Reader friendly novel?

[Maze_Runner]

I looked at the reader's part of the forum. Lots of ppl posted there asking for reviews. No one really volunteers to give helpful feedback. So I tried using the voluntary feedback posts some do. And they gave their own subjective opinion. After that they say, it might just be their own preference. So does that mean I have to accumulate lots of subjective feedbacks and look for the common things in those feedback and figure out the problem the absolute hard way?

I mean no? But it helps. Don't just look at the common things, look at EVERYTHING. It's probably gonna take awhile but your novel will be great!

 

[Monaka]

I looked at the reader's part of the forum. Lots of ppl posted there asking for reviews. No one really volunteers to give helpful feedback. So I tried using the voluntary feedback posts some do. And they gave their own subjective opinion. After that they say, it might just be their own preference. So does that mean I have to accumulate lots of subjective feedbacks and look for the common things in those feedback and figure out the problem the absolute hard way?

Most readers on ScribbleHub are silent. For feedback, I recommend writing.com or WritersCafe. Both of those sites have point systems that encourage users to leave reviews.

 

[BluePheasant]

Oh, it's much harder than that, because when you do get criticism, how do you parse good critique from bad advice? I mean, storytelling is art after all, right? Isn't it subjective? Why take anyone's advice at all? Is the criticism on the mode by which you tell the story, or on your storytelling itself? Fundgemonkeys?

Yes but there's a fair share of rules i believe that helps a story to be more attention grabbing and interesting or thrilling to read. I need to know if my story is bland to read or my characters are interesting or not, or if my plots and twists are mind-blowing or not, is my story is actually worth reading or not. To understand those and exactly why the problem is happening i need the critiques. But finding critiques was not my goal here. I wanted to know when judging by myself, what should I look for in the story. Making it easier for me to write knowing those points. And i already mentioned for some reason i cant criticise my own story right now. Telling my story from subjective view is alright. But it has to be intriguing for readers to enjoy while reading, right?

 

[lambenttyto]

I wanted to know when judging by myself, what should I look for in the story.

I get you, and I think one of the best things is to read quality books on writing, watch some of the good Master Classes on the topic. Brandon Sanderson's creative writing lectures on youtube are pretty darn good. Jim Butcher's Live Journal is excellent.

It's the internet, people give all kinds of subjective advice that is and isn't correct, so I think your best bet is to learn from experienced writers by devouring their teachings.

But there's to sides to fiction. There's the storytelling side, which in all honesty, you don't need the written word, you could tell excellent stories orally. Which brings me to the other side, the "written medium" by which you tell the story. They're separate and yet interlinked, because there are certain advantages and limitations to the written medium when it comes to storytelling.

I think another thing that has proven to be very useful for me, is just reading stories that you personally admire or find exciting.

And there's another truth that is both sad and not sad. Most people probably won't be able to tell mind blowing stories no matter how hard they try. When you read your favorite authors, these folks are at the top of the pile, and it's great to strive for that level of ability, always be striving for that, but to expect it isn't realistic. Most storytellings, writers or not, just tell average stories, and there's nothing wrong with being average. If you look at some of the classic works of writers, or even very popular works, you will often find they have many, many other stories that were in fact, just average.

Brandon Sanderson is a big name fantasy author these days. I really enjoyed his first Mistborn Trilogy, but in my opinion, the second Mistborn series is definitely more average, maybe high level average, but it's still not mind blowing. So even big name writers don't find that mark and then stay at that level, it's just the nature of storytelling.

I read The Gentleman Bastards books. Love them, but they never blew me away, not once. And yet, I still love those books. So blowing the reader's socks off isn't necessarily always the highest goal.

What kind of writer are you? Do you hope to make that your living one day? Prepare yourself and set appropriate expectations. I think the only way to write fiction sustainably is to write it mostly for yourself, otherwise it just becomes work, and it's way too hard as "work" especially since it doesn't tend to have a payoff for the vast majority of even competent writers. It's just the nature of art unfortunately.

But it has to be intriguing for readers to enjoy while reading, right?

Tell the story you want to read, because what's enjoyable and intriguing to someone else, well you might just find that to be a total bore. Sure, you can maximize your potential audience, but if you're not staying true to your own writing interests, you WILL tire of that. I promise you.

But there are certain craft techniques you can learn to make your stories better without changing who you are as a writer. The previously mentioned resources will help immensely. David Farland's Million Dollar Outlines has a section called "haunting" and "stacking" which is something I've never seen another writer talk about as techniques go. The book is worth it for those two sections alone.

 

[BluePheasant]

I get you, and I think one of the best things is to read quality books on writing, watch some of the good Master Classes on the topic. Brandon Sanderson's creative writing lectures on youtube are pretty darn good. Jim Butcher's Live Journal is excellent.

