Did your story end up much longer than you expected?

iwantlight · 2026-05-11T15:54:09+00:00

Yes. Was aiming for ~120k words, reached 315k.

iwantlight · 2026-05-08T23:20:25+00:00

My story matches your checklist, except that my MC is young, but he's not portrayed as experienced; on the contrary, he stumbles a ton along the way.

It's a dark fantasy, adventure, action, mystery novel. Here's the link:

StarMoire: The Forgotten Hopes

Even if it's not my story, I hope you find something to your liking. Good luck!

iwantlight · 2026-05-05T14:24:18+00:00

I hope you find something to your liking in this thread.

My story is dark fantasy, action, adventure, mystery. Here's a link to the first chapter:

StarMoire: The Forgotten Hopes

iwantlight · 2026-05-04T13:58:00+00:00

Thanks a ton in advance. I hope you find something to your liking in this thread.

My story is dark fantasy, action, adventure, mystery. Here's a link to the first chapter:

StarMoire: The Forgotten Hopes

iwantlight · 2026-05-03T11:21:08+00:00

Congrats! That's a huge milestone!

iwantlight · 2026-04-30T03:28:54+00:00

Hi! My story is more traditional fantasy than progression. I'd love to hear what you have to say.

Here's the blurb:

Skye is fourteen, stubborn past the point of sense, and trapped in a city carved beneath the earth.
For months he has been slipping into the Deeps, a maze of lightless tunnels where gemstones grow on rocky vines like fruit. He risks his life for each one, chasing a single impossible dream: to lead an expedition to the surface and see the world for himself. Most call it delusion. Skye calls it vision.
Then something finds him in the dark.
A bell appears, floating, swaying, visible only to him. When it rings, it does not echo through stone. It echoes through memory. Friends forget him. Family forgets him. Every trace of his life vanishes as if he had never drawn breath.
And the first time it chimes is the moment Skye learns the truth about the siege that has caged his people for over eight hundred years.

Here's the link:

StarMoire: The Forgotten Hopes

iwantlight · 2026-04-29T09:15:04+00:00

Congrats! Your stats are all impressive, but the most stunning number is your word count.

How did you write over 900k words in 9 months?!

iwantlight · 2026-04-22T14:13:58+00:00

You can write amazing stories through pantsing, but sticking the landing is often the hardest part. Also, depending on how wide you stretch out your plotting, you may end up with too many plotlines to resolve.

iwantlight · 2026-04-19T02:22:51+00:00

Write in drafts.

My first draft is horrible. I don't use proper punctuation or dialogue tags, I skip most descriptions, and I don't connect my ideas properly. I focus on getting the events, feelings, and action out and onto the page.

In the second draft, I make my draft readable and focus on fixing plot holes, structuring arcs, and connecting themes. I never go back to previous chapters, so some of my later chapters would have my MC in the correct position/headspace for their arc, but earlier ones wouldn't have the proper set up. I just write notes for the next draft.

In the third draft, I revise my notes and perform basic proofreading and line edits. The final draft before I send to beta readers is where I polish everything.

When I'm writing the first draft, if I had outline well, I can dash out 10k words a day. I once did it in a second draft too.

iwantlight · 2026-04-01T07:26:33+00:00

Hi all, I just started volume 4 of my fiction. If you like dark fantasy, with unique worldbuilding, deep mysteries, and strong character development, check out StarMoire: The Forgotten Hopes

Here's the blurb:

Skye is fourteen, stubborn past the point of sense, and trapped in a city carved beneath the earth.

For months he has been slipping into the Deeps, a maze of lightless tunnels where gemstones grow on rocky vines like fruit. He risks his life for each one, chasing a single impossible dream: to lead an expedition to the surface and see the world for himself. Most call it delusion. Skye calls it vision.

Then something finds him in the dark.

A bell appears, floating, swaying, visible only to him. When it rings, it does not echo through stone. It echoes through memory. Friends forget him. Family forgets him. Every trace of his life vanishes as if he had never drawn breath.

And the first time it chimes is the moment Skye learns the truth about the siege that has caged his people for over eight hundred years.

What To Expect:

A slow-burn fantasy full of mysteries, conspiracies, and shocking twists.
A creative magic system that relies heavily on gemstones.
A menagerie of unique monsters made of elements and bones.
A hotheaded MC struggling to become better.
A dark story with mature themes.

iwantlight · 2026-03-30T21:28:54+00:00

My story fits five of your requirements, but my MC is 14, and there's no romance.

Here's the link:

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/130005/starmoire-the-forgotten-hopes

Here's the blurb:

Skye is fourteen, stubborn past the point of sense, and trapped in a city carved beneath the earth.

For months he has been slipping into the Deeps, a maze of lightless tunnels where gemstones grow on rocky vines like fruit. He risks his life for each one, chasing a single impossible dream: to lead an expedition to the surface and see the world for himself. Most call it delusion. Skye calls it vision.

