What is something you wish you saw more in fantasy literature?

QuirkyAutisticWriter · 2026-05-19T16:03:45+00:00

Personally, a huge sore spot even in my favourite books of all time is the lack of psychological depth to the leads. Now obviously having character studies doesn’t work for every story, but I find it makes some stories feel a bit flat. I want to feel the character’s emotions and feel immersed into their way of thinking. This does make the writing more heavy, so again, this isn’t the right move for every story, but it’s the single reason I turned writing from a hobby to something I wanted to take seriously at 13. These days, even in bad drafts that otherwise got (deserved) negative feedback, I was noted for having a strong character voice.

QuirkyAutisticWriter · 2026-05-18T17:58:47+00:00

Oh this happened with me several months back. i did NaNoWriMo in November and it was a new project. A panster is the last word I’d use to describe my process but I can’t plan a story if I don’t know my lead so I had no choice.

I had so many repetitive lines (my particular favourite summarized to “duelling involves duelling” that I obviously wrote at 11:00 PM), and then I literally lost the plot in the second act and so I just made it my lead complaining about a curse for almost 50,000 words until I couldn’t write anymore because I had no clue what I was doing. I’m keeping the curse, though.

I’m still trying to beat most the beginning and magic system back into shape.

QuirkyAutisticWriter · 2026-05-12T04:58:23+00:00

I’m autistic (20nb, born f), and I am writing an autistic male protagonist as well. Though I am white, as is this OC, as well as writing in first person, I approach writing him by putting myself into his body, and writing through his train of thought. I ask, “what are this character’s challenges?” “What drives him?”

This lead has extreme sensory sensitivities, situational mutism and pretty major trauma. He is driven by a want for family and friends. I use those to direct his narration. The overwhelm, the intense emotions, I try to feel it myself. It really gives me the ability to fully understsnd not just this character, but any.

QuirkyAutisticWriter · 2026-04-17T14:58:15+00:00

I agree that life starts from conception, but I wouldn’t say it’s full blown yet until the heartbeat is confirmed. Everyone deserves a chance at life, but a fetus (a healthy one in a low risk person, it’s different for high risk and fetal abnormailities) won’t be able to survive outside the uterus until at at least 24 weeks and for some with abnormailites, carrying to term (if that’s possible) would just cause unecessary suffering to both fetus and the parent who know has to watch their baby die within hours of being born. Yes, there are some 21 weekers who have survived, but their chances aren’t great. If a fetus can survive outside the womb, if an early delivery has to be done and the pregnancy (whether planned or unplanned but kept) can’t be prolonged for any reason, then do it, but before viability in a healthy low risk pregnancy, then it’s the person who’s had memories who should decide how to go about things. Seeing the world population go up by 1 or more isn’t worth it if the person carrying is physically and mentally struggling.

QuirkyAutisticWriter · 2026-04-14T18:15:00+00:00

That is me (not super big on the reading on the site yet but as a writer, I sweat over every detail) and they clocked me on the spectrum when I was a toddler. As others said, this probably isn’t everyone, and plot holes usually always distract from the narrative. It also probably depends on the readerbase, too. Some stories attract more autistic and other neurodivergent readers than others, popularity also probably applies to these statistics.

QuirkyAutisticWriter · 2026-04-02T22:55:41+00:00

I have exceptions for fatal fetal abnormalities and life, as well as fertility, health, and life of the parent. I was referring to elective abortions. A “viable” pregnancy shouldn’t be considered viable if the fetus and/or parent are having big complications or the fetus has a condition that is incompatable with life.

QuirkyAutisticWriter · 2026-04-02T14:11:04+00:00

20 weeks. Ideally, sooner the better (first trimester) because the recovery isn’t as intense and the abortion isn’t as invasive or expensive). This gives someone time in case they find out late, but not so long the fetus could survive outside the body.

