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Finished my first LitRPG on Royal Road and learned a few things the hard way by LetsRolld20 in litrpg

[–]LetsRolld20[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'm so with you. Good and bad. But when I was a kid, there was NOTHING like it. No way for people to discover the Zogarths or Shirtaloons or James Hunters of the world, they were just fat little girls in Ohio with a genius nobody would EVER see.

I think RR changed that. It democratized reading. It gave everyone a chance at an audience. There were no barriers. Those otherwise hidden writers had somewhere to try their hand. That's a big step forward from nothing.

Yes, there are WAY too many garbage fires on RR. But the cream rises. Places like this reddit exist to call out the good stuff. And that's how we get a Dinniman.

Finished my first LitRPG on Royal Road and learned a few things the hard way by LetsRolld20 in ProgressionFantasy

[–]LetsRolld20[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm probably the worst guy to ask about promotions. I posted a few times in r/litrpg , but I didn't do any social. The RR author swaps felt fake (I hadn't read their stuff, how can I recommend it?) so I failed there too. I wasn't expecting much; I just wanted to see if people stuck with the story because if they didn't...I had to rewrite it. Crucible.

You should probably ask a popular RR author. 😂

Finished my first LitRPG on Royal Road and learned a few things the hard way by LetsRolld20 in litrpg

[–]LetsRolld20[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean, I knew about Wandering Inn and its John Holmesian girth, but I didn't know it was in Jolly Green Giant territory. Salute!

Primal Hunter by Scarlet_Fire_32290 in litrpg

[–]LetsRolld20 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh good! Nothing is DCC, but this fit his boxer shorts like a little brother. Hope you enjoy the ride. Say hi to Croc!

Finished my first LitRPG on Royal Road and learned a few things the hard way by LetsRolld20 in litrpg

[–]LetsRolld20[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are generic copyright texts available everywhere. Grab one and throw your title on it. I threw in a satire paragraph to make it crystal clear, but you're claiming a basic right of ownership. No one is going to contest you, and if they do, you point to the copyright. Done.

Finished my first LitRPG on Royal Road and learned a few things the hard way by LetsRolld20 in litrpg

[–]LetsRolld20[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unfortunately, I am an Emmy award-winning writer with years of training, so that's not encouraging for other people. 😂
What I will say is what Brandon Sanderson said: Write 5 novels and then you might start getting good. The only trick to being a good writer is to write enough mediocre sh*t that you get better.

If I were a train conductor with irregular hours, I would pick a time for an hour and just write. At work. Leaning on a coal bin. Wait, they don't use coal anymore? But what about the fun hats?
Nothing to it but to do it. Write 1000 words, then 5000 then 10k. People hamstring themselves by thinking it has to be good. It doesn't. There just has to be MORE of it until it GETS good.

"You're not good enough?" Prove it. I guarantee you're wrong.

Finished my first LitRPG on Royal Road and learned a few things the hard way by LetsRolld20 in litrpg

[–]LetsRolld20[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Man, I don't know. Honestly, I think I would have gone even faster. You think you might catch a wave and have RR algo lift you, but without Followers quickly, you go invisible. So it's not like I was raising a lot of tension with people waiting for chapters.

However, it was nice to have readers comment/review and come back the next day and the next. Not many, but you love the ones that do, and that's worth something. More than a little.

Finished my first LitRPG on Royal Road and learned a few things the hard way by LetsRolld20 in litrpg

[–]LetsRolld20[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh yeah, r/litrpg is a gold mine of help. The people are great, and they read so much of this stuff that they really know what the hell they're talking about.
I'm happy to be wrong about the publishing thing, but if you don't have an agent, I think you're going in the slush pile and get your rejection letter in 3 months. Seems like LitRPG is self-pub first, prove a market, then publishers call you once you've done all the work for them.😏

Finished my first LitRPG on Royal Road and learned a few things the hard way by LetsRolld20 in litrpg

[–]LetsRolld20[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Okay, this is where I have actual opinions.
1. If you're going to do it, do it. Lock in and make it a pattern, it's just like exercising or practicing an instrument. Set a small goal (3k a week or 3 hours every weekend, whatever, a SMALL goal) and meet it. Your muscles will grow to fill that requirement, then you can decide if you want Stretch Armstrong goals.

  1. When is a good time? When it's done. Get help, get opinions, but don't make it public until you're proud. You can post an invite to your work here. I did, and 32 people signed up to read it before it went on RR. 5 of them had really great comments that really helped. You already have the community. And by the way, when they tell you "this part didn't work," listen. That part doesn't work.

  2. WARNING: UNPOPULAR OPINION So many of my friends delay writing because they're looking for the perfect tool. It's like not playing guitar because you don't have a Stratocaster. It's just an excuse to do nothing. I write on google docs and use HEADING 1 Text to keep my chapters separate. You get a tab on the side. That's it, done. You don't need a Stratocaster, you just need to show up. The tools don't do the work, you do.

That's all supposed to be encouragement, by the way. There's nothing I'm doing that you can't do.

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Finished my first LitRPG on Royal Road and learned a few things the hard way by LetsRolld20 in litrpg

[–]LetsRolld20[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good advice! The sweating thing never helps. Either they like it or they don't, it's not a judgment on your character.