It's the internet, people give all kinds of subjective advice that is and isn't correct, so I think your best bet is to learn from experienced writers by devouring their teachings.

But there's to sides to fiction. There's the storytelling side, which in all honesty, you don't need the written word, you could tell excellent stories orally. Which brings me to the other side, the "written medium" by which you tell the story. They're separate and yet interlinked, because there are certain advantages and limitations to the written medium when it comes to storytelling.

I think another thing that has proven to be very useful for me, is just reading stories that you personally admire or find exciting.

And there's another truth that is both sad and not sad. Most people probably won't be able to tell mind blowing stories no matter how hard they try. When you read your favorite authors, these folks are at the top of the pile, and it's great to strive for that level of ability, always be striving for that, but to expect it isn't realistic. Most storytellings, writers or not, just tell average stories, and there's nothing wrong with being average. If you look at some of the classic works of writers, or even very popular works, you will often find they have many, many other stories that were in fact, just average.

Brandon Sanderson is a big name fantasy author these days. I really enjoyed his first Mistborn Trilogy, but in my opinion, the second Mistborn series is definitely more average, maybe high level average, but it's still not mind blowing. So even big name writers don't find that mark and then stay at that level, it's just the nature of storytelling.

I read The Gentleman Bastards books. Love them, but they never blew me away, not once. And yet, I still love those books. So blowing the reader's socks off isn't necessarily always the highest goal.

What kind of writer are you? Do you hope to make that your living one day? Prepare yourself and set appropriate expectations. I think the only way to write fiction sustainably is to write it mostly for yourself, otherwise it just becomes work, and it's way too hard as "work" especially since it doesn't tend to have a payoff for the vast majority of even competent writers. It's just the nature of art unfortunately.


Tell the story you want to read, because what's enjoyable and intriguing to someone else, well you might just find that to be a total bore. Sure, you can maximize your potential audience, but if you're not staying true to your own writing interests, you WILL tire of that. I promise you.

But there are certain craft techniques you can learn to make your stories better without changing who you are as a writer. The previously mentioned resources will help immensely. David Farland's Million Dollar Outlines has a section called "haunting" and "stacking" which is something I've never seen another writer talk about as techniques go. The book is worth it for those two sections alone.

Alright, I'll check those out. Thanks for suggesting.

 

[Fox-Trot-9]

Tell the story you want to read, because what's enjoyable and intriguing to someone else, well you might just find that to be a total bore. Sure, you can maximize your potential audience, but if you're not staying true to your own writing interests, you WILL tire of that. I promise you.

Hell yes to this!

So here's the question, how the hell do I know if it's good enough from a reader's point of view? [Edited/added later: Is there any way to know, what I'm writing is intriguing enough for readers to read. What points should I look out for if I want to create something that will grab their attention?And when jugding by myself what should I look for in the story?] Because for some reason after I started writing myself I can't properly judge my story from a reader's PoV. I need to know the problems to improve the story after all.

What the above person said, do it! Just do it!

 

[Ai-chan]

As a new writer, it's almost impossible to know if readers are gonna like the story or not, or at least I don't really know if mine is. Structure and writing style can be improved easily and I can know that just by reading the stuff again. But I still can't figure out if the story itself has any problems or not, or if it is enjoyable from a reader's point of view by myself. I know people are gonna say you just need feedback and stuff, but useful feedback and constructive criticism are so hard to come by.
So here's the question, how the hell do I know if it's good enough from a reader's point of view? [Edited/added later: Is there any way to know, what I'm writing is intriguing enough for readers to read. What points should I look out for if I want to create something that will grab their attention?And when jugding by myself what should I look for in the story?] Because for some reason after I started writing myself I can't properly judge my story from a reader's PoV. I need to know the problems to improve the story after all.

As a new author, you job is not to please the audience. You job is to finish a project. If it pleases the audience, that's great. However, what you need is not audience approval, but the experience of writing and finishing a work and the pride of finishing such work. The more you bother about audience approval, the more likely you will never finish your work. Do it, continue to do it, don't get distracted.

Until you have written to the point that you can feel pride in yourself, don't bother about the audience liking or not liking it. Take criticisms and advice where it's given, but don't expect people will like it. Chances are, most readers won't like your first few stories, but just keep writing and you will become good eventually.

Accolades can come later, much later.

 

[Fox-Trot-9]

As a new author, you job is not to please the audience. You job is to finish a project. If it pleases the audience, that's great. However, what you need is not audience approval, but the experience of writing and finishing a work and the pride of finishing such work. The more you bother about audience approval, the more likely you will never finish your work. Do it, continue to do it, don't get distracted.

Hell to the frggin' yes for this!