Hi,

  This isn’t a chapter, but I’d like some input for the direction of the story. I’ve got some ideas, but I need some suggestions to…refine them, if you will.

  First question: what has the reader experience been like? What is this story missing? What does it have that you like? As a writer, what habits should I keep, which should I lose, and which should I work on developing?

  Next question: Should there be levels? Why, or why not? I’m really torn up about this point: on one hand, levels are good for pacing; they demonstrate progression in a real, concrete way. On the other hand, levels are very over used. I could argue it breaks the flow of the reading, and makes this seem less like a world, and more like a game. Levels are useful mechanically also, they give me milestones to stop and update my notes on the story, how things have changed, how Nezz himself has changed and evolved since his last levels. But levels come with a “over 9000” risk, where the main character becomes extremely powerful suddenly and basically ruins plots by powering through them. If you’re curious, that’s part of the reason the stats are displayed the way they are.

  No, I don’t plan for this to be an “I am suddenly unstoppable” main character type story. If it does, it won’t be any time soon, and I want real character and world development to support why and how it happened. Anyways, levels, yes or no?

  Next: suggestions on a kind of magic Nezz should specialize in would be helpful. I have plans for several, so just pick from the information about the elements provided in the previous chapter and explain what you visualize happening with this element. Or you can just make up your own. Remember, pick a base first, earth, fire, water, or air, and then a progression from there: that element plus entropy, extropy, or another base element. Just a note for anyone thinking this is going to be a stereotypical wizard character, I don’t plan for this to become a pure mage like story. Like all things, classes are not really defined, and who you are is determined by your skills, just like in real life.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  What do you want to see in this story? This is supposed to be reader interactive, in that I take serious input from readers, and incorporate it into the story. This means there are very few hard rules. In fact the only one I can think of right now is no sudden over powered main character. Anything else though, is basically rule of cool. Give me something awesome, and the world can adapt, because it’s awesome. So what do you, as a reader, want to see most? Fast and furious combat scenes? Mystery plot thickening? Character relationships developing? More world building? I basically plan to have all of these throughout the story, but I need to prioritize.

  Lastly, I need suggestions on formatting. What would make the reading experience easier on the eyes? Should I focus on having more tables? No tables? More color? Where should I have more color? Should I bold things/ Make the text larger? Have more blank lines? I don’t want this to be a pain to read.

  Basically, I’ve got a whole mess of ideas, concepts, plot points and things in my head, so I need help with organizing them so that this will be enjoyable, and so that I don’t lose focus on the story. I’m happiest when my readers are happy, so I just want to work a little more on incorporating that reader interactive tag. Also, there will be sci-fi stuff later on, that’s not just there for show, I promise.

  Could use the help, and as always, I love the comments/ratings/whatever…Not expecting reviews as of yet, considering this is only by chapter three, but I need to find a way to catch me some more readers.

*waves virtual butterfly net*

Thanks for reading,

-Kthrelegon

  Also, I’ve been considering having a kind of chapter word count update at the bottom of the fiction description, so that people know I’m actually working, and not slacking. Thoughts?

  Only seven hundred or so more words until the next chapter, so hopefully that will be out some time later today.