minded and don't fall into the track of 'my novel is good. Period. Anyone saying otherwise is just tasteless.'
7. There are so many tools not just for name generators but for a whole lot of other stuff. Charater databases, world maps and databases, etc. Just look em up! Name generator, world anvil, fantasy map generator, all those sorts of things. You'll find something. I'm too lazy to find some right now.

Thanks for answering my questions. About the comments, I know how to seperate only hate, people who want to give constructive criticism, and people who hate but also have valid arguements that I should fix. I know not to think im some allmighty writer that could write no wrong.

 

[The_LivingLegend]

Well, there are some authors here that do grab royalty-free images on google to give their works a good cover. Just make it clear because there are some that might mistake your cover as something you grabbed from their story. (Something like that happened before...)

And there are artists that ask for a commission here. If you're lucky, there are some that might give you a free cover.

Yeah im most likely just gonna grab a bunch of free images to do a cover. I will be careful to make sure I dont grab any illustration from another novel, although those shouldnt be on the free image websites. Plus what I plan to have for my cover should be really easy to do with free images so im not worrying to hard about that anymore. I might later on if the novel does good ask for a commission but free images are good for now. About the free cover, I dont know if I can let someone do that, it probably takes a long time to draw and I dont want to have them do that and not compensate their time.

 

[The_LivingLegend]

I think that the most important thing is to have a love for what you are doing and to continually seek improvement in your skills that you excel in while also improving the areas in which you are lacking. If you can't find the motivation to write, then everything else goes by the wayside because you won't have a novel to begin with. I think that if you find enjoyment in writing then that is paramount to all else. Proper naming sense and a good feel for word count can come later in my opinion, but a novel that is written without any passion is a far more critical issue.

Your right if I am just writing my novel to fill word counts and schedules, Ill most likely loose interest in writing all together. I will still keep a broad schedule of atleast once a week. Of course if I feel like I cant keep up Ill try and work something out when it comes to it.

 

[Deleted member 29316]

Yeah im most likely just gonna grab a bunch of free images to do a cover. I will be careful to make sure I dont grab any illustration from another novel, although those shouldnt be on the free image websites. Plus what I plan to have for my cover should be really easy to do with free images so im not worrying to hard about that anymore. I might later on if the novel does good ask for a commission but free images are good for now. About the free cover, I dont know if I can let someone do that, it probably takes a long time to draw and I dont want to have them do that and not compensate their time.

You're off to a great start, good sir! . Have fun writing!

 

[Karver]

Best of luck to you, I look forward to your work!

 

[K5Rakitan]

1. Write whatever fits in your life. I started my story with longer chapters, but then I got pregnant, and now I have to manage gestational diabetes with walking three times a day and checking my blood sugar four times a day, and now I have to take an insulin injection before bed, and in a couple more weeks I'm going to have to start counting kicks, so my chapters are about half the length they used to be. Don't beat yourself up if life gets complicated.
2. Using Grammarly is probably a good move. I've never used Grammarly since I am an editor, but my husband beta reads my chapters. If you don't feel comfortable sharing your work with someone you know, Goodreads is a great place to find a beta reader. I also have a computer program that reads aloud to me, and that helps me catch a bunch of typos I would otherwise miss. I had to buy that software several years ago, but these days there are some free versions online that are just as good:

#1 Text To Speech (TTS) Reader Online

#1 Text To Speech. Type or upload any text, file, website & book for listening online, proofreading, reading-along or generating professional mp3 voice-overs.

ttsreader.com

3. Again, do what fits in your life. I update my story every 8 days.
4. People who bully others are often insecure about themselves. Everyone has to start somewhere, so the best you can do is include an author's note that you are new and hope people are kind. If someone makes a helpful/constructive comment, just say thanks. If it's not helpful, ignore it. Alternatively, you can respond with a simple, "Who hurt you?" or something similar if you are in the mood.
5. This one is pretty nice: https://writingexercises.co.uk/random-job-generator.php

Happy writing!

 

[The_LivingLegend]

1. Write whatever fits in your life. I started my story with longer chapters, but then I got pregnant, and now I have to manage gestational diabetes with walking three times a day and checking my blood sugar four times a day, and now I have to take an insulin injection before bed, and in a couple more weeks I'm going to have to start counting kicks, so my chapters are about half the length they used to be. Don't beat yourself up if life gets complicated.
2. Using Grammarly is probably a good move. I've never used Grammarly since I am an editor, but my husband beta reads my chapters. If you don't feel comfortable sharing your work with someone you know, Goodreads is a great place to find a beta reader. I also have a computer program that reads aloud to me, and that helps me catch a bunch of typos I would otherwise miss. I had to buy that software several years ago, but these days there are some free versions online that are just as good:

#1 Text To Speech (TTS) Reader Online

#1 Text To Speech. Type or upload any text, file, website & book for listening online, proofreading, reading-along or generating professional mp3 voice-overs.

ttsreader.com

3. Again, do what fits in your life. I update my story every 8 days.
4. People who bully others are often insecure about themselves. Everyone has to start somewhere, so the best you can do is include an author's note that you are new and hope people are kind. If someone makes a helpful/constructive comment, just say thanks. If it's not helpful, ignore it. Alternatively, you can respond with a simple, "Who hurt you?" or something similar if you are in the mood.
5. This one is pretty nice: https://writingexercises.co.uk/random-job-generator.php

Happy writing!

Thanks for the reply. The tts sounds Like a really good idea I can use, and I even made a python script a while ago that does exactly that, which I can re-purpose. Is good reads like a place I can post the chapter, and people will read it and comment some ideas on how I can make it better?

 

[K5Rakitan]

Is good reads like a place I can post the chapter, and people will read it and comment some ideas on how I can make it better?

It's more like a book recommendation community, but there's a beta reading group with a forum where you can find beta readers. I'd post a synopsis of your story and see who is interested, then exchange emails.

 

[Discount_Blade]

As for moves, I don't use it since I have a thing of my own making I use, but I've found these work well for a lot of people I've given it too.

1) https://www.seventhsanctum.com/generate.php?Genname=animepower (Kinda anime-attack power related)
2) https://www.seventhsanctum.com/generate.php?Genname=magicpower (Magic-power related)
3) https://www.seventhsanctum.com/generate.php?Genname=mamove (Martial Arts Move related)
4) https://www.seventhsanctum.com/generate.php?Genname=spell (Comes up with name for spells)

 

[Suzumiya]

If your experience with it is anything like mine, your first novel will make future-you cringe at its mere mention.

Ganbatte though for sure!

It's a really rewarding hobby in many senses of the word 'rewarding.'

Advice from me would be "... write every day, if you feel like it. Write on your phone. Write on the walls. Just write!"

It really is as easy and as simple as that. No need to overcomplicate it.