Hey, it's me. I am back. You knew it was going to happen. Good and bad news. As everyone can see there was no chapter. Well, a lot of you probably did not notice. Anyways. I will be doing a double release on Tuesday/Wednesday; to make up for it. Double release... Have not said that in quite a while... Been writing a lot, but it's been getting frustrating. This novel started off with a base made out of sticks; no direction to go. I've been slowly but surely giving it direction. I understand the first few chapters can put-off a lot of people.
Anyways, that's not the point. I have been working on a second novel, however, it has been frustrating. I have deleted about ten prologues. That is around 30k words scrapped. So... Yeah... It's hard when you want to outdo yourself.
While I love this novel, it'd be hard to say that I am proud of it. I have way too many regrets on this one. I have been slowly learning to write on this ongoing process. But there are simply unfixable things. I am proud of having people read my work; something I would personally dump on a trash-bin if I hadn't decided to post it. But, would I tell people to read my novel as a serious recommendation? No, never. That's what I want to accomplish with the next one. I don't want a new, 'it's an enjoyable read but not my favorite.' My greedy self wants it to be a favorite.
I am sure in spite of the glaring mistakes, in spite of the unplanned plot at times. This novel has been slowly but surely improving. However, if I had known it would get this big. I wouldn't have made some of the choices. E.g: Heterochromia. Oh god...
Anyways, that's all I wanted to say. Sorry to bore you all with my monologue.
Quick piece of advice, in order for something to be someone's favorite, it either has to be very good or very niche (and just happen to conform to the right person's niche. It will get you a smaller but stronger cult following.)
Personally, I don't think your writing's quite there yet for the former. Yes, it HAS improved A LOT since the early chapters, but not quite to the level of blowing people away. Then again, it's more the plot, premise, style, and characters that make it have that kind of punch and issues with writing conventions are often forgiven.
I mean it like. Now that I know what I am doing, I can actually plan a coherent narrative. Not really intending to blow people away with my writing. Just something coherent. Because this story had potato planning, and now that I got stuff down, the potato stick of a base is like a huge landmine that sometimes gives me huge blocks.
@Azrie Ok, I guess I can see that. Anyway, if you want my advice, don't go too heavy or serious with your plot. (Heavy and serious as in mood, not how seriously you take it.) Heavy and serious plots require a LOT of fore-thought and serious planning, and a style that fits. I don't think your currently at a level to make a plot like that work.
However, I DO think that a more seriously planned light-hearted plot (maybe like this one without the dissonnce of the back-drop of a poorly implemented cruel world environment. Honestly, I think it was the dissonance between the character attitudes and the backdrop that had me having so much trouble buying it on several points.) That would work well for you, and I think you could do well with such a plot.
Also, I would suggest you read the works of Nintailed_Furball, writer of "Reincarnated Vampire just wants to live a peaceful life" (Ironically named very similarly to yours and written at about the same time.) That series balances the plot and back-drop a lot better, and had a fairly similar direction to this one. I think reading that work could help you in your own writing. (FYI: My go-to advice for people working on their plotting is always going to be a reading suggestion. I will usually have a good one, and I think this is a good one for you.)
tl;dr, don't give up. You've improved a lot and there's so much more to go! Be happy you know things you can improve upon rather than being frustrated you can see them!
I don't want to put anyone on the wrong path, so assume this is an incoherent rant vs actual advice.
Here's my 2c (more like tree fiddy). I'm still looking forward to updates, and while there are parts that could be improved, l'm still here reading every update! It's not perfect, but it's working at enough of a level to keep me anticipating the next chapter, so don't get stuck feeling frustrated. You can't please everyone so you may as well please yourself- wait that sounds lewd
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Re-writing is always an option, but I think it can be risky. You can get stuck in a loop trying to make it perfect, then burn yourself out completely. Like when you are learning how to draw, or build a base in minecraft or something. You can spend hours, days... weeks... or even longer trying to get it juuuuussst how you want it, but eventually you spend so much time on the small things you never get anywhere and, like most creatives seem to do, end up dropping the project altogether. I definitely think polish works, but you always need forward momentum, too. If you stop it's hard to start again.
Luckily, you aren't limited to one project! You can hold in your hand a lot of the things you learn and use that to make the next one even better. There is no either or, you can be greedy.
From experience it's rough when you see the art you've made, and focus on how lacking you think it is instead of getting excited you see so much you can make better. As a kid I got told my drawings were shit, so I focused so hard on what I lacked I never saw my improvements, and then I wasted 10 years thinking I had no talent and gave up. Now I imagine how good I could be if I had 10yrs of practice!
Also one last observation for everyone out there that I personally experience: Breaks can be great, but they can also kill motivation. I think while you are still chasing that serotonin high creativity gives you, your brain compels you do make more art, but once you starve your brain of that hit for a while, it gives up and looks somewhere else for that high. That high is what motivates us, so we gotta hijack it when we can since brute forcing is hard as heck.
EDIT: spellcheck at my cute blobs
I wouldn't have made some of the choices. E.g: Heterochromia - I honestly forget eye descriptions when reading stories, heck even watching shows unless it's some eye power or its referenced a lot
This. I was seriously thinking "Wait, did someone have Heterochromia in this story?"
@Arkus86 Well, it's always in the back of my mind. Mostly because of the cover, but also because it's a rather eye-catching thing in the world.
@Azrie Yeah, I'm one of those who has trouble remembering descriptions, eye descriptions in particular, and I mixed it up with the story mentioned by Jemini and just gave her red eyes in my mind
@Arkus86 I'm in the same boat. eye's just don't matter unless I'm physically close enough to said person, or they glow. Out on the street? I couldn't tell you anyone's eye color, heterochomia or not.
To be fair, I have a static filter in my eye sight, that goes blue to red. Imagine a tv static screen. change the black to blue, and the white to red. Then put that at about 92~% transparency and that's a good indication as to what I deal with. I can't tell a different between 720p and 4k. I can't tell the difference between 32FPS and 120FPS. Nor can I tell a diff between pure white and antique white.
If Naruto was a novel instead of a manga or anime, I would have been screwed over all the different eye powers.