Resolved Web novels vs Light novels

So as the usual, never-looking-at-the-type-of-novel-except-where-it-came-from me, I never knew what web novels and light novels are and what are the difference between. And so, I came to the only place I could really know, the NUF Forums, which I seldom come to. Please enlighten this clueless nuffian on these topics~

Also, please answer the poll~

 

LN is the official version of the story and web novel is digital version and if we go through difference b/w them would be
LN is streamlined, has better pacing, better grammar and refined. Sometimes LN has extra events as bonus material the WN never had. Also the LN might go a different direction and explore plot and details that the WN never touched upon(Tate no Yuusha is a good example of this). It all depends on the author and editor really.
At the end of the day, WN is free public domain while the LN is published and the money maker.

In reality web novels are for people like us, smh.

 

From what I know, WN are unofficial and ‘crude’ writing while LN are official and ‘polished’.

Basically, Web Novels are just written by the writer and put out there while Light Novels have editors and publishers working on the writer’s story/writing and artists for cover/character art
Edit: Forgot to mention that LN are typically copyrighted while WN very rarely, if ever, will be.

 

As far as I know, you can think of light novels as a more refined version of web novels
However, there are usually some differences in the plot between a web novel and a light novel of the same novel, most people prefer light novels than web novels

 

WNs are released to a web novel platform directly by the author with little-to-no proofreading or editing. They are usually of low quality when it comes to grammar and content. There's a lot of filler because WNs thrive on having a fast release cycle. A WN author's livelihood is based almost solely on how quickly the author can churn out content.

The definition for what constitutes a LN is vaguer. In general, a LN is published by a publishing company as a physical book. LNs typically have an editor and a proofreader. As such, they are more polished then a WN. They usually have a handful of anime-style drawings interspersed throughout the work.

 

Just to add something that hasn't be told, sometimes in the LN version the story is quite heavily modified by editor's push to be more streamlined (removing stuff that is too original, too harsh, too sharp or not 18+ friendly), to add stuff that had been popular in other novels (adding templates, lucky perverts scenes, fanservice or cliche character types), to change strong female characters into potted plant/damsel in distress harem members/waifus, or shonenified with added filler arcs in order to sell more volumes...

So LN aren't always better, they are sometimes just more market friendly and loose quite a lot or freshness and originality (Cf vermillion Estellion made quite a long rant about it on his website, even Asuna in SAO (to use a novel more known) got quite heavily downgraded from female baddass to princess locked in a castle (for example, in the WN she was the one that killed Kuradeel full baddass style but in the LN she hesitated, became an useless maiden, and Kirito had to save her), and it's not the only time in this LN that a female character is downgraded to put the MC in a good light)...

 

I thought webnovel is a brand cause there's an app named that...
After a while, i thought WN is the one that care less about copyright & would make more references / mentions to popular culture...

 

This is so informative! Thank all of u for answering. Now I know why the webnovels from Webnovel have no editing and mistakes(being that English isn’t some of their 1st language)

 

Most answers here are about what the Japanese do, or probably Korea, not sure if it's the same in China since they have a web novel site which users pay to read the chapters, no information about the rest of Asian countries.

 

Thank you everyone for explaining to me the differences, now I know what they mean~

 

Adding on to what others said LN and WN are japanes exclusive.
KR and CN don't usually do that. Although they're a few exceptions like dungeon defense.

 

Think of WNs as the stories amateur writers post on fictionpress and LNs as the more official, better, edited, and proofread version of that story. I personally prefer LNs more because WNs have too many damn run-on sentences (for JP that is), have stories as tokutens (usually for physical only tho), and it's been looked over by an editor for better plot/character development in addition to just editing overall.

 

Webnovel is the name China Reading gives to its overseas version of Qidian. Fittingly it does publish web novels but is not the sole proprietor of them.

Web novels are exactly what they sound like. Usually writen by amateurs and exclusively published online either on the author's own blog or on a specialized site such as Royal Road, ScribbleHub, or Wattpad. Does not apply to self-published books on Kindle or Kobo. Usually written as a hobby with the Chinese notable for their successful monetization of it with a pay-as-you-read model.

