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rupandeyparekh2404
Sep '19

My novel is new, so maybe I'm being impatient, but there is an uncomfortable discrepancy in the number of reads for chapter 1 and chapter 2. This is the story I am talking about:

I suspect it's because my first chapter isn't engaging enough. I've modified it once and it did make a difference, but something is still missing and I would really appreciate suggestions on what I'm doing wrong and how I can improve. I will reciprocate with whatever help I can provide (I'm a grammar Nazi. Grammar and spellings are my forte). Thanks!

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    Sep '19

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    Sep '19
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joannekwan(ง ˙o˙)ว here to help~
Sep '19

Upon initial impression, the prologue-esque section with Rowan was fairly engaging. There's a sympathetic character, and a pivotal action scene that makes an impact on his narrative.

But then it jumps to a disinterested Culver talking about business and politics, which is pretty dry I'd say. One gets a hint of another side of Culver when the death of his lover is mentioned, and how he could only mourn in the morning. And I find that interesting! However that interest is lost when he heads into the city. I had to reread the final section a few times to figure what his motivation was for following the drunk as I kept getting lost amidst all the scene setting, descriptions of the setting, and what background characters were doing.

nostalgicroxas
Sep '19

It's partially just how stats work honestly.

Here on Tapas my first chapters generally have double or triple the number of reads compared to chapter 2. They always end up dropping down to 10-15 views before eventually dropping down to below 10. This isn't unique to just Tapas either (dA has 667 views on ch1, and 3 on ch95)(booksie ch1 has 1959, ch61 has 274, and ch 89 has 2 -so while the number of reads for the work says its 22k, it actually isn't "alive" in readership when the most recent chapter has just 2 views). What do all of the numbers tell me? I have maybe 1 to 3 readers across just those three websites.

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My point is that the way stats have worked for me is that "chapter one will always have a statistically high number of views compared to any other chapters, independant of promotions and regardless of them". I don't really and haven't really promoted dA or Booksie and yet one of those has a large number of views, until you get to the more recent chapters. People aren't interested in a long-haul story. There's another stat that comes to mind - Ps4 trophies. Look at the FFX trophies: 1 for beating Penance, and 1 for dodging 200 lightning bolts in a row. More people have defeated Penance than those who have dodged lightning. There's no alternative or better way to do the lightning, but there's many ways and alternatives to defeat Penance - including making a pseudo-legendary weapon for Lulu.

Let's look at a story of mine that buys into Tapas's idea of making short chapters (but no consistent upload schedule). The result is identical to NTN (the above story's stats). Chapter one has more than four times the number of views than chapter two. Then interest tapers off and drops dramatically to just 1 view a chapter (with 1 like each), so I have just 1 person reading this story. I think the only reason NTN has a difference of four instead of six is because it's longer and I've been promoting it a bit more on here, so it takes a while before readership drops off (I also know from comparing stats years ago that my readership doesn't start to taper dramatically until ch10 of NTN).

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Yes. I've compared stats across sites a lot, too much, and too often, and I really should stop doing it....

joannekwan(ง ˙o˙)ว here to help~
Sep '19
2

To add to the above, yes, there's always a drop off from the first episode to second. But one has to do a bit of calculation to compare.

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Like for my own webnovel I have about a 50% retention rate going from the first ep to second. Some series have more, some have less, and as the series ages one will most likely see that retention rate go down, as more people find the first episode and decide it's not for them.

The problem comes when one has a seriously low rate after several episodes have been published for a couple of weeks. Like one doesn't want to have 1000 views on the first episode, and then 10 on your second out of say 9 episodes published (with only 3 or so subscribers to boot). That's when one has to question what about the story isn't retaining interest.

nostalgicroxas
Sep '19

I agree.

It's also important to decide about what could be the problem with retaining interest?

  • too many typos
  • not a bit of drama / love interest
  • a comedy that has no comedy
  • satires can be hit or miss
  • adventure that takes forever to adventure
  • not ideal formatting for reading online
  • too short or too long of chapters
  • too many characters (ie mom, dad, 4 siblings, 1 MC, 1 love interest, 5 members of LI's family, 10 classmates who aren't fleshed out, no less than 4 teachers...)
  • or just a general problem with pacing

And this is just assuming your story itself is compelling when it's been boiled and distilled down. Another important thing that you should keep in mind: are you having fun writing and re-reading it?

rupandeyparekh2404
Sep '19
nostalgicroxas

The comparisons were helpful, honestly. And your insights too. I wonder what can be done to keep readers interested. It's a different kind of challenge when you don't have the visual attraction of comics.

rupandeyparekh2404
Sep '19
nostalgicroxas

I think my biggest problem is the chapter length. Verbosity has been an incurable problem of mine since childhood. I like to think I've put in sufficient drama, but my personal hatred for drawn-out emotional turmoil (where I come from, the soap operas are a form of torture) might have caused me to tone it down too much.
Thank you for the tip! The list is especially helpful.

Zinx
Sep '19

Same though.
Mine goes from 180 to 35 views. But I think it's mostly people trying the work and then leaving for various reasons.

nostalgicroxas
Sep '19

Cliffhangers don't matter. It's just keeping your readers interested.

I have a few stories that I wrote daily on with various chunks, and most of them lack ... well... details, but they all get surprise plot and drama that sneaks up on me. I know.... there's at least one other writer on here that writes like 1k a day for one of their stories - I think it's @WriterLinXiaolong. There's something refreshing to write just something simple vs something complex:

  • He ran down the mountain.
  • He ran down the slick muddy mountain in the pouring rain as fast as his legs could carry him. He tripped and fell along the way, stumbled in the brush, and still propelled himself downward.

Two very different ways of writing something and honestly when I just want the thing written and done and let the readers imagine it, I go for #1 (but not with all of my novels). I might add a sentence or something to embellish #1 (He ran down the mountain. He kept tripping on plants.).

Either way of writing can keep your reader's interest. I recall reading a book (think it was Warlock by Wilbur Smith) where there's 10 pages dedicated to a lion attacking the prince out at an oasis. It's a short encounter in reality, but the pacing of the writing makes it TEN pages long.

Zinx
Sep '19
rupandeyparekh2404

I agree with the whole not needing cliffhangers at the end of each chapter, but I can see where you're coming from. For me, it's more so that not many people read poetry.

Although, I plan on releasing an actual novel in the near future.

rupandeyparekh2404
Sep '19
nostalgicroxas

I see. I really hope I don't end up in the said ten-page situation. I shouldn't, I do review the pacing in my stories, but that's not exactly my strongest point. Thanks, @nostalgicroxas and @Zinx. This is literally the first time I've been told cliffhangers aren't necessary, and it makes me feel a lot better.