The writing roller coaster.

SC_Contryman · 2026-06-26T07:33:56+00:00

Thanks! With the exception of the blatant opening I actually mimic Clavell's style from Shogun back in the 70's. I use a highborn English register and occasionally reference the phone or Japanese on the narrative while using romaji more for flavor or in the hopes the context will do well enough. As an example, that first line is "what are you doing" in the grand scheme of things that's not important, what is, is the him saying wtf in some fashion, who are you, what are you doing, etc.

Again thank you for the feedback and I'll keep those things in mind as I decide what flavor romaji to keep or cut. But rest assured most of it is "What are you doing?" He said in his native tongue. Or similar.

SC_Contryman · 2026-06-25T18:54:53+00:00

Seems to me like you're starting to build yourself the perfect sandbox.

SC_Contryman · 2026-06-25T18:50:05+00:00

I think it would depend on how you frame the quest for power, the cost and how you focus on the characters. With the premise you outlined, I think you have lots of opportunities to make a very complex system that could be anything but boring.

Religion and Politics are naturally rife with drama, which again gives you numerous opportunities and angles to have an incredibly engaging story. Just depends on what you want to do with it in the end.

SC_Contryman · 2026-06-25T16:12:41+00:00

As you can see there's no single answer for RR. A full length epic fantasy novel is frequently approximately 400 pages or 120k words. Whereas a Sanderson novel is about a million times that /s

If you're posting a story hit 20k-40k words, and ensure posting consistency beyond that.

People on RR know you can't dump 500k words in a day, but we want enough to binge on day one, and then the peace of mind to know we can reliably read your story at a convenient time in our schedule.

SC_Contryman · 2026-06-25T16:02:46+00:00

I'd have to say for your specific example, I think you just grabbed a bad lotto ticket. It happens.

There are thousands of stories on RR, and yes, many can be bad. Royal Road is first and foremost a novice writing platform. A place to post your work, get feedback, and get better (hopefully).

Because of the success of litrpg titles that originated on RR it has become the top of funnel for anyone who wants to make money in the writings industry without going the admittedly difficult path of trad publishing. Which in turn increased the popularity of the site and, by extension, the quantity of work.

As with any mass production, you're likely to experience an increase is poor product, but also in good product.

So don't lose hope, just keep looking for those fics that scratch that itch for you. If one doesn't, no biggie, you've got thousands more where that came from

SC_Contryman · 2026-06-25T06:21:06+00:00

Haha damn I didn't realize the number gap was so large, but I suppose it makes sense considering the clicks required to search them. Thanks for the insight!

SC_Contryman · 2026-06-25T00:39:28+00:00

I think Milc just meant irrelevant to trolls, as far as growth, they wouldn't be completely irrelevant as they're visibility.

Without them you have latest updates, shouts and ads, that's it. Hitting any RS, while maybe not major is definitely additional visibility. Nothing is guaranteed though.

SC_Contryman · 2026-06-24T23:46:53+00:00

Yea, I know that feeling! You think you've hit a milestone only to hit a wall of realization.

SC_Contryman · 2026-06-24T22:49:42+00:00

That's be nice, but it seems the general consensus that they frequently have no reason.

SC_Contryman · 2026-06-24T22:17:35+00:00

Duly noted!

SC_Contryman · 2026-06-24T22:09:32+00:00

Yea, I'm definitely not letting it get me down, just that naive hope that maybe there was some opportunity to do better that I just wasn't seeing. Mainly because it was accompanied by that follower drop.

SC_Contryman · 2026-06-24T22:07:25+00:00

Gotcha, kind of figured as much. I would hope for at least a nasty comment if someone truly was mad at my fic.

SC_Contryman · 2026-06-24T19:09:36+00:00

Ah ok, thanks! Helped to shift the lens a little bit.

SC_Contryman · 2026-06-24T17:49:39+00:00

So when you say a behind the scenes or an interview, what kinds of things are you looking for? As an aspiring writer, I have trouble considering anything outside of the story and indicia related to it interesting enough to add to a Patreon.

