Irwin's Journey: The Cardsmith — Behind the Chapters with Carrarn

The young, sickly Irwin, who has seen nothing but bad luck in his short life, is sent off together with another group of youths to placate a group of sorcerers. With just a weird utility card granted by his brother, he can only pray to stay alive long enough.

With nearly four hundred chapters behind it, Irwin’s Journey – The Cardsmith is not in a rush to impress. It sharpens itself slowly—chapter by chapter, card by card—asking what growth really looks like in a fractured world where power is earned, constrained, and often costly.

For this Behind the Chapters feature, the WNF Codex sat down with author Carrarn to talk about pacing, restraint, rewriting beginnings, and why letting a story take its time can be both its greatest risk—and its greatest strength.

About the novel Irwin's Journey - The Cardsmith

Title: Irwin's Journey - The Cardsmith Author: Carrarn Genres: Fantasy, Action, Adventure, Magic, Isekai, Mature, Games, Post-Apocalyptic Read on: Royal Road Status: Ongoing Current progress: 397 chapters

In a post-apocalyptic world fractured by portals, a sickly teen receives an unassuming utility card—and is immediately thrust into deadly expeditions against monstrous sorcerers. Beginning weak and uncertain, Irwin forges his path forward through magical card reforging, gradual mastery, and hard-earned survival, alongside companions who are growing just as unevenly as he is.

Will a single strange card be enough to endure what this world demands? 🃏⚔️

The best novel I’ve read this year. It is just too good, Irwin growth so far is pretty incredible. I definitely recommend this novel if you want a fun action packed novel. The side characters are pretty relatable too.

Lex35

Behind the Chapters: A Conversation with Carrarn

Here, Carrarn reflects on the ideas, decisions, and quiet turning points that shaped Irwin’s Journey – The Cardsmith, as of January 2026.

About The Author

WNF Codex: A quick word about you?

Carrarn: My name is John Carrarn, and ever since I was little, I've loved reading. Mostly fantasy but also some sci-fi.

In 2018, I wasn't doing too well on the emotional side of things. To cope, I decided to do something I'd tried a few times when I was much younger: write fantasy. I started with a LitRPG story about undead and soon got hooked. Most of my stories are darker than average, and so they flew largely under the radar. Luckily some people managed to find them, which kept me posting bits and pieces. Since I've written tons of things, and most of them will likely never be put anywhere public.

A few years ago, I read some of the existing card-magic stories and loved the concept. So I decided to try my hand. This is how Irwin's Journey was born. The first arcs were... rough, because I wrote them during a NaNoWriMo. I rewrote them twice, the last of which can be found on Amazon. I always love world-building and working out magic systems before using them in combat scenes.

About The Novel & Its Promise

WNF Codex: When the idea for this novel first appeared, where were you in life at the time?

Carrarn: Creatively I'd been unsure for a while what I wanted to write. I had written a few stories up to about a hundred thousand words, and I liked it, but I was searching.

When NaNoWriMo hit, it was at the right time because it meant I had to start something new. My previous story wasn't doing too well, and barely a handful of people were reading it, so I decided to pivot to something that seemed interesting.

WNF Codex: What was the original spark for the story?

Carrarn: I was reading one of the card stories popular at the time, and as I have with nearly every story, I wasn't keen on the direction it was going. It felt too narrow, too limited.

At some point, I was staring at a wall, not seeing it, and pondering how I would do it. I wanted to try my hand at the whole “weak to strong” young boy trope that I liked reading and had never tried myself.

WNF Codex: Early on, what felt coolest or most exciting about this novel to you?

Carrarn: I loved the idea of limiting people’s ability to remove their eventual final cards (soulcard-rank).

The idea to slowly build something, to be able to take a step back as long as you didn’t bind them together, but eventually having to commit, is how I like my stories and my games.

WNF Codex: For someone discovering the novel for the first time, what kind of experience are you hoping they’ll have?

Carrarn: I hope they will experience a long journey about a boy who has managed to live a curiously sheltered life. A weak boy, with a physical disability affecting his health, who only knows his world as a horrid, doomed place. He just hasn’t experienced it.

At the start, they should realize he is slightly fearful, weak-willed, and in some cases somewhat dumb. Then, as time passes, this changes as the world and the people around him slowly shape him into the world-shaping power that he will become.

Characters, World, and Inspiration

WNF Codex: Where did the main characters come from?

Carrarn: The main character sort of grew. He started with my wish, to begin with a weakling who had to grow fast. As he did, he needed a world to live in, so I slowly crafted it.

I tried to decide how I wanted him to grow, at least for the initial future, so I went with a few tropes that seemed to fit: a single, tough mother; a good role model big brother; and a troublemaker as his sole friend.

From there, I began fleshing out the first town, and that somewhat gave me the characters I needed. The rest of the main cast began as “NPCs,” but they drew my liking, and where it fit, they remained.

WNF Codex: Did any character surprise you as you wrote them?

Carrarn: Yes—but not the characters as much as the reactions some of them got. The world is a flawed place, and so is the one I wrote. Some people are not meant to be liked by everyone, or even understood. It’s how things work.

That said, some of the characters I wrote about got increasingly hostile reactions from readers, with people asking me to “kill them,” which surprised me.

WNF Codex: What’s something special about the setting or world that readers might not immediately notice?

Carrarn: As much as can be changed, most people choose to stay largely as they are. They could change their entire species, but most don’t even contemplate it. It’s something I noticed as I grew up and traveled the world. People seem to, on average, like who they are and where they are. Only the exceptions either wander or search for ways to change themselves.

Irwin, he doesn’t mind. If you read well, you will find that he cares little about most of the changes that come to him, because those aren’t important—not to him.

WNF Codex: Did your characters or world ever push the story in an unexpected direction?

