Ghost Reader

be serious

Are you – writing consistently – stuck on one chapter for days – emotionally attached to one scene – rewriting everything again – or just staring at the document hoping it fixes itself

I feel like every writer is going through something with their draft right now

Because why is the heartbreak part always the one that hits the hardest?

not even just the breakup I mean the silence after the missed chances the “almost” moments the scenes where they still love each other but something already went wrong

those are the scenes that stay in my head every time

somehow there’s danger bad decisions someone hiding something and the whole story got way bigger than you planned

I swear this happens every single time

romance? fantasy? dark romance? horror? crime? something messy you can’t even explain yet?

I swear first drafts are always the wildest stage because everything still feels alive and unfinished at the same time

a character? the dialogue? the pacing between scenes? or maybe the story feels right in your head but different on the page

I feel like every writer has that one part they keep circling back to

What kind of pose or moment do you picture most with your characters right now?

Like, are they the type to hug after an argument sit way too close without noticing hold hands in silence or look at each other like they already know

I swear the smallest moments always end up meaning the most

not because the idea was bad but because you started doubting it halfway through

maybe it stopped sounding right maybe the scenes weren’t hitting the way you wanted or maybe you looked at it too many times and couldn’t tell anymore

I feel like every writer has that one draft sitting there right now

not the cleaned up version I mean the actual idea

the one you randomly think about during the day the one that started small and somehow got bigger the one you keep adding scenes to without meaning to

I know somebody here has a story they can’t leave alone right now

not the whole story just that one part that won’t click

the one you keep going back to, changing little things, but it still doesn’t land how you want

drop me a message with that scene. I’ll go through it and tell you what’s working and what’s holding it back

is it your characters… the way they feel real, like they could walk off the page?

or your pacing… how everything moves, when you slow it down, when you let it hit?

or is it something else entirely that you can’t even explain, but you know it’s there?

I feel like every writer leans on something, even without realizing it

like not the perfect version in your head… the actual draft, the messy one

the part where you’re stuck on a scene or fixing the same line for the tenth time or just trying to stay with the story without dropping it

I know a lot of people are in that space right now

Dark romance writers, this is something I really want to know.

Where do you draw the line… if you even do?

like when you’re writing something intense something that leans into obsession, desire, control

how do you decide what to hold back…? And what is it to let go all the way?

because sometimes it’s not even about how far it goes it’s about how real it feels when it gets there

and you can always tell when a writer means it

not the pretty worldbuilding

I mean the part where things turn

when it gets darker, a little bloody, a little harder to look at when someone makes a choice they can’t come back from

that moment where the story stops feeling safe

that’s the part I always wait for

romance writers… this right here

that moment when they’re this close

not quite touching, not quite saying it but you can already feel everything sitting between them

the tension, the want, the hesitation

that’s the part that stays with me every time

because once you get this right, the rest almost writes itself

Written by J.C.B

Chapter 1 “The orphanage on the hill”

Peeking out from the darkness is a light, bright, wide, deceptive, it shines in the darkness, even all the way here. A boy sits on a windowsill, the window is bared from the outside, raining dripping onto the glass, the boy has messy red hair, goggles on his forehead, wearing overalls that are a faded green, he looks bored almost indifferent as he watches the lighthouse’s light in the distance, the house creaks as it settles from the storm outside, a reddish lighting splitting the sky with monstrous thunder.

“L-light…?”A scared voice called from behind, the boy turn and standing near the windowsill looking up at him was a girl, slightly younger, wearing a baggy blue sweater, going down to her knees, a box on her covering more of her head along with her bushy hair covering her eyes.

“Yea Mist?” Light said, his voice calm as he looked down at the girl. “Is it time… for the plan..?” Mist asked her voice shaking, wanting to crawl into a ball and hide under her box. “Yea it is… we just gotta get there Mist.. to the window” light responded, he hops down from the windowsill and stands next to her, “I promise we’re gonna get out of here” Light said as he began to walk away.

“B-but what if she-e finds out…?” Mist said catching up with light, scratching her arm nervously. Light stops and grabs her hand gently but firmly stopping her from scratching and says “She’s not… I promise we’re gonna make it this time”, mist looks into his eyes, and nods. They make their way down the long, dark, dreary hallways, passing other kids, boys, girls, some of them their friends, many of them tried escaping before, like Jamms, Soup, Moss, Hunter, Tiff, and Will. Thunder crackling in the background, mist stays close to Light. The house groans from the swaying wind. They walk down a grand flight of stairs, into the main entrance of the orphanage, kids in small groups doing activities to keep them busy, the doors covered in dozens of locks, pad locks, screw locks, key locks and a few other types of locks.

Mist is holding Light’s hand tightly, her heart beating in her ears, her breathing deepening. A shadow looms over the two now, the wood creaking as two long arms stepped forward, aloft by the arms is a long and slender woman with pale grayish skin, wearing a neatly put together dress, almost too neatly, her face obscured by her long black hair, coming from her torso was another pair of long arms which were carrying a crying infant, the long woman spoke in a calm, cold yet motherly tone, “Light, mist is something wrong?”, she lowered herself closer to them.

