1 IDEA 01 : BASED ON CLASH OF CLANS
* World Building
World Building is a vast task, and perhaps many new web novel authors stumble over this. Not many are able to create a good and interesting world, which can easily capture the attention of the readers.
A majority of writers rack their brains continuously over how they could make their world 'original' and 'interesting', and many times lose their enthusiasm for writing.
* Importance of World Building
World building is, obviously, important because the readers need to know exactly what kind of world your Protagonist lives in. What kind of environment is it ? Are there any monsters or beasts ? Is it a fantasy world or a Xianxia world ? How is the social structure in the world ? The history ?
Answering these questions one would realize that World building is a huge undertaking and each detail needs to be recorded. If the author forgets a detail it can cause a clash of facts. Such clashes not only make readers confused but also reduce or completely remove immersion, or the worst that can happen is the reader losing confidence in the novel or the author itself.
Following is an example of a Clash of Facts :
In Chapter X the author mentions that the Protagonist has reached the fifth level of Spirit Profound Realm. Later sixty chapters later the author writes that the Protagonist has just reached the first level of Spirit Profound Realm.
* Original content Vs Borrowed content
While writing original content is tedious and brain wreaking, there is a very good short cut to these problems, borrowing content !
Borrowing content means borrowing a pre existing concept. This concept may be from a popular movie, game, drama or myth, etc. Note that the word 'popular' is extremely important. This tactic works on the fact that the readers already are familiar with the concept, which is the reason why the readers can quickly immerse themselves in the novel.
* Disadvantages of Borrowed Content.
The reason we 'borrow' a content is because the readers are already familiar with it. But what if they are not familiar ?
For example, consider a Harry Potter fan fiction, a novel which is based on the Harry Potter series. Neither the author nor the reader has to waste their time in explaining or understanding the setting. The reader knows what to expect : magic spells, evil wizards, a weird school and an even weirder sport.
But if the reader does not know of the series, there is a good probability that the novel may be ignored.
* Solution
The best solution is to introduce the world building setting as if the reader is not familiar with the borrowed concept at all.
One might ask : Then what is the advantage of borrowing a concept if we have to spend words for the reader to familiarize ?
We write in this way because we have to cover both types of readers, those that know and those that don't.
For the readers who have never encountered the concept, they will treat it as just another web novel, and when they learn about the origin of the concept, their interest in it may awaken.
At the same time, for the readers are already know the concept, encountering it again is a moment of pleasure for them. They will anticipate what the Protagonist will do in the world familiar to them.
Such novels have a deeper level of immersion, as many people day dream themselves as the Protagonist whenever they watch a movie or play a game, etc.
* Borrowing the Concept of Clash of Clans
Following is my idea for world building by borrowing the concept from the popular mobile game "Clash of Clans" ---
01. There are two words : the Human world and the Goblin world.
02. The Goblin world has a 'Pillar of Authority', which enables a certain goblin (either a common goblin or a reincarnated person) to have power and rule all other gobllins. Note that this goblin is not the Protagonist but something like the Supreme Antagonist (Final Boss) or the Shadow of the Protagonist (like Sasuke in Naurto).
03. This 'Pillar of Authority' enables the goblins to invade the Human world.
04. The Human world has two pillars :
(1) the Pillar of Ruling : It enables the Protagonist to have certain powers similar to the game characters of Barbarian, Archer, Wizard, etc. This pillar is a substitute to something like a system.
(2) the Pillar of Afterlife : This pillar is introduced to explain abilities of game characters like the Witch, Skeletons, etc. The souls are sent and received from here.
05. The game characters will just be abilities in the world, and the abilities will be gender specific – a Barbarian cannot be female while a Witch cannot be male. Creatures like Skeletons, etc do not have genders.
06. The Protagonist will be the 'Village Head', and can have all abilites of the game characters. Thus, the Protagonist can be a Barbarian, Archer, Wizard, Witch, etc. Note that the Protagonist cannot have abilities of Skeleton and the like.
07. The Human world will have ancestors with powerful abilities of Barbarian, Archer, etc. but the present humans will have weakened their abilities (concept of bloodline).
08. As their bloodlines and abilities have weakened, their professions also be changed.
For example,
Barbarian changed to Warrior.
