A writer's rivals are not just other writers (in fact, the others are much tougher opponents)

Rival writersI have heard people say they are tormented by "jealousy" toward their rivals.

If it were just being tormented, that would be one thing, but there may even be some writers who, out of jealousy, are actively trying to sabotage their rivals.

(As a single user, it is difficult to obtain concrete proof, so I cannot say too much about it... but if you study submission sites, you will naturally see one or two suspicious activities. -> I haven't made it public because I lack concrete proof, but I do collect data and save screenshots from time to time.)

However, are rivals really justother "writers"?

Actually, I am terrified every day by the existence ofmuch larger "formidable enemies."

They are entities that exist "outside" of the content known as "novels"...

For example,anime,manga,games,YouTubers,VTubers,and TikTokers.

In this day and age, where "the decline of reading," "the decline of interest in printed text," and "the publishing recession" have long been lamented...

The content known as "novels" is constantly beingrobbed of its users and threatenedby "other types of content."

(...That said, regarding anime, manga, and games, they sometimes benefit each other through media mixes, so I cannot definitively call them "rivals" either...)

The world of entertainment content is a chaotic, warring state of impermanence and fierce competition.

Even "YouTubers," who have ranked among the "dream jobs of elementary school students," are now said to be on the verge of a bubble burst, with many streamers reporting a sharp drop in income.

Even more so, don't you think that novel content, which has long been "sitting idly by" regarding the problem of the decline in reading, is in a "dead-end" state of "crisis" with no time to spare?

Honestly, this is no time for us to be sabotaging each other within the same novel content.

Rather, the situation is such that we should all be joining hands topromote the content of novels.

However, it seems that not many people are looking at the "future" of novel content itself yet.

If novel content itself dies out, it won't matter how many rivals you've kicked down...

In fact, if we keep sabotaging each other and acting hostile, readers might be turned off and leave novel content (especially novel submission sites) altogether.

As humans, we may sometimes be swayed by negative emotions that we cannot help... but

shouldn't we at least look at our own situation more calmly and have a sense ofcrisis, or things will get bad?

Before you drown in your emotions and bury your own future in darkness, why not seriously consider “how can I” make my wishes come true?”

Novel content has a “weakness” that other entertainment content does not.

That is the unavoidable essential requirement that “a certain level of reading comprehension is required” to enjoy a novel.

Compared to other content where information flows into the brain through “images” and “sound” even if you are “passive,” novels have a higher difficulty level, and the hurdle is particularly high for beginners.

Even so, if we don't find a way to beat other content, there is no future for novel content.

Honestly, I believe that if it means getting users into this “novel” content (which is at a disadvantage compared to others), “any entrance is fine”.

Whether it's a shallow work with nothing but buzz, or a second or third-rate “seen it somewhere before” work...

Regardless, if that is the trigger that gets users to enter the world of novels, there is a possibility that those users will flow into other works as well.

(For example, I once saw on TV someone who said that a novelization of an anime was the “trigger” that made them come to love “novels” themselves”.)

In fact, I think the point is how to build a “flow line” to guide them to other works without letting them escape once users have entered.

The reason I have been researching “how to find and be found in web novels” and summarizing how to search is all for that purpose.

With a narrow-minded mentality like “I only care if my own work is read” or “I want to eliminate my rivals,” you cannot protect the future of novel content.

Just think about it. Usually, the kind of “well-stocked” store is the one customers want to enter, right?

If you pull each other down, eliminate your rivals, and end up with no “selection” at all... do you think that kind of novel content can beat anime, manga, and YouTube, which have a rich variety of genres?

No matter how talented a person is, no matter how hard they try, it is impossible for one person to carry the entire content of novels on their shoulders.

Rather, I need other diverse writers to exist in order to gather various customer segments from various directions.

Rival writers are not there to be crushed or kicked down, but rather to be nurtured and “ridden”...

(I think it is actually quite common to “piggyback” on the “moves” or “waves” created by other writers. Even now, many people are likely “riding” the Isekai Reincarnation boom or the Villainess boom (perhaps without even being aware of the predecessors who nurtured the boom)...)

You can't even use your rivals if you don't have the spirit to do so, and you won't be able to write interesting novels—at least, that is what I think.

The popularity of content is not something that stands on one person alone.

It is precisely because there were "pioneers" who built up and nurtured that content until then that you are able to gather people now.

It is precisely because there are peers who are maintaining its popularity in real-time that it has managed to avoid becoming obsolete even now.

If you act in a way that "destroys" that without considering it, the content itself will decline and head toward its "end."

As humans, we might have feelings like disliking a certain genre or disliking a certain author, but...

Rather than spending energy on such negative emotions, it is far more meaningful to devise strategies to boost your own genre and draw people to your own work.策を練った方が、はるかに有意義です。

Since human energy is limited, wouldn't it be better to use your energy for yourself and wastefully rather than using it on trivial things, and instead use it for the content you are active in? (...Or rather, as a practical matter, the situation of novel content is so critical that when I think about it, I can only feel that for any author, "the future is dark..." Isn't every piece of content now

in the age of VUCA and beyond...?)