“No ma’am..” says light trying to sound small and polite, mist squeezes his hand tighter, “We’re just waiting for dinner, nanny… right mist?” Light says looking over at mist, Mist nods nervously.

“Good, I don’t want you two to do something that could get you hurt, the nanny said as she walked away down the hall, Turing out of view, they were in the clear for now, Light looked at mist, signaling to her, that they must go now, or they might never get a chance again, the two, hand in hand walk down to the bottom of the grand staircase, into the lobby, and sneak, and sneak, carefully as not to cause the floor boards to creek under their weight. They snuck into one of the back room, one of the rooms nanny told them never to go in.

The 2 continued down the hall, it was darker here then in the rest of the orphanage, much darker, dust around them, mist’s heart beating faster and faster as they approached a door on the left side of the dark hall, inside is a old crib, where a child could have been long ago. Light climbs onto the crib helping Mist up, the old crib creaking slightly under the two as they tried to open the window, they pulled and pulled as much as their little bodies could but it would not move, they then heard creaking from the hall and a voice, Nanny’s voice, “Children? Did some of you sneak back here? That’s not allowed…” she didn’t sound mad, not just yet but they had to hid, the 2 quickly hope off the crib and crawled underneath it, and the door slowly creaked open, and the wood groaned under the nanny’s arms, thump, thump thump, “Is anyone in here..?” She asked, her large hands carrying her into the room.

Light and mist were squished close together.

The nanny was the right side of the room, and light had a plan, and then the flash of lighting, Light grabbed Mist’s hand running into the hall, the clicker clack of their feet alerting the nanny of them, she was fast her arms carrying her quickly as the wood almost breaking, creaking in pain as she hurried for them, she yelled “WHY ARE YOU TWO TRYING TO DO!?! IT IS NOT SAFE BACK HERE YOU BRATS!!!”, she wasn’t far behind, Light seeing a creaked open door to the left of the dark hallway, he ran to it, pulling Mist into it, slamming it shut as he saw it in the room, a laundry shoot, he quickly jumped pulling it down, it letting out a loud groan as the nanny pulled the door open almost off the hinges, thumping against the wood of the wall, mist as fast as she could hopped up onto the shoot, almost slipping, but light helped her up and they begin to slip back holding each other as they prepared to fall but the nanny grabbed them tightly, “I HAVE HAD UP TO HERE WITH YOU TWO!” She yelled at them, and she carried them off.

Now the two sat in a almost empty dark room, with only some old toys on the ground, a crate on the side and a window behind them with bars, Light and Mist looked up at the door, dead locks and deadbolts all across the side, “We can still make it out Mist…” Light said as he looked at Mist, pulling her box over her head, “Rewlly…?” She asked just barely loud enough for him to hear, he pulled her up to her feet as another streak of lighting flashed the sky, “I do… the other day Jamms after he got outta here told me about some hole in the wall…. It could lead us out…” Light spoke his tone hopeful, “Alright..” Mist responded. The two then began to look around the room, nothing then Light looked at the create, the gears in his head turning, then he beckoned Mist over and the two pushed the create the floor boards creaking just slightly.

When they pushed it barely half a foot, Light saw it, a hole in the wall, he stopped pushing, so did Mist as he dug around in his overall’s and pulled out a lighter, he tried turning it on nothing, he tosses it to the side and pulls out another one, click, click, krrrrikk, whoosh, the lighter was lit and Light held out his hand to Mist, “Come on…. We’re close Mist… I know we are…”, he said a hopeful expression on his face, almost a smile, almost, mist looked at him for a moment and took his hand the sleeve of her sweater falling back to her sleeves as she held his hand tightly.

The 2 children entered the hole it was a slight squeeze but they fitted through, they were now in a tunnel in the walls of the orphanage. It was dark, dust in the air around them, they were stepping carefully on the old wood, the flame of the lighter flickering as they wondered the narrow path inside the walls, Mist was whimpering slightly as she held Light’s hand, the farther the 2 went the more cold it felt then the two were at the back of a painting, in it was a hole, Light on his tippy toes looked through it, it was the nanny’s office, and on her desk was the keys, one of those must unlock the front door. Light turned to Mist behind him and said, “I’ll be right back… stay here.”, he turned the lighter off and put it into his pouch and turned away and pulled the painting slightly and dropping to the office floor the wood creaking, he stood up and ran quickly to the desk, climbing onto the chair then jumping and grabbing the desk pulling himself onto it. 

He looked around the office for a moment, filling cabinets, 8 of them, and dozens of pictures of children and the nanny with adults Light didn’t know or would care to know, notable ones would be, the nanny with a Tall thin man in a suit so tall he doesn’t fit in frame, another had her with another woman the woman was shorter then the nanny and wore a white coat of some kind her face cover by long brown hair she looked like a doctor of some kind, and the last one had the nanny with a man in a old blue coat, the man had a sack over his head with two holes in the sack for eye holes and a captain’s hat on top of the sack, Light felt uncomfortable from that last one.