Archer changed to Guider.
Giant changed to Berserker.
Healer changed to Priestess.
Note that these names will be different only because their bloodlines have weakened, and there will be a kingdom (final boss in the human world) that might have retained their bloodline and might have Barbarians, Archers, Wizards, Healers, etc.
09. The Protagonist, using the Pillar of Ruling, can awaken the bloodline of his subordinates. Thus, a Warrior can awaken his bloodline to become a Barbarian.
Note that awakening a low bloodline ability like a Warrior is not easy.
In simple words,
Mortal ? Warrior (normal difficulty) ? Barbarian (high difficulty)
10. To avoid complication, both of the two worlds (the Human world and the Goblin world) will use Gold coins.
11. There will also be bloodline abilities like Builder and the Alchemist. Similar to the game, the Builder will create automatic cannons, traps, barracks, Elixir extractor and collector, etc. The Alchemist will be responsible for upgrading bloodline through Laboratory (leveling up characters like Barbarian, etc.) and creating spells (like Lightning spell, Haste spell, etc.) and creating Black Elixir. The Builders and Alchemists obtain their knowledge from the Pillar of Ruling.
Note that one needs to analyze as there are many concepts in game which has to be properly converted such that they can suit the web novel.
12. The pillars were introduced because it is more realistic instead of a system, and creates a cyclic effect.
The above statement covers two points :
(1) The concept of a system itself is unrealistic and is centered around the Protagonist. The source of strength of the said Protagonist is mysterious and unexplainable to his fellow natives, and the biggest flaw is that this power cannot be inherited by the natives.
(2) The cyclic effect means that the Protagonist is not someone special, and that the same plot keeps happening in the world. In this case, there are successors for the Pillar of Ruling and the Pillar of Authority and they gain strength and fight with each other, ending both of their civilization, and the cycle continues… …
13. There might be many kingdoms which would be differentiated according to the legacy they preserved. This legacy is the technology for creating cannons, spells, etc. and the bloodline abilities of their ancestors.
14. The interesting parts of the plot lies in how the Protagonist establishes his village and expands his domain. It will be interesting to read how the Protagonist will have powerful side kicks and establishes something like a royal family and subordinate or branch families or clans.
15. There won't be magic in the two worlds, but the use of Elixirs which would be extracted and drunk or utilized in weapons.
16. The Protagonist may or may not give themselves abilities of a Barbarian King , Archer Queen or Grand Warden. (Personally, I don't think the Protagonist should have this ability.)
17. The creatures in the world will be normal, except that perhaps they would be a little larger in size. This is done because we have to fit additional creatures like 'Dragon' and 'Lightning Dragon'.
Note that we won't be introducing game characters like 'Baby Dragon' (common sense) because, obviously, the Baby Dragon would grow up into a Dragon.
Also, it is not advised to create additional creatures like 'Saber Toothed Tiger', etc. because it may clash with the theme of the world. Both the Human and the Goblin world are similar to our original world.
18. Note that Clash of Clans is a mobile game, and it will have many updates. To convert it into a web novel it is advised to stick to a particular update. For example, if I wrote this novel, then I would stick to the earlier stages of the game, when there were fewer complications and less characters.
19. Objects like cannons and archer towers, etc. can be explained through some technical jargon like formations, etc.
Note that you must never create an 'automatic building' in your novel.
For example,
A barrack in which the Protagonist sends his barbarians to train and they come out five minutes later after consuming elixir.
Things like these are very lethal immersion killers.
20. Gems can also be introduced which can enhance training of soldiers, boost spells or attacking buildings, etc.
The crux of all this is to make the gaming concepts fit the real world.
21. Realize that a story without romance is like a bird without wings. Especially when you are targeting male readers, it is better to make the Protagonist the head of the family, with numerous kids and subordinates respecting him.
22. Do not run away from the 'Harem' word. Instead well balanced female characters balance the story and make it more interesting. Specially for this concept which has game characters like Archer, Healer, Valkyrie and Witch. One can also add the character 'Village Chief Assistant' (the woman that comes at the start of the game). The Village Chief Assistant may have a lesser version of powers than the Protagonist and is a good path for the 'first girl' in a harem.
