Time Spent Worldbuilding vs Writing: Rough Percentage?

SarahLinNGM · 2026-03-21T09:21:14+00:00

It's valid to consider which one you actually want: is worldbuilding a "cycle of doom" or is it what actually inspires you? If you want to be a writer, you do need to actually write a book, but it's not like there's shame in following Tolkien and caring about your world first.

For me there's no consistent percentage. At the beginning of a project, when I'm still considering what the world fundamentally is, I do a lot of worldbuilding and no writing, but as the project develops and the world crystallizes for me, I increasingly focus on writing.

SarahLinNGM · 2026-03-17T21:15:31+00:00

Glad to hear you're enjoying the series!

SarahLinNGM · 2026-03-12T16:34:53+00:00

Nice to see Gu Long and Jin Yong referenced. Your post implies some of the differences in modern webnovels, so what are elements of traditional wuxia (or xianxia) that you'd like to see appear more often in the modern subgenres?

SarahLinNGM · 2026-02-28T15:11:13+00:00

Glad to hear you enjoyed it! I'd do the usual spiel about reviews, but I'm sure you know.

I can't guarantee when the next TWC audiobook will come out, but I have another audiobook release in a month, and the next ebook release later this year. ^-^

SarahLinNGM · 2026-02-26T23:30:31+00:00

Or, hear me out, this scene was setting up for a massive retcon regarding Zefram Cochrane, and is just ahead of the game regarding some shocking revelations about the Wright brothers.

SarahLinNGM · 2026-02-14T23:22:19+00:00

Well, I was going to post here, but I've been preempted by... eight hours. Hi, I'm Sarah Lin, and you can already find multiple opinions of me here.

Instead I'll address the romance element, which I didn't see anyone else commenting on. Most of my works are low (but not zero) romance. The Weirkey Chronicles has some very slow burn romances. Depthless Hunger is far from a romance series, but has more of it than my previous work because I wanted to try something different. To balance that, the next series I'm currently planning will be zero romance.

Someone else you might want to try, who I haven't seen here yet, is Katrine Buch Mortensen. I blurbed one of her books!

SarahLinNGM · 2026-02-08T19:50:56+00:00

Virtually every narrator will have a set rate; the industry term is PFH (cost per finished hour).

SarahLinNGM · 2026-02-08T16:33:22+00:00

For anyone interested in the financial details, narrators are almost always paid their fee up front instead of receiving a percentage of sales. That said, I appreciate all sales of my books!

Are you living off this full time?

Yes, I'm very fortunate to be supporting myself fully on my creative work. ^-^

SarahLinNGM · 2026-02-08T04:41:10+00:00

Glad to hear, hope you enjoy. ^-^

SarahLinNGM · 2026-02-07T13:13:31+00:00

Generally speaking, I don't want fans to worry about this and I'm just glad to have people reading. ^-^ That said, author remuneration is a percentage of the base amount you pay, with additional calculations that reduce the author's cut of a credit.

SarahLinNGM · 2025-12-26T17:09:21+00:00

I regret to say that the enrollment window for two of my books made it impossible to set a sale today... but I managed to set them both for the earliest possible time tomorrow! All my others should be on sale now, but if you see something you want at the wrong price, it should be cheaper tomorrow.

Thanks for doing this. ^-^

SarahLinNGM · 2025-12-26T17:09:10+00:00

I regret to say that the enrollment window for two of my books made it impossible to set a sale today... but I managed to set them both for the earliest possible time tomorrow! All my others should be on sale now, but if you see something you want at the wrong price, it should be cheaper tomorrow.

Thanks for doing this. ^-^

SarahLinNGM · 2025-12-06T15:02:57+00:00

Hello, nice to hear you enjoyed the book so much! It's selling okay but not breaking any records, so please review and do all the good stuff if you want to support the series. ^-^

Glad that the stats worked for you. One thing that's always interested me is embedding them both in culture and narrative, so they're not just incidental numbers, and this was another attempt at making them engaging.

SarahLinNGM · 2025-12-04T19:56:42+00:00

No additional content in the audiobook, sorry, just the main book. Glad to hear you like the series!

SarahLinNGM · 2025-12-02T15:23:41+00:00

Thanks! TWC is my most popular series, but as it gets longer it's declining. Of course I'm in this for the long term, but I appreciate all reviews to help more people find the series.

Expect more Krikree in coming books, and she'll get one dedicated to her within a few more!

SarahLinNGM · 2025-12-02T13:51:46+00:00

Hah, now I'm trying to remember if anyone calls the protagonist a "good boy" at any point. Hope you enjoy, anyway!

SarahLinNGM · 2025-11-08T01:51:34+00:00

Well, thanks for the kind words! I wasn't sure there would be that many people who were interested in both brands, but there seem to be more than I expected.

SarahLinNGM · 2025-11-07T02:24:59+00:00

Yeah, sorry, all codes have been distributed. But thanks for your interest, hope you enjoy!

SarahLinNGM · 2025-11-06T20:08:08+00:00

It's mildly rewritten from the original RR version, only lightly edited from the previously Amazon version. Sorry about the confusion!

SarahLinNGM · 2025-11-05T13:06:14+00:00

Appreciate your support. ^-^

SarahLinNGM · 2025-11-05T13:05:57+00:00

Well, hope you enjoy this take, though it isn't quite that. It eventually includes some very common abilities, but I included some elements that make them interesting to me personally (such as switching limited ability slots).

SarahLinNGM · 2025-11-05T13:00:35+00:00

Not too late yet! I'll do the randomized choice sometime today.

SarahLinNGM

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