So he then began to look down onto the desk spotting the key on the left by a picture frame a lamp where the keys, then the door was opening Light hopped down and hid under the dress, holding the key tight to his chest as he heard the stomps of hands, large hands, and then the pulling of something probably a filing cabinet and then the stomps go and the door almost closes as the nanny, walks near the dress, “Where are my keys, uhmmm?” She said as she began to search the desk, Light saw one of her hands grasping edge of the desk about to look under it when, “Nanny, I can’t find my teddy…” a boy cried from the door, the nanny pulled her hand back and light hears her move towards the door, the wood creaking, “Then let’s go find him dear” the nanny spoke to the boy and the door closed, with a creak.

Light came out slowly from the desk, pulling the chair, it scraping against the ground as he pulls it to the wall with the panting and he whispers loudly, “Mist..? Mist I’m gonna need help up…”, and slowly from behind the painting mist pushes it slightly, Light climbs onto the chair and hops again holding onto the edge of the hole and Mist pulls him up, and the panting slight thumps against the wall. “Got them” light says as he holds up the keys on their key ring, a smirk on his face, “Come on” he said as he grabbed mist hand and moved into the dark relighting his lighter, as they squeezed through the dark interior of the wall, Mist’s box scrapping in some spots from how tight it is, the wall was cramped, dark, damp, and rotten.

They were soon crawling in between the walls again and were now in an old crawl space, covered in dust and cobwebs, the air stale. “I think we should rest for a minute okay?” Light spoke softly to Mist as he sat down, setting the keys next to him. “Should we..?” Asked Mist her voice low and small. “We should” light spoke, “…. Hey I know what’ll cheer you up” Light held his hand to the flame of the lighter and bend the light of the fire. He changed the shape of the fire’s light creating the shape of butterflies on the wall, “heehee… I like it when you do the light show…” Mist said with a slight smile looking at the wall. Light grinned and bend the fire’s light to that of a goose. “Ohhh a goose…!” Mist said excitedly, “they’re so silly..”. Mist really like Geese.

Light suddenly felt something warm and wet come from his nose. Blood, he stopped bending the light and quickly wiped his nose. “Hey… why did you stop Light…?” Mist asked a bit sad. “We.. we need to get moving soon that’s all Mist..” Light lied, Mist knew something was wrong but just nodded and the two continued crawling in between the walls. Soon they reached another hole in the wall, behind a panting, with a small hole in the fabric. Light peered into the hole and he saw a hallway with doors, long rug, to the right a window and to the left the lobby, he knew using the keys for the door would be pointless but for the windows maybe not. Light turned to Mist, “We just need to get to a window… we go this..” he said confidently(or what he hoped sounded confident) to Mist and she nods but she knew something was wrong.

Light pushed the panting and drops to the floor and holds his arms up as Mist hops down and he catches her and sets her down. Light hands Mist the keys as the two of them begin to sneak down the hall to the window. Light gives Mist a boost up to the window frame and she climbs up, Mist fumbles with the keys trying each one, then the last one. Click she could turn the key and pull the window open somewhat. “Found it..” she said barely loud enough to be heard holding up the right key. She hoped down then Light and Mist began to quickly hurry down to the lobby, to one of the large windows by the front door. Light helps Mist up as she then pulls him up onto the window frame. Mist puts the key in turning it and a CLICK comes from the window, Mist turns to look at Light and he nods, the two grab the bottom of the window and pull it open. 

The two felt the cold wind from outside, wetness from the drops of rain. Then the two heard a scream, “WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING GET AWAY FROM THERE!?!” The nanny cried from the top of the stairs and began crawling down them in a hurry, loud creaking coming from the wooden planks. Light squeezed through the bars of the outside window falling to the ground feeling the ground feeling the grass, he looked up at Mist holding his arms open, “Mist come on!” He yelled. Mist began to try and squeeze through the bars her box getting stuck for a second but she squeezed through falling into Light’s arms. He sets her down grabbing her hand as the nanny banged against the wall. “IT IS NOT SAFE OUT THERE FOR YOU TWO!! COME BACK INSIDE NOW! YOU TWO DONT UNDERSTAND WHAT IT IS LIKE OUT THERE…!” The nanny plied, but Light and Mist began to run towards the woods, the dark woods. 

Light was the only one of the two to turn around and he saw the orphanage, its walls grey, windows covered in bars and he saw it. A large shadowy figure on the roof, he could feel it staring at him, watching him. Soon light and Mist were in the woods but they did not stop running, should not stop running. Even if they were free of the orphanage, they had wondered into a new cage altogether, as a pair of pearly white eyes watch them from the darkness, and began to stalked them.

Chapter 2 in the works.

I've been reading and reviewing a lot of books and I recently got into ARCs, but I really want to improve my critical reading abilities and also maybe get a look behind the scenes?

Start small offer to beta read for writers on places like Tumblr or Discord. Just be clear you’re learning.

When you read, focus on why something works or doesn’t (pacing, characters, clarity), not just if you liked it.

the part where you start doubting something you used to love

where a scene that once felt right suddenly feels off and you can’t tell if it’s the writing… or just you

you sit there, going back and forth, fixing little things but deep down you’re just trying to get that feeling back

and it’s frustrating, because you know it’s in you somewhere

you just can’t reach it the same way right now