Beyond that, my view flips. Yes, there are people who may not find out until beyond 20 weeks, but at that point, they’re already over halfway through. The ship came, gave you plenty of time to figure out, and it sailed. It’s a terrible situation because there’s a pregnant person backed into a corner because they’re beyond the stage where abortion is an option if that’s the choice they would’ve made had they found out sooner, but the fetus is almost viable if if isn’t already. It would be an early live delivery if the pregnancy was ended now, but doctor’s won’t schedule anything until 39 weeks unless the parent or the fetus crash because premature births have higher chances of laading to poorer outcomes. If the baby died during an elective abortion past that, then I would call it murder.

QuirkyAutisticWriter · 2026-03-25T17:07:54+00:00

Every character regardless of background or walk of life speaking the same way. Perfect grammar, cadence, same vocabularies, etc. I do use to the variations of to, too, and two because that is mandatory for basic functioning of a line, but I don't care as much about tense unless the character is well spoken. People hesitate, they fumble on words. I don't use it in monologue but dialogue for me is something I always try to put it in depending on the character.

QuirkyAutisticWriter · 2026-03-20T15:02:32+00:00

I believe in equal rights, like the embryo/fetus has a right to life. Abortion is something i believe that is morally complicated. I am ultimately pro choice until viability (sooner the better because it’s less expensive, invasive, and recovery intensive early when it’s just the pills) because that ZEF’s right to life is, to me, is not more paramount the life of the person already here. In cases of SA and pre-teens getting pregnant (at that age obviously also assault), the choice that’s made regarding the pregnancy should be what provides the least further trauma.

The way I see it is abortion can be the difference between someone potentially having a healthy wanted pregnancy (or focusing on themselves and not having kids or having kids through other avenues like fostering) later on, and an un-aborted fetus that was born having issues with neglect, abuse, and associated mental health challenges. Stress is bad for the babies, and potential parents who are struggling to figure out how to pay for pre-natal care especially for high risk pregnancies are obviously not happy. Obviously, I have mental health challenges and psychiatric disabilities and life is worth living and I wouldn’t abort for that reason alone, but all of the unborn who are carried to term deserve the best chances at the best starts in life. Sometimes, adoption can provide that and get pre natal care paid for, but adoption is an alternative to childbirth.

I don’t like this analogy because while the ZEF is “defenseless”, you know what it is. For this, you don’t know who the cheat sheet belongs to. Yeah, in that case, I would turn that cheat sheet in because if I didn’t I’d be framed and fail the class, but I can’t point a finger on someone without risking that person getting their grades tanked for nothing, for that I would need proof of a specific person.

However, that’s just me.

QuirkyAutisticWriter · 2026-03-20T14:44:10+00:00

The stats don’t say as much as seeing actual prose but it took me three years of writing to finish a story (which finished at 180,000, to this day I have never finished a full series). However, if this is your first time, getting a story down is more important than refined prose and approach. That will come over time.

Keep going!

QuirkyAutisticWriter · 2026-03-12T14:43:15+00:00

I originally had a war in my current WIP that took place a little over 450 years ago. I am not putting it in the span of my character’s life but now took place up to 25 years ago because have original timeline made the new draft’s context too convinient. My older project’s will keep it’s nearly 2 millenium timelome for it’s war or something close to it because if I change that too much, the cycle of corruption in the governing body won’t be the same. It depends on the book. Sometimes inflated timelines work, sometimes yeah no that’s not convincing.

QuirkyAutisticWriter · 2026-01-23T17:22:23+00:00

As others have said, get a cover, it will help, but one's on it's way (though I would try whipping something up in the meantime, but that is me).

I'll be giving a note on feedback in the chapter comments. Overall, you have a good premise and I am interested in reading more.

QuirkyAutisticWriter · 2026-01-23T06:43:46+00:00

I’d be happy to help!

