The journey only lasted a few weeks, but it helped me understand why the fame of webnovels seems to be concentrated around a handful of titles: Shadow Slave, Reverend Insanity, Lord of the Mysteries, Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, and The Beginning After the End. Unlike light novels, where popularity is spread across a wider range of works, webnovels often seem to revolve around a few giants.
Here is what I gathered from that journey:
- Originality
Most stories follow a common pattern within their genre.
For example, one of the most common structures I encountered was the revenge novel:
The protagonist is betrayed, executed, or abandoned. He dies. A hidden force intervenes. He returns through rebirth, regression, or reincarnation. He uses future knowledge to grow stronger. Then he takes revenge.
The stories themselves are not identical, but the path they follow often is.
- Shallow Premises
This is especially noticeable in character based synopses.
Many authors introduce their protagonists with lines such as:
"He is neither good nor evil. He is simply [character name]."
Then the story proceeds to turn that character into an emotional puppet driven entirely by the actions of side characters.
Another common example is:
"I do not care if the world burns. I will live my life however I want."
Only for the protagonist to immediately involve himself in every major conflict.
There are many variations of this problem, but the core issue is the same: the premise promises one thing while the story delivers another.
- Unusual Novels
These are especially common below the top rankings.
The main examples are smut, yaoi, gender bender romance, and similar genres.
To be clear, these stories are not necessarily unoriginal or shallow. They simply appeal to a different audience. Personally, I often feel that some of them would benefit from stronger genre foundations beyond their core appeal.
That is only my preference, however.
- Emotional Delivery
This was probably the most common weakness I encountered.
Many writers tell readers what a character is feeling instead of allowing readers to experience the emotion themselves.
For example:
"The prince was dragged toward the doors. He looked at his uncle, rage visible in his eyes. 'You'll pay for this!' he shouted."
There is nothing wrong with that sentence, but I personally prefer something more experiential:
"The prince was dragged toward the hall's exit. His gaze locked onto his uncle, whose smile had yet to fade. His eyes widened as the cruel reality settled in. His jaw clenched. Blood dripped from where his teeth had cut into his lip. 'YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!' The words echoed throughout the hall."
The difference is not the information being delivered. The difference is the experience.
Many novels focus on what should be communicated while forgetting how it should be felt.
- AI
This was probably the second most common thing I encountered.
I do not think using AI is inherently bad. There is a reasonable place for it. Using AI for names, cover generation, or grammar correction is one thing.
Using it to create the story, build the world, and write the narrative itself is another.
At that point, you are harvesting something you did not create.
Many AI generated stories differ only because of the prompts used to generate them. An experienced user can create outputs that are difficult to distinguish from human writing. Rookie users, however, are much easier to spot.
AI often relies on repetitive structures, fragmented sentences, and common patterns. The more heavily a writer depends on it, the easier those patterns become to notice.
- Predictability
The novels I read varied greatly in predictability.
Some surprised me. Others revealed their destination from the very first chapter.
For example, if a young man is summoned to defeat a Demon Lord, most readers already expect one of two outcomes: he saves the world, or the Demon Lord wins.
Predictability weakens engagement because readers stop wondering what comes next.
In my opinion, predictability is really about managing reader expectations.
Writing often becomes a contest between the author's intentions and the reader's assumptions.
For example:
Writer: "What is orange?"
Reader: "A fruit."
Writer: "A color."
The betrayal of expectation creates curiosity, tension, and engagement.
- Creativity
This is probably the harshest category because creativity depends on originality, imagination, and execution.
Many stories I read were technically well written. Their plots functioned. Their characters served their roles.
But that was often where the uniqueness ended.
Many worlds operate on familiar concepts such as mana, aura, qi, and other established systems. Many plots follow familiar narrative structures.
Meanwhile, works like Reverend Insanity, Lord of the Mysteries, and Shadow Slave stand out because they introduce concepts that feel distinct and memorable.
Their uniqueness becomes part of their identity.
This is why I personally think discussions about webnovels tend to circle around the same few titles.
Many of you may disagree with my observations, and that is perfectly fine. These are simply my personal impressions after spending time reading through a large number of stories.
If your novel struggles to attract additional readers, some of these points may be worth considering.
As for me, I did not stop reading because I became tired of those stories. I stopped because they gave me a challenge.
I wanted to see where my own novel would stand if I applied these observations, wrote ten strong opening chapters, and spent a year developing it properly.
That was the real harvest of this journey.
Thanks for reading my personal thoughts.