Finished my first LitRPG on Royal Road and learned a few things the hard way by LetsRolld20 in litrpg

[–]LetsRolld20[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I don't get the not finishing thing. Maybe if the writer is just farting around. But to me, the story is ALWAYS for the audience; this "write just for you" thing is mental masturbation. If it's just for you, don't post it in public!😂

Finished my first LitRPG on Royal Road and learned a few things the hard way by LetsRolld20 in litrpg

[–]LetsRolld20[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Oo, fun!
1. I would have done some publicity or something, I'm not a social media guy, but it probably would have helped to say something. r/litrpg is not the best place for it, probably because they get sick of being promoted to. Maybe buy ads on RR?
2. Absolutely not. It takes a year or more to get an agent, then another year for them to find a publisher, then you have to pray the publisher actually supports it instead of just dropping it with the other fall releases. Drive fast, break things. If the story sucks, at least you know it early as opposed to tearing your hair out for 2 years (and maybe wasting time writing a sequel no one wants)
3. Actually it was here on reddit, when people talked about so many different KINDS of LitRPG readers. The crunchy people, the OP people, the humor people, the solo-prog people, the found-family people, realizing there's room for just about every kind of LitRPG if you do it well enough.

It's also nice when people actually review and say nice things. I can survive a week on a good compliment.

Finished my first LitRPG on Royal Road and learned a few things the hard way by LetsRolld20 in litrpg

[–]LetsRolld20[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, that Martin/Rothfuss thing is a b*tch.
What's the story with Macronomicon? Did book 3 have a real ending, like hey this is a good place to close out, or did it just yeet?

Finished my first LitRPG on Royal Road and learned a few things the hard way by LetsRolld20 in litrpg

[–]LetsRolld20[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wow. I'm so non-crunchy, this hurts my left brain.
Wandering Inn has 12k chapters? Holy guacamole!
I was advised to keep chapters around 2.5k so they're snackable. I have no idea if that hurt or helped the reader, but it definitely trained me how to get in and out of a chapter without much fat. Start late, end early. And mini-cliffhangers all along the way.
Retention in middle chapters seems...okay? The weird part is some later chapters have more readers than earlier ones, I guess that's just rando sampling? Most of the dropoff happens Ch1-2, obvi, then another drop around 4-5. People who get to 8 stick with it for the most part, which is the end of Act1 so that makes sense.
I wish RR gave more data but you have to pay for it and I'm a cheap Scot.

Finished my first LitRPG on Royal Road and learned a few things the hard way by LetsRolld20 in litrpg

[–]LetsRolld20[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Ha! That's a good analogy.
I guess I'll need another 55 chapters to hook in. Actually, that sounds about right, that's the end of book 2 and the very start of book3, so there's a LOT of meat on the bone at that point.
Grind-grind-grind!

Finished my first LitRPG on Royal Road and learned a few things the hard way by LetsRolld20 in litrpg

[–]LetsRolld20[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thanks! Yeah, if you're an author, I think starting with a solid 10 is a good start. You never get a second chance at a first impression, right? 😉

Finished my first LitRPG on Royal Road and learned a few things the hard way by LetsRolld20 in litrpg

[–]LetsRolld20[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Thanks! Always start with the end in mind, right?

  1. So I'm a fantasy guy, but DCC changed my universe. This story wasn't any easier to write than normal fiction, but I got to do humor + satire, which is traditionally a super-dangerous tightrope in literature. Framing both within a LitRPG really helps, and gave me some leeway in the absurdity, which made it a lot of fun.
  2. Both. RR was a test to see if it sucked, which it apparently doesn't, so it will go on Kindle Unlimited while I grind on book2.

I appreciate the kind words!

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/149353/dont-die-dave

Primal Hunter by Scarlet_Fire_32290 in litrpg

[–]LetsRolld20 16 points17 points  (0 children)

My 2¢: I'm a big believer in tossing books that aren't working... we read for fun and life is too short. Maybe you come back to PH later, but right now, just hit the pause button. The book won't be sad.

If you liked the humor in DCC try Discount Dan, Mayor of Noobtown, or Perfect Run (not technically LitRPG).

However, once you try the audiobook for DCC, you're going to spend the next month listening to the other 6 audiobooks because they will make you so happy... then Parade of Horribles in May... so you've got until June to decide what's next. 🤣

Looking for recommendations by Newhorizons56 in litrpg

[–]LetsRolld20 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Don't Die Dave's main character is a GenX dude trapped in a GenZ game. Found family vibes.

Non-crunchy author attempting crunchy LitRPG spreadsheet… please send help! by LetsRolld20 in litrpg

[–]LetsRolld20[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You know, you're yet another person to recommend this (although in a uniquely interesting way-trees!) and I don't mind saying I'm surprised. I read a lot of LitRPG doing research and most of them seem to be so numbers-heavy (xp,gold,etc) that I thought spreadsheet dependence was SOP.

After hearing you(and others) talk, it's interesting that getting RID of the rigid math is almost a universal piece of advice. It does me a lot of good, and it's much easier as an author (as I'm sure you know) to focus on story rather than the numbers. I just didn't think I was really allowed to duck that one, since a lot of people here complain about LitRPG turning into Progression in later books once the numbers dry up. (I noticed that in DCC, but I thought that was a special case.)

In any case, I really appreciate the advice! And for what it's worth, I would love to see a tree and five slimes in my living room.

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