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bulgariansumoRegular
Mar '22

So I've been looking at the views for my novel since I started posting it, and I noticed a lot of viewers don't make it past the first page. This is normal for most sites, however on Tapas, the first page is just the episode cover image. Is this a bad way to start?

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    Mar '22

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    May '22
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KoreanTacos
Mar '22

I'm sure a lot of people miss the "web novel" part and just assume it's a webcomic (tapas originally was a webcomic exclusive site) and seeing a cover as the first episode and immediately seeing text may lower peoples expectations on what they thought they were about to read, but that's just my personal guess based on when I clicked your link.

bulgariansumoRegular
Mar '22

Do views not count unless you're on the page for a certain amount of time? Because there's not that many on the second episode compared to the first, so I'm not sure if anyone would've seen the text to begin with.

KoreanTacos
Mar '22

From my understanding it's based on when the reader actually makes it to the bottom of the page and reaches all that beautiful advertisement on the bottom, before it's really counted as a view, but I could be wrong on that.

MShadowlawn
Apr '22

Logistical concerns aside, I'm going to have a look at the opening for myself and tell you what I think.

While I've pulled the trick of opening with a dialogue line before-it's a cool way to get into the rhythm of a section immediately-you kind of need to earn that with a little description of the people speaking. A cold open with a dialogue line is cool and all, but the reader is going to be lost quickly without something more to anchor them or at least a cool vibe to the dialogue.

For example, on your second dialogue line, I'd add a description at the end. Is this dude a (space)marine with a helmet, Or does he have more of a formal officer's uniform with nice badges? Or does he look more like a bellhop at a hotel? I don't have the necessary information to evoke anything of the rest of his mannerisms here. We do get details, but they're definitely too late, I think.

Later on, the flow is a little choppy, with fast-forwards not linking together very smoothly, and at the same time a little too plodding for my taste. It's a little too wrapped-up in itself without even sprinkling in much lore or vibe on the account of lack of description-these are fairly fatal mistakes to make for a first chapter.

Good example, when he's waiting for the ship you never describe how the waiting area looks. My intuition tells me it's a lot like a civilian airport but all the lore we've got so far on this kid gives a military vibe. It's kind of confusing, and more confusing than an opener should be. The pizza scene makes me lean even more towards civilian settings, but a military background is still inferred.

To be fair, you at least paint a fairly clear picture of your main character's personality-very valuable info for a casual viewer-but overall this opening chapter leaves a lot to be desired as far as I'm concerned.

1 month later

closed May 2, '22

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