What I learned as an author for 2 years.

[LuoirM]

Bit of background about my past work so my words have meaning, scroll down to the part that ain't bold if you don't want to read this.
My first ever novel was planned on the end of 2019, and with a help of another writer, started publishing the first chapters in Feb 2020, and in a one year span, all the way to Jan 2021, I've finished all SIX (yes, 6) chapters. Now I'm planning on a big project which I think would take me 4-5 years to finish (already done 1st chapter, isn't published), but I've been reconsidering as I try writing a novel that doesn't require forward planning, just yolo and write whatever what comes to mine, I publish that novel as "Being An Isekai MC is Easy AF" on ScribbleHub, and also English is my second language, I'm a Vietnamese writer.

Okay, first of all
"First POV or Third POV in writing?"
Everyone agrees Third POV is way better.
If you're writing something that were well planned and you really care for it, write in 3rd, because that's when you can help the world building and character's building the best.
BUT, the downside is you're most likely writing in "Plot Driven"
I learned somewhere that Plot Driven is wanting a scene/plot to happened, so you try to make the character get into that situation, while the other is Character Driven, which an impact of your character's decision makes the next plot.
Characters Driven is more lovable, so that's why 1st POV usually succeed more and you're most likely going to write CD if you're writing in 1st POV. What's also good about 1st POV is the plot twist, this explains itself.

Also, I suggest you should write your first novel as like a hobby, you make up a good plot, yolo and write whatever comes to mind, don't planned ahead too much.

You know those artists that complains when the work they did for like 30 minutes usually gets more attention than a full-week work? Yeah, if you do something a lot, you're good at it. So writing a non-planned novel usually gets better as you learn how to write it better, while the longer ones with full-planned is usually pretty boring at the start. I mean, come on guys, look up one of you really high-planned work and tell me did you planned the middle of the plot the most? And usually forgot about the opening?

I planned on writing this when I was taking a noon nap, it was longer and more complex in my mind, sorry if it's too boring.
Also, my work that I didn't planned ahead took 3 days to publish 6 chapters, and the planned one is 1 year 6 chapters, I'm kinda disappointed in myself.

 

[IcedKafuuChino]

Nice insight on the POVs, thanks.

 

[CupcakeNinja]

...is character driven and plot driven even a thing? By which i mean, are they really seperate things, actually? Like i feel you can easily do both at the same time regardless of the type of pov you use. For example i put my characters in certain situations all the time. But their choices determine what happens after that and i then plan around whatever they chose to do. But that doesnt mean all that i planned before that becomes meaningless. It just means either i plan new things or i change how i get from one planned event to the next. The journey may change, but the next pre-planned event doesnt necessarily have to.

I mean i probably wont hit EVERY event i had planned this way but its also not purely "character driven" either.

Anyway. Good insights my dude. Lots of new writers would get a lot of help from this.

 

[LuoirM]

...is character driven and plot driven even a thing? By which i mean, are they really seperate things, actually? Like i feel you can easily do both at the same time regardless of the type of pov you use. For example i put my characters in certain situations all the time. But their choices determine what happens after that and i then plan around whatever they chose to do. But that doesnt mean all that i planned before that becomes meaningless. It just means either i plan new things or i change how i get from one planned event to the next. The journey may change, but the next pre-planned event doesnt necessarily have to.

I mean i probably wont hit EVERY event i had planned this way but its also not purely "character driven" either.

Anyway. Good insights my dude. Lots of new writers would get a lot of help from this.

I actually don't know, I just overheard a conversation on Facebook like 2 years ago where they use Batman Arkham Knights as an example for Character Driven and think it exists.
And I totally think they're seperated, but not like, canceling each others, it's a "scene/plot" not the entirety of a novel. So yeah, you can be diverse from scenes to scenes D: But if you're writing in 3rd POV, you're gonna focus a lot on things which aren't characters. So you might tell yourself to write this scene like this like that which turns out to be PD.

For serious though, I think I'm just bad at doing both world building and character building at the same time so I'm stuck with either PD or CD. If you dedicated yourself in one novel, it's definitely doable for both.
And thanks for liking it daddy uwu

 

[wildan1197_]

I don't really care about POV, be it 1st or 3rd. I no longer want to limit myself when writing.

The planned ones, to be honest, I also experienced this bitter experience.

I once made a story about the romantic-comedy genre in a school setting. I did story development, conceptualization, and writing, for nearly 4 years. And I consistently only use 1st POV.

Then I published it on Wattpad in Feb 2020

And you know what?

It failed. I only got 4 thousand views.

I don't know if my story is bad or what (because I am also very active in promoting it)

Anyway, because of that, I was down for months and didn't write anything.