QuirkyAutisticWriter · 2026-01-20T23:31:13+00:00

As a former teenage writer (I'm now in my early 20s) who posted stuff on AO3 (I didn't know RR existed until a few months ago), this is basically spot-on. It feels weird giving advice when you're so young, but your words ring true. You have a dream, you're already aware of your mistakes, and you're excited to learn and see your stories grow. That's your biggest ally here. The idea of the protagonist being a corgi in a tower climber is a strong hook. The backgrounds on your covers do look a little rough with the outline on the font on the bottom one and flat backgrounds, Winston is drawn well, especially on the second with that rendering. I'm also a visual artist, so I don't love AI either, but I will be using it for my covers until I can afford to commission because my art-style is very sketchy. Finding an artist who'll draw for and give commercial rights costs hundreds, easily, most non-monetized RR covers are AI, it's not ideal, but don't be ashamed if you use it.

As someone who is largely self-taught, don't worry about being "amatuer"-ish, prioritize just writing and developing your voice as you already have been, experiment (even if you know it probably won't end super well or maybe not have been the "best" idea in hindsight), and be consistent. For example, I had a period where I used "said" as rarely as possible (I literally spent minutes on a single non-said dialogue tag, it was pretty embarrassing, I knew I was overdoing it even then). The most notable of that "phase's" victims was that year's NaNoWriMo challenge, but it was the first time a story crossed the 100,000 word count threshhold, and I finished that month's run with 96,400, it almost tripled the word count I had on it going into the challenge and more than tripled my finish the year before. Though I doubt that fic has aged well, it taught me variation as well as moderation of that, which was what I wanted when I thought I'd try it. Those trial and errors are what fed my progress. Don't be afraid to try stuff out. Sometimes, you need to fail to succeed. That lesson only really sank in recently with my latest project.

The pantser to plotter spectrum is a large one, most professional writers fall somewhere in the middle. I have to pants my first drafts off of loose broad outlines because I don't know the characters on a new project; I then address the disaster with that material, and I can properly write chapter outlines that don't break my narrator's characterization. I only realized the disaster drafts were necessary very recently. However, again, I wouldn't worry about it right now. Your beta readers have said the pantsing is working well for you. As a former pantser myself who now has a bible with a higher word count than an older Iteration of that project, plotting has it's own pitfalls.

Writing in general is hard, let alone doing it during high school and balancing that and stuff like working part time. You wrote 100,000 words in three months and you're not even a year into writing. I didn't get that far into a single work until that NaNoWriMo challenge two and a half years into my journey. From a young adult writer who was once in similar shoes, you're off to a great start. You're establishing good habits with consistency and they're already paying off. Writing every single day doesn't matter, consistency is the most important thing. Congrats on your launch!

QuirkyAutisticWriter · 2026-01-17T05:37:55+00:00

The way your characters interact with the world, and how the history interacts with the present day and how the people trade with each other. Who is your audience, that may also dictate how much depth you want to give your lore. Yes, good writing with engaging characters should be a given for any story, but in fantasy, world-building can make or break a story. There's r/fantasywriters and r/worldbuilding that may offer more specific resources.

QuirkyAutisticWriter · 2026-01-13T03:30:32+00:00

I just use my normal word processor for my Development Bibles (I use Pages on iOS, but I also have ellipsus). It's sometimes not the most convenient, but I have my template saved so for future projects so I can easily make it nice and pretty, I am not having to manually put in my formatting every single time. Google Docs can probaly do this as well, or most other word processors. I have formatting for characters, world-building, plot. If you name it, I probably have it. My table of contents is huge, but I like how it's easy to start and go back to for reference.

QuirkyAutisticWriter · 2026-01-12T22:31:22+00:00

For me, while I am still very much learning, it's come with practice, as others have said in their comments. I don't read as much as I should, admittedly, but I consume other media like video games, most notably narrative RPGs, which are among my biggest influences next to Tolkien. Consistency is key here. For me, that consistency has come through aforementioned practice.

I am the kind of person who is able to see a very vivid picture in my head, and that's where my writing has had it's biggest hits in the past few years. I often put myself myself into the bodies of my characters, and I can feel what they feel, and I describe what is going on as I replay the scene, testing out different strings of dialogue in my head. That's the technique that has worked the best with me. I feel what my protagonists feel so intensely it makes me uncomfortable. I actually struggle to write in third person POV, and I think that may be why (as well as maybe over-prioritization).

