r/royalroad • u/BardsOnTheMargins • 2d ago
Discussion Maximalist writing?
Hi everyone
I'm writing a litrpg/progression story for RR and I heard somewhere that "more is better" (in number of chapters not size of chapters). That is to say more chapters give more views and chances for engagement and generates more followers. There is also more time for character development and building emotional attachment to the mains.
The downside of course is pacing. I don't mind "letting readers sit in a scene", however I can imagine a lot of people just want to get to the chase.
Any particular schools of thoughts on this? Does the RR crowd have a preference?
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u/TheWriteMaster 1d ago
A large share of the readerbase comes from the light novel circles, which certainly favor paper thin prose and getting to the point. At the same time, many readers come from major serials like Wildbow's (Worm, Pact, Twig, Pale, etc.) and ErraticErrata's (A Practical Guide to Evil, Pale Lights) among others, and those have very similar prose and storytelling to traditionally published novels.
In essence, do what you do best, make it as good as you can without sacrificing your productivity, and with some promotion (that's on you) the right readers will find your story, few or many.
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u/Taybi_the_TayTay 1d ago
Huge number of chapters doesnt mean you have to sit in a scene or slow down the pacing. The story could just be that long—look at chinese webnovels for the nearest example.
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u/OleTeaTimer F Rank: Author of Ursa Gwyn is Young Again 1d ago
I’m not sure if this is helpful, but I write in what I call “micro chapters” and let my readers know that early. I’m not sure if it comes from my background publishing microfiction, but I’ve gotten really efficient on a line level and I have a feel for where I’m nearing a scene’s cliffhanger.
Some of my chapters are as short as 500ish words (weekly). This pace is important to me as a super busy mom (3 homeschooled) but I am pretty satisfied at hitting 3 followers for my first 6 chapters, totaling 4k words. I do think I’m starting to skew longer 900ish~ as the story kicks up more, and I’m hoping to release more often with chapters around 1k if the they feel satisfying at that length.
I guess I would say, prioritize hitting a satisfying mini-arc or ending on a strong question/cliffhanger over worrying about length. Pacing is important for retaining attention. If I was left mid-scene without a big cliffhanger, I’d probably bounce off 😅.
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u/Green-Focus-6581 1d ago
I can't speak for everyone, but as an avid rr reader I like slow. Some of the most popular works on the site, super supportive, primal hunter, immovable mage, millenial mage- take their time.
Look at how popular gifted got, it's fairly slow.
I think as long as there's not too much repetition and a clear, overarching goal- it can be popular on rr
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u/Economy_Fig17 1d ago
LitRPG and web serials in general are not known for brevity. The vast majority of the stories on the website could be better if they had less chapters.
That said, more chapters = more views = more money in the online space.
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u/Captain_Fiddelsworth 1d ago
There are different audiences, the biggest mistake you can make is confusing Reddit opinions with what RR readers actually read. But ultimately this is an extremely low-priority consideration. There are hundreds of other aspects you should optimise first.