Note: If you don’t want to read my rant, scroll down to the part where I talk about Schwii’s side story and where you can find it. I don’t want you to miss out because it’s an important piece to understanding the plot.

Yay! Volume 1 has come to an end! That said, I still have quite a long way to go before I hit chapter 200. So, to put it into context chapter 200 is about.. 7 volumes. Yep.

I’ve been thinking about what to share, after coming to end of this: 1. Why I’ve decided to downshift from 7 chapters a week to 4 chapters a week; 2. Webnovel.

You’re right when you say that readers want more chapters. Just, from what I’ve seen, update speed does not determine whether the author can make a living off writing. This 7 chapter thing is something I assimilated from the Webnovel culture, thinking that it’s the bare minimum requirement to become a successful web novel author. While I am grateful I have this ability to write fast, I also feel a little bitter that this 7 chapter thing is bull. People don’t care if you write fast, they care if they can’t get enough of the story.

The other reason why I’m downshifting is because I don’t know what the future holds. I sometimes sound desperate even though I’m actually not desperate is because of this thing known as ‘fear’. I keep thinking that if I don’t make it as an author now, I’ll not be able to continue writing in the future. Thinking that because by then, I’ll be too busy with my main occupation to write anything good. It’s this stupid, made-up fallacy in my mind. People can handle Youtube and a full time job, and I’m here whining about not being able to write words– silly ain’t it?

We’ll see how things go. If I find somehow that I can keep my current pace even when I begin to make my rounds in the hospital, then I ‘might’ resume 7 chapters/week in the future. Otherwise, I’ll top-up the use Webnovel’s powerstone thingy as a way to gamify my series (as in, bonus chapters).

That asides, I’d also like to talk about my ignorance on certain aspects regarding the web novel industry. I’ve been digging around a little more and I think I’ve come to a better understanding of how it all works.

About Webnovel. Initially I thought it’s a crappy platform that exploits authors by monopoly and bad contracts. If you do your google search, you’d also find a lot of people agreeing that Webnovel is ‘bad’.

However, taking a broader mindset around things, I realized that Webnovel is similar to RoyalRoad and Scribblehub– a platform to post stories. Webnovel is just a more complex, featuring Chinese translated works, and a contract system to help authors earn money.

Of course, I don’t deny the fact that the contracts are scary, and it’s important you understand what is your priority before signing anything. I also sympathize with some of the writers who think it’s unfair that Webnovel only features contracted novels on the front page (then again.. why wouldn’t they? After all, it’s their responsibility to help contracted authors). And I get that the conversion rate of readers to actual [email protected] supporters on Webnovel is much lower than say RoyalRoad and ScribbleHub, that said, it’s simply part of the reader culture on the website. Webnovel is just there to satisfy their readers and help authors (and also to protect themselves).

While I do want money, and I could ask to be contracted, I don’t want to be a cog in their system. With Web 3 coming, I’m expecting more freedom and opportunities in the future for content creators like myself. So I’m looking in advance towards the future. While it is more difficult to make it as an author without the support of big platforms like Webnovel, it’ll build up my other skills sets like communication, marketing and patience required to truly become an independent creator.

Well, that’s my rant. I mean, I could go on about culture and how my writing actually doesn’t suit the genre of work most people on Scribblehub and RoyalRoad want to read, or how I’ll never be able to win the chase towards the trending list. Though, as I think the topic isn’t all that important, I won’t be talking about it.

Ah yes, as I mentioned earlier, the special thing I prepared for you– a free downloadable of Schwii’s side story. It’s a crucial piece of the storyline you don’t want to miss because it contains the lore behind why Schwii came to Sequencee. As for why I had to make it separate.. well, while it has to do with (as mentioned above, marketing), the other reason is because.. you’ll know once you read the foreword of the PDF :D

Plus, it’s an official piece of the series you can actually own. I don’t think I’ve seen any web novel series done something like this..? Well, maybe someone has already tried, I just never realized it. Plus-plus, it’s got pictures of cute Schwii and Sequencee when they were younger. Fufu–

From my website, it’ll take you to my kofi shop where you can get the download. Again, you don’t need to pay anything. It’s just, I’m using kofi out of convenience because I know there’s a feature there that allows you to put up stuff and have people come to download it.

https://www.dotturndotcreative.com/hadlj

By the way, are you looking forward to Chainsaw Man? I sure as hell am!