Reading on Royal Road taught me that “there is nothing new under the sun” attitude I’ve had towards storytelling is not as true as I thought. Sure, I still believe that there’s nothing wrong with using concepts and conventions that others before you have employed. But amateur writers are making new genres as we speak. A few years ago, there was no such thing as Dungeon Core stories. LitRPG was barely a thing until, like, five years ago.
As stories are written, inevitably someone will stumble upon something genuinely new, or a previously not utulised amalgamation of concepts. And people notice this, take it, put a new spin on it, and iteration after iteration, more new concepts emerge. Infinitely.
The past centuries of culture have made and refined the building blocks all fiction writers can now use. And on Royal Road, Scribblehub, and other similar spaces, there are communities of folks who take the pieces from a Lego Millenium Falcon and a few 3d printed details, and build a functional car engine.