I'm planning to remake and translate it into English, but I'm quite doubtful whether Scribble Hub fits my story because the fantasy-isekai genre stories are more popular here.

 

[LuoirM]

I don't really care about POV, be it 1st or 3rd. I no longer want to limit myself when writing.

The planned ones, to be honest, also experienced this bitter experience.

I once made a story about the romantic-comedy genre in a school setting. I did story development, conceptualization, and writing, for nearly 4 years. And I consistently only use 1st POV.

Then I published it on Wattpad on Feb 2020

And you know what?

It failed. I only got 4 thousand views.

I don't know if my story is bad or what (because I am also very active in promoting it)

But because of that, I was down for months and didn't write anything.

I'm planning to remake and translate it into English, but I'm quite doubtful whether Scrrible Hub fits my story because the fantasy-isekai genre stories are more popular here.

Damn, that's harsh...
Romantic-comedy works best on wattpad, I think Scribblehub works with Fantasy-Isekai because of the targeted audience, if it doesn't work on Wattpad (which is normal I think considering Wattpad is huge af, I won't post on there) you should try some other webs that are also like Wattpad. Targeted in younger female-er audiences.

Maybe try to be more free-style with your writing? Story development, conceptualization is very gud for writers, but the writing part is where determent your success. Don't be shy to mimic some writing styles you see, or (this might sound weird, bear with me) write while you're high on weed. I heard that worked.

 

[hauntedwritings]

...is character driven and plot driven even a thing? By which i mean, are they really seperate things, actually? Like i feel you can easily do both at the same time regardless of the type of pov you use. For example i put my characters in certain situations all the time. But their choices determine what happens after that and i then plan around whatever they chose to do. But that doesnt mean all that i planned before that becomes meaningless. It just means either i plan new things or i change how i get from one planned event to the next. The journey may change, but the next pre-planned event doesnt necessarily have to.

I mean i probably wont hit EVERY event i had planned this way but its also not purely "character driven" either.

Anyway. Good insights my dude. Lots of new writers would get a lot of help from this.

It's certainly a thing I'd say. But I'd consider it more like a scale, where each story can lean towards one of the two.

Examples of plot driven stories are those where the MC and co very conveniently stumble upon items and events that are relevant to forward the plot. You know that meeting with the shady guy by accident in the back alley, that just so happens to be a major character for the story moving forward? That one item that nobody knows how to use, yet MC just randomly gets the knowledge of how it works?
So one of the tells that a story is plot driven, is 'forced' and convenient events.
And example of this would be In Another World With My Smartphone. Almost everything that happens, is a result of convenient events (and characters). There is no conflict between the major characters, that would happen at some point if the plot was more character driven.

Of course, everything can't be character driven. Because they will lack the end goal. An example of this, is in my opinion Azarinth Healer, which most I'd say is somewhere in the middle. A great story. But why does the MC do all the things that she does? Because she wants to. And everything is a result of that. However, the story lacks the urgency that a normal hero story does - she can 'step out' of the quest she's on if she feels like it. There's no danger to her personally, unless she chooses so. At least, that is how I saw it.

Normally, stories have a bit of both. But if a story leans heavily to one side, it gets noticed. And it does so fast. Consider the significants events like dots you connect. For a plot oriented story will have all the dots laid out beforehand, and the author simply connects them. A character driven story, might only start with one, two or three dots in the beginning. The rest of the dots, are birthed as a result of the choices and actions of the characters.

 

[LuoirM]

It's certainly a thing I'd say. But I'd consider it more like a scale, where each story can lean towards one of the two.

Examples of plot driven stories are those where the MC and co very conveniently stumble upon items and events that are relevant to forward the plot. You know that meeting with the shady guy by accident in the back alley, that just so happens to be a major character for the story moving forward? That one item that nobody knows how to use, yet MC just randomly gets the knowledge of how it works?
So one of the tells that a story is plot driven, is 'forced' and convenient events.
And example of this would be In Another World With My Smartphone. Almost everything that happens, is a result of convenient events (and characters). There is no conflict between the major characters, that would happen at some point if the plot was more character driven.

Of course, everything can't be character driven. Because they will lack the end goal. An example of this, is in my opinion Azarinth Healer, which most I'd say is somewhere in the middle. A great story. But why does the MC do all the things that she does? Because she wants to. And everything is a result of that. However, the story lacks the urgency that a normal hero story does - she can 'step out' of the quest she's on if she feels like it. There's no danger to her personally, unless she chooses so. At least, that is how I saw it.