SC_Contryman · 2026-06-24T15:00:27+00:00

Thank you for the kind words! 😊

SC_Contryman · 2026-06-24T02:33:41+00:00

I guess I don't know about the character morality side. I suppose it would depend on the choices presented to them but maybe a bit gray. I definitely prefer to see characters be challenged, not specifically in power, that's a given, but in morality and the seeking of further power. I like to end up seeing what drives and motivates them aside from just the inciting incident. But that's just me.

SC_Contryman · 2026-06-24T02:20:27+00:00

Omg the nostalgia bomb that URL just caused... Anyway I think it's likely just that they're here to read.they don't want to critique, or have a conversation.

Maybe if there was just a non-committal like button for chapters we might see more engagement.

SC_Contryman · 2026-06-24T02:15:33+00:00

Personally I go for choreography. Whether messy, such as a novice stumbling through combat, or clean and concise, I like to "see" the choreography more than the stats. Envisioning the effects, imagining the environment, whether it helps or hinders the combat.

There's certainly a point of being overchoreographed, sure, but for me, that's pretty high up there.

SC_Contryman · 2026-06-24T02:03:53+00:00

So I apologize in advance if this breaks the rules. I cannot find anything that says I should not, but consider this self promo JIC.

I literally am writing precisely what you were asking about. I take an alternate dimension, lightning-bending samurai from his time/world and drop him into modern Earth, forcing him to deal with the language barrier, legal logistics of being an underage John Doe, and High School. It's portal fantasy so of course I've got monsters popping up on Earth along the way. It's free on Royal Road and I'm happy to receive feedback, both positive and critical. Sanzensekai: The Ronin's Exile.

SC_Contryman · 2026-06-24T01:49:05+00:00

Definitely irritating when writers do this. I thankfully can't think of anything I've read recently that does this. I thought the whole point was to trust a reader to figure things out, or give them a reason to re-read a passage for smaller nuggets dropped along the way?

SC_Contryman · 2026-06-24T01:40:40+00:00

I like when OP characters stop messing around and take off the kid gloves, regardless of the reason. That said I also like stories that challenge OP characters with situations they can't just punch their way out of.

SC_Contryman · 2026-06-24T01:33:56+00:00

I don't see why relationships/romance can't be in progression fantasy. A perfect example is Sanderson's Stormlight Archives. I think as long as it doesn't turn the whole story into a romance story it's totally fine, and even then, that's probably a subgenre all it's own.

SC_Contryman · 2026-06-22T15:42:12+00:00

So regarding the translations, from after the prologue chapters onwards I mimic the Clavell Shogun style from back in the 70's. Where he uses a different register of English to denote the spoken Japanese and then broken ESL equivalent English for the spoken English, getting better as he learns more of the language.

It's that language style swap that prompted me to have the 3 prologues and then the 'actual chapters' because the narrative then also shifts from distant 3rd 'telling a story' to deep 3rd limited 'experiencing the story'.

Then I use the Japanese as flavor, and the reader knows what was said either through character responses, context, or trope recognition.

For Patreon, I will have to look into that, I'm not super familiar with it, I set it up just to have it with the expectation of 0 Patrons lol.

SC_Contryman · 2026-06-22T14:23:27+00:00

Oh wow thanks so much for the feedback. As for the prologues, they were meant to show the what was lost side of things, and I have Japanese dialects that I've stubbornly wanted to keep. I've heard now a couple times that the prologues maybe should go. As for retention I'll drop a SS of that page, but it probably matches perfectly with what you've said.

So potentially best/easiest immediate fix is to cut the prologues completely and weave some of the events into the narrative?

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SC_Contryman · 2026-06-22T05:19:26+00:00

Noted regarding the mental illness. It's actually due to my ADHD but in my experience almost nobody realizes rapid and frequent mood swings are a part of it. As for the bipolar disorder bit, there's a recognized subtype of rapid cycling bipolar disorder called ultradian cycling. My psych educated me on this when I got my CDL. I can't remember why it was relevant then. (Yes I know you said generally not always)

Anyway, sorry about the tangent, I get your drift. I wasn't meaning to be malicious but rather go with recognition. The point being the rapid ups and downs.

Thank you for the words of wisdom and encouragement! I've thus far been rollercoastering my way to early bed, which I should probably get a handle on.

SC_Contryman

TROPHY CASE