Carrarn: Not really. Curiously enough, at about chapter 20 I knew exactly what would happen in the grand scheme of things. Small things happened that were outside of my expectation, but nothing that made me go like, “Wait, did I just write that?”

Shaping the Story Over Time

WNF Codex: How did you move from the initial idea to writing the first chapters?

Carrarn: No outlining initially. I always write 10 to 15 chapters before that. As I do, I make notes, ask myself questions, add little bits of world building. “Okay, so the town is called Malorin? What is the country? Are there more?”

Then I just began answering my own questions, which is the part I love most about writing. When I hit 15 chapters, I had gone back and forth between them, changing a ton of things until I got both the initial 15, the rough worldbuilding, the bases of the card system, and a host of initial characters.

Only after that did I take time to do a long session of planning.

WNF Codex: Did the novel change meaningfully from its original concept to what readers see now?

Carrarn: No, the initial seed was there from the start. It just grew into the long story it is now.

WNF Codex: What parts of the story came most naturally to you, and which parts fought you the hardest?

Carrarn: I always struggle with conversations.

It means I need to remind myself who the characters in the discussions are, and sometimes that isn’t clear. That means I need to expand their backstories, their motivations, and that sometimes means that a single small dialogue costs me half an hour.

WNF Codex: Were there any characters, arcs, or ideas that almost made it into the story but didn’t?

Carrarn: Not that I can remember. I did rewrite some chapters a few times, and even deleted a few to start again a day later. I don’t even remember why now.

Writing in Public & Serialization

WNF Codex: How has writing in serialized form influenced your choices for this novel?

Carrarn: It means you need to choose how long your chapters are, and as a reader, I hate 2,500-word chapters. They are just too short. But the 6- to 10k behemoths that are in some books are just too long.

So I had to compromise. That said, it also means I can’t release five chapters per week, because mine range from 3,500 to 6,000.

WNF Codex: What surprised you most once readers started reacting to the story?

Carrarn: How different their opinions are, and how they all think they are right. Some people hate the first twenty chapters; others loved them. Some people felt strongly that some choices were horrid and dropped the story for it, while others said they enjoyed it for a sense of realism.

Every week, again, I am reminded just how much opinions can change, and how much people find their own opinion more valid than those of others.

WNF Codex: Was there a chapter or arc that felt like a turning point for you as a writer?

Carrarn: The end of the first completed main arc, where Irwin finalizes what he sets out to do. It felt really great wrapping that up, as it had taken more words than any of my other series, and most people enjoyed it. That was a great moment.

WNF Codex: Are there themes, details, or ideas introduced early that only pay off much later?

Carrarn: Yes, and one of them still hasn’t paid off. Yilda—and that is something I hope people will like when we get that far.

WNF Codex: Which character changed the most from your earliest conception to their current form?

Carrarn: Daubutim. Initially, I had him pegged as a dumb, lumbering brute, but as I wrote, he became this flawed, deeply sophisticated being with major issues. Writing-wise, he is probably my favorite character in the story, together with Irwin.

WNF Codex: Was anyone instrumental in helping you build or sustain this story?

Carrarn: All of my readers and patrons, of course, but there were a few—the first—that really pulled me through. I had some patrons who supported me for years before I got any sort of popularity, and I’m really grateful to those few.

There were days when I might have stopped, had nobody been there.

Sustainability & Reflection

WNF Codex: How do you approach this novel in practical terms?

Carrarn: I will always write. It’s my passion, at least that is how I feel about it now. This novel started like that, but I don’t like leaving stories unfinished. I already have a few of those, and prefer not to add.

That said, Irwin always makes me a little money, which is definitely a plus to stay motivated.

WNF Codex: What has been harder than you expected about sustaining this story over time?

Carrarn: The hardest is when you are sick or on holiday. At some point, you can’t keep skipping writing days—not just for the story, but also for your own skill.

Still, it’s not always fun to write during those times.

WNF Codex: Looking back, what decision are you most proud of — not the outcome, but a choice you made along the way?

Carrarn: Specifically for Irwin’s, it’s when I decided to add more levity and calm to my story. By nature, I write brutal stories, but many people don’t like reading that. I don’t even like reading it—it’s just my natural writing style.

For Irwin’s, and many of my newer stories, I try to curb it and balance it.

WNF Codex: If a new reader were about to start this novel, what would you quietly hope they notice or appreciate?

Carrarn: That a lot of the things you read at the start get concluded along the way. Some things have a short payoff, some a long one, and in some cases it requires nearly the entire story—but most things get a payoff.

Just to cover myself, if they don’t, you likely read the Royal Road draft 0, or I forgot something :P.

Closing Thoughts

WNF Codex: Could you share a short excerpt from the novel?

Carrarn:

Irwin’s Journey – The Cardsmith is not built around surprises for their own sake. It’s built on accumulation—choices made early, systems constrained deliberately, and a world that reveals itself only when the story is ready to let it. Reading Carrarn’s reflections makes clear just how intentional that patience is, and how much of the novel’s weight comes from resisting shortcuts.

Behind the cards, the portals, and the long arcs is a writer who knows where the road leads—and is willing to walk it one chapter at a time. Thank you to Carrarn for opening up about the decisions, revisions, and quiet discipline that shaped Irwin’s Journey.

If this conversation resonated, Irwin’s Journey – The Cardsmith is available to read now—and worth settling into at your own pace. You can explore the novel on its publishing platform and add it to your library on WebNovelFinder to follow along as Irwin’s long arc continues to unfold.

Where to Read and Support Irwin’s Journey – The Cardsmith

• Read on RoyalRoad
• Add to your library on WebNovelFinder
• Support the author on Patreon
• Follow Carrarn on X
• Follow Carrarn on WebNovelFinder