Light novel is more of a marketing term than anything, but most often is used to denote the Japanese equivalent to YA novels, increasingly popular as source material for anime adaptions. Usually published in small novella-sized volumes (as opposed to the XXXTRA DUMMY THICC hardbacks favored by YA novels) with a small number of illustrations throughout. Often the official English releases are digital-only.

 

To follow up a bit as others mentioned, in JP, most publish web novels online for free, and when they get a publisher interested, it gets rewritten as a light novel.

As for which one is better all depends. LN have more polish as people have said, but that polish often times go beyond just fixing grammar, focus and etc. They can involve adding in new trends to what is hip now, or shortening some stories to fit within less page count. To sometimes even censoring content to make it more PG.

So if you are wondering what to choose, it can be a hit or miss. I've seen plenty of LN adaptation ruin the content completely and create more plot holes than fixing them simply to "comply with trend or PGifying it". I've also seen a lot of forced events added in the name of "bonus content". So WN readers would read it.

 

Web novels are essentially drafts of the story
Light novels the finished stories.
Korean and Chinese platforms sell web novels.
Japanese sell only light novels. Alphapolis might be an outlier but I don't know enough @Kuro_0ni

 

I can only speak for the Japanese literature part, to my understanding, Light novels can be considered web novels when hosted via an online platform. For the average Japanese person, there is either a novel or light novel.

A light novel is basically literature that is roughly 100-150 pages with easy to read dialogue & paragraphs, with vocabulary that can be understood by teenagers/ young adults. These are published books in Bunkobon size (mainly A6 or 105mm x 148mm).

The term "Light Novel" is a wasei-eigo or a literal Japanese-made English word. Where it is called "Raito Noberu", "Ranobe" or "Rainobe". Hence any Japanese Novella written in a format with vocabulary designed for young adults/ teenagers is a "Light Novel"

I believe somewhere in translation to differentiate the Japanese novella, from published works (books) and works hosted online, Web-novels & Light novels, became two separate things.

-----------------
​

Websites like Alphapolis and Syosetu, are merely online platforms which the everyday Japanese Netizen can post their works via smartphone or computer. (Most of the time its via smartphone, because computer is expensive).

At the same time, Alphapolis is also a publisher. Every now and then they host contests for aspiring authors, those who rank in at the top are sometimes offered a publication, if the author meets certain requirements. Its also why they usually have minimum character limits of 3500 or more.

-----------------
​

Now back to web-novels, again web platforms like Alphapolis, Syosetu, etc. can host literary work which can be considered both a light novel & novel (they are just differentiated by vocabulary and details). And since they are hosted online both of these are web-novels.

Its also why some Japanese authors become ecstatic when they get an official publication. Some usually refer to their light novel works as works-in-progress, the moment they get a publisher deal is when they can validly say they wrote a light novel.

----------------​

TLDR: >> Consider Japanese light novel works hosted online as drafts (webnovels), as authors can make changes/ revisions. Sites like Syosetu shows when authors revise or change their stories. Actual printed works are Official Light novels.

 

I've gained some more data on LN from your post,
Also, why would some of the web novels differs substantially or their content/plot contradicting from their LN version ??

 

Your question is quite abstract, the "why does it differ?" can in part be due to an authors decision, or another party.

As an example: An Author ranks #1 on JPnovelweb, as a reward the author is offered a publication deal. But the publication deal has certain requirements. Basically what ever is in the contract between an author and publisher, may affect the story, big or small.

The contract may stipulate a certain number of volumes.
>>> Author may create fillers, so the WN may not have these stories.

The contract may have a clause which allows for a secondary writer.
>>> Author may not have full control over their work.

---------
Edit:
It's also possible that it may be the editor that revises the plot or writes the entire plot themselves. SoraNews24 article

The difference with Web novel & Light novel consistency could be due to multiple factors.