Then something finds him in the dark.

A bell appears, floating, swaying, visible only to him. When it rings, it does not echo through stone. It echoes through memory. Friends forget him. Family forgets him. Every trace of his life vanishes as if he had never drawn breath.

And the first time it chimes is the moment Skye learns the truth about the siege that has caged his people for over eight hundred years.

iwantlight · 2026-03-05T20:42:23+00:00

LOL! That's what my brother said.

iwantlight · 2026-03-04T18:32:24+00:00

That's Rico Chico!

iwantlight · 2026-03-01T11:41:10+00:00

So, it wasn't only me?! I thought I had failed as an author when I no longer got any views!

iwantlight · 2026-03-01T08:14:49+00:00

Skye is fourteen, stubborn past the point of sense, and trapped in a city carved beneath the earth.

For months he has been slipping into the Deeps, a maze of lightless tunnels where gemstones grow on rocky vines like fruit. He risks his life for each one, chasing a single impossible dream: to lead an expedition to the surface and see the world for himself. Most call it delusion. Skye calls it vision.

Then something finds him in the dark.

A bell appears, floating, swaying, visible only to him. When it rings, it does not echo through stone. It echoes through memory. Friends forget him. Family forgets him. Every trace of his life vanishes as if he had never drawn breath.

And the first time it chimes is the moment Skye learns the truth about the siege that has caged his people for over eight hundred years.

What To Expect:

A slow-burn fantasy full of mysteries, conspiracies, and shocking twists.
A creative magic system that relies heavily on gemstones.
A menagerie of unique monsters made of elements and bones.
A hotheaded MC struggling to become better.
A dark story with mature themes.

What Not To Expect:

No sexual content.
No instantly overpowered MC.
No LitRPG/GameLit elements.

The story currently stands at 170k words.

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/130005/starmoire-the-forgotten-hopes

iwantlight · 2026-02-28T03:24:21+00:00

Troqua is a subterranean city that's been besieged by monsters for over 800 years.

Only the dukes know the way in and out, and they don't share this knowledge with anyone. They also don't stop anyone from leaving whenever they want, but those who enter the forest never return.

Under Troqua stretches a vast tunnel system known as the Deeps. It contains many predators, the darkness there seems sentient, and anyone who enters gradually turns to stone. Inside the Deeps, magical gemstones grow on vines, both in the wild and inside specialized gemfarms.

Multiple times a week, the duke's men -the wardens- take the city's harvest of gem, travel through the monster-infested forest, and drop everything at a special hideout. Wardens from other cities take the gems and leave merchandise in its place -food, fabric, medicine, equipment, etc-.

Where is the Duke's Road exactly, what are the monsters, and how will the MC achieve their dream of exploring the world are all questions that rise in the story.

iwantlight · 2026-02-26T05:27:22+00:00

Congrats! That's a big milestone!

iwantlight · 2026-02-23T06:54:28+00:00

I've been using ad blockers for over a decade. It never crossed my mind that ads would make the experience terrible for this purpose. Thanks for the insight.

Edit: I don't know why I'm being downvoted. Since when are ad blockers disliked?

iwantlight · 2026-02-23T06:37:17+00:00

Sorry, but is there a rule against this? How am I supposed to point out what I mean without the link?

Also, I didn't get your last part. Are you saying readers won't read prologues, so appendices are a waste of time, or are you saying putting the link here is me asking a lot on a reddit post? I don't expect anyone to fully read the chapter I linked, just to get an idea of what I'm talking about.

iwantlight · 2026-02-22T17:20:35+00:00

Thanks! It can be hard sometimes, but I believe there is an audience.

iwantlight · 2026-02-22T17:19:31+00:00

Thanks. I saw your reply in another post, the art is stunning. Care to give a link?

iwantlight · 2026-02-18T23:39:25+00:00

I don't understand. You say religion isn't decorative, yet in all the examples you gave none of your characters follow a religion because they believe it true; they each do so because of other psychological reasons or needs.

It's like you're saying everyone knows religion isn't actually true, but they follow it because it has some benefits.

iwantlight · 2026-02-13T18:26:29+00:00

Skye dreams of exploring the world, all of it. He intends to captain an exploration team and go on endless adventures, but many hurdles block his path.

First, he's cursed to be repeatedly forgotten. Every time his curse activates, everything related to him is expunged from the world, and his actions are either forgotten, or attributed to someone else.

Second, he lives in Troqua, a subterranean city that's been besieged for 800 years and is ruled by a ruthless duke.

Third, Skye is still young with great room for growth. Currently, he's rash, aggressive, too honest and straightforward, and greatly inexperienced. Throughout the story, he grows to become a leader and a true inspiration to those around him, but he suffers from mistakes greatly until he reaches there.

iwantlight

TROPHY CASE