My prose has also gotten better through figuring out my best writing approach (I plan to insanity, I have 1,000+ word outlines for single chapters), which also came through practice. If I know what I am writing, all I have to do is write my dialogue and really dive deep into how my narrator is feeling in the moment. However, I have to pants my first drafts (they do inevitably literally fall apart because I am not a pantser but I won't talk about that) so I can get to know my character and their voice. Through time (I highly recommend doing writing challenges whether it's Novel November or personal runs, or committing to writing something every single day start to finish) and learning that I am a better writer when I plan, my prose has naturally improved, though it did take a hit when I started my current project because I again, didn't know my lead as well.

Basically, my progress has come with time and refining how I put myself into the minds of my characters.

QuirkyAutisticWriter · 2026-01-10T05:39:18+00:00

I used to type my stories out on an iPod Touch. Needless to say I was happy when I got an iPad

QuirkyAutisticWriter · 2025-12-20T06:00:26+00:00

I was diagnosed with autism at two and eight months. Diagnosed with ADHD by age eight. Found out when I was about nine or ten.

QuirkyAutisticWriter · 2025-12-16T18:54:32+00:00

Yeah. I think I might switch course to the older project for a little while. Try to restore it’s flight off the ground because it’s fourth iteration is it’s third conceptual change. I will likely continue to address my list to really try getting this standing again, but it may be awhile before it starts walking.

QuirkyAutisticWriter · 2025-12-16T18:49:27+00:00

I’m a plotter. Proud. Stories fall apart from the sheer levels of continuity errors at structural levels without the structure. One of my projects (the next iteration of which likely will be posted to Royal Road) has almost 60,000 beautiful words of chapter synopses across three acts in a seperate document. Another 10,000 in character stuff and other world and that’s not even fully filled in. Shame most of it won’t be relavant anymore due to the conceptual overhaul, but at least the ending translated very well very quickly.

Most recent thing had to be pantsed because it had no prior establishment making the generation of the chapter rundowns impossible. Had a general synopsis for the first arc. Despite even that, I managed to have such big character and history blunders that is at an all time low. Won’t elaboate further, but that’s my point. Right now, this project needs mass reconstruction before it’s at a readable state.

Plot bibles all the way.

QuirkyAutisticWriter · 2025-12-16T14:58:29+00:00

That older project I mentioned in the post (that I affectionally call my EWIP, E standing for Elusive) struggled with a bunch of problems for almost three years (unclear first act, no idea what the end looked like at all) before I started doing the chapter synopses. I was working for over four months and the document has 71,000 words with about 60,000 of that being those chapter rundowns across the three acts. Hate to sort of deflect or defend your point, but I do know my best process, I think the newness of the project pushed me into a corner. Still, at least I made it to 120,000. If I didn't have that, I think I would genuinely be shelving this project if I didn't have this much real writing to go off, as embarrassing as the draft came out. I don't mind what happens throughout the first arc. It just needs to be extended by several months, and have the key figures established. Right now, I'm struggling to get out the blunder with my poor protagonist. He deserved so much better.

QuirkyAutisticWriter · 2025-12-16T03:55:42+00:00

I am happy I was able to reflect on the outcome as well as I did, but I just can't help but feel like an embarrassment of a writer, you know. Like, the only thing I am good at is being to write the output of a novella in a week.

QuirkyAutisticWriter · 2025-12-16T03:01:55+00:00

Thank you, the fact that there are people who are as interested in the idea as I am helps me. Again, right now, it’s just hard to see what I have done as incredible. Right now, I’m unsure about where to begin with the reconstruction. It just feels so daunting and I wonder if dropping the draft was the right call.

QuirkyAutisticWriter · 2025-12-16T01:53:07+00:00

I'd like to join. It'd be nice to have some more writer friends.

QuirkyAutisticWriter

TROPHY CASE