Normally, stories have a bit of both. But if a story leans heavily to one side, it gets noticed. And it does so fast. Consider the significants events like dots you connect. For a plot oriented story will have all the dots laid out beforehand, and the author simply connects them. A character driven story, might only start with one, two or three dots in the beginning. The rest of the dots, are birthed as a result of the choices and actions of the characters.

Oh, so like... Plot Driven = Deus Ex Machina?

 

[LinXueLian]

I actually don't know, I just overheard a conversation on Facebook like 2 years ago where they use Batman Arkham Knights as an example for Character Driven and think it exists.
And I totally think they're seperated, but not like, canceling each others, it's a "scene/plot" not the entirety of a novel. So yeah, you can be diverse from scenes to scenes D: But if you're writing in 3rd POV, you're gonna focus a lot on things which aren't characters. So you might tell yourself to write this scene like this like that which turns out to be PD.

No, you're actually correct.

Plot-driven works are more scenario-oriented, where the story's mostly something that revolves around a happening or event leading up to the differing choices made, while character-driven works usually has character-based narratives, perhaps revolving around personal or environmental growth, as well as a more internalized or emotional aspect. Both can have elements from each other, but ultimately, for focus, most stories are mostly either one or the other and not both at the same time.

In long and complex works, though, each and every chapter or arc can be either plot-driven or character-driven.

I would actually disagree that third person POV are exclusively plot-driven tools though. 3PP offers some detachment to an extent, but it can still be effectively used for character-driven narratives. Likewise, if you wrote a story in second or first-person POV and most of the story's about, say, a volcanic explosion, seeing it and escaping from it, etc, it's still considered largely plot-driven.

Also, I suggest you should write your first novel as like a hobby, you make up a good plot, yolo and write whatever comes to mind, don't planned ahead too much.

You know those artists that complains when the work they did for like 30 minutes usually gets more attention than a full-week work?

As for this......... yeah, I'd also recommend not to start with a magnum opus off the fly LOL! Baby steps. Failure can be soul-crushing! Sometimes it's not even a failure but over-expectation....

I personally don't like limiting myself to POVs and I don't feel any of them are superior to the others though. As long as we work on them and try to use them well, all these different POVs can be strengths. To Kill a Mockingbird (1961), for example, won a Pulitzer's Prize. If you've read it, you'll notice that it uses the first-person POV very effectively. Game books - or choose-your-adventure books - were very popular too. These are primarily written in second-person POV.

So it really depends!

And yeah, never, NEVER get me started on technical aspects of writing and drawing, I go down the rabbit-hole real effin' quick.... NERD HERE, SORRY FOREVER

 

[hauntedwritings]

Oh, so like... Plot Driven = Deus Ex Machina?

Completely forgot that's what it's called, but yes. Things are introduced primarily in order to drive the story forward, with little or no relation to the story prior to being introduced.

 

[LuoirM]

To Kill a Mockingbird (1961), for example, won a Pulitzer's Prize.

You know what's creepy? The Vietnamese website I signed for to be an exclusive author, had a giveaway, which I won a book. And it was this one. Literally this one, is this a consequence or god's loving hell hint?

 

[LinXueLian]

You know what's creepy? The Vietnamese website I signed for to be an exclusive author, had a giveaway, which I won a book. And it was this one. Literally this one, is this a consequence or god's loving hell hint?

Hint: It's a good book!

 

[LuoirM]

Hint: It's a good book!

Hearing the title, I thought of a Japanese story in this manga (I don't know the English name, I think it exists). Where a girl sings about her dad being the thief to cure her sickness, so he got buried alive. "The bird died from chirping"

 

[gaylolis]

i found myself using first pov most of the time.

the characters are like my eyes in the story, who experience the world through their five senses.

i mostly just do a character driven thing since i'm not really interested in 'big picture' things. when i write, i feel that i do best with a plotline as simple as possible, that doesn't require a lot of thinking, like slice of life fantasy.

i don't add a lot of details, just necessary ones. first person pov also feels comfortable since i tend to write like telling people the story directly, and i like to feel attached to the protagonist when reading.

probably one of the most important thing for me is to never reinvent the wheel. i'm not really interested in writing 'new and original' things. i mostly 'stole' ideas from the existing stories that i like, and build from there. i like reading a lot, especially web novels. i love incorporating my favorite stories and their ideas into my own writing.

part of the reason is i could just skip the research. not everyone can be like tolkien and dedicate twenty years to world building.

the other important thing for me is to plan the story itself. while i used to be a pantser before, i feel that having a solid plan will do more good than harm.

i couldn't really write a specific genre anymore, but mostly base the genre from my quirks and preferences in writing, building them from there.

i feel that, the best concept of all is ones that is 'durable'. that no matter how many 'plot holes' and screw ups you make, it's going to be alright 'til the end. i'm too lazy to care about plot holes and making it believable or well-written. i just want to run with whatever fun ideas i had in mind, and write no more than necessary.

there's also a cheat code i found for writers, called metafiction. if you write that kind of story, you can't go wrong with it. for example, if you write about an author that's trying to write a story, you can just experiment however you like.

that's just my point of view, i'm kinda a lazy author and doesn't really like learning technical details too much. just wanna have fun and enjoy writing.

 

[LuoirM]

Cool username bro

 

[Spica66]

I made a big picture and used the 1st person pov to portray the protagonist's journey and suffering. I pretty much don't think that 1st person pov will hinder the plot-driven story if my character is well defined since the start in every aspect. This means I already think and fix the plot if there's a conflict between character and plot.

Although I started writing in English recently, I've been writing in my native language for a while.

 

[KrisVFX]

Bit of background about my past work so my words have meaning, scroll down to the part that ain't bold if you don't want to read this.
My first ever novel was planned on the end of 2019, and with a help of another writer, started publishing the first chapters in Feb 2020, and in a one year span, all the way to Jan 2021, I've finished all SIX (yes, 6) chapters. Now I'm planning on a big project which I think would take me 4-5 years to finish (already done 1st chapter, isn't published), but I've been reconsidering as I try writing a novel that doesn't require forward planning, just yolo and write whatever what comes to mine, I publish that novel as "Being An Isekai MC is Easy AF" on ScribbleHub, and also English is my second language, I'm a Vietnamese writer.

Okay, first of all
"First POV or Third POV in writing?"
Everyone agrees Third POV is way better.
If you're writing something that were well planned and you really care for it, write in 3rd, because that's when you can help the world building and character's building the best.
BUT, the downside is you're most likely writing in "Plot Driven"
I learned somewhere that Plot Driven is wanting a scene/plot to happened, so you try to make the character get into that situation, while the other is Character Driven, which an impact of your character's decision makes the next plot.
Characters Driven is more lovable, so that's why 1st POV usually succeed more and you're most likely going to write CD if you're writing in 1st POV. What's also good about 1st POV is the plot twist, this explains itself.

Also, I suggest you should write your first novel as like a hobby, you make up a good plot, yolo and write whatever comes to mind, don't planned ahead too much.

You know those artists that complains when the work they did for like 30 minutes usually gets more attention than a full-week work? Yeah, if you do something a lot, you're good at it. So writing a non-planned novel usually gets better as you learn how to write it better, while the longer ones with full-planned is usually pretty boring at the start. I mean, come on guys, look up one of you really high-planned work and tell me did you planned the middle of the plot the most? And usually forgot about the opening?

I planned on writing this when I was taking a noon nap, it was longer and more complex in my mind, sorry if it's too boring.
Also, my work that I didn't planned ahead took 3 days to publish 6 chapters, and the planned one is 1 year 6 chapters, I'm kinda disappointed in myself.

As a writer myself, I don't plan the chapters or how the story will go.
I usually let the story take me whenever It wants to go. It may sound weird but that's how it was for me.
Also, you don't have to choose between the first or third POV, why not do both?
You can use First POV if you feel like it and 3rd POV if needed. That depends on you!
I also thought almost for a year about my story, but only small detail for example:
How I want to start it, who will be my characters, what kind of world it is, etc.
But the moment I put my hands on my keyboard, my fingers start moving on their own, and BOOM new story was created.
I don't have confidence in my writing skills or the way my story is going, but I'm still satisfied!

 

[Deleted member 29316]

What I learned as an author?

1) Write what you want to write, or risk losing interest with your work once you pander to your readers.
2) A well-written smut would catapult your story to spotlight. Mediocre smut too, as long as there's sex.
3) Waifulabs. 'Nuff said.
4) Some readers would love to nitpick works, but if you turned tables on them, they'd explode and cry 'injustice'!
5) POVs effectivity depends on the execution and style of the author.

 

[Spica66]

i feel that, the best concept of all is ones that is 'durable'.

What I learned as an author?

1) Write what you want to write, or risk losing interest with your work once you pander to your readers.
2) A well-written smut would catapult your story to spotlight. Mediocre smut too, as long as there's sex.
3) Waifulabs. 'Nuff said.
4) Some readers would love to nitpick works, but if you turned tables on them, they'd explode and cry 'injustice'!
5) POVs effectivity depends on the execution and style of the author.

Yes, let's not give a damn and write.

 

[CadmarLegend]

Yes, let's not give a damn and write.

I personally think that you should give a bit of focis..... to make sure your story turns out good.