Original Fiction
I've been writing for many years now, since my early teens. The first story I ever wrote was during my Common Entrance (13+) English exam. The essay question was 'Write a story based on the following picture'. The picture was of a classroom door marked 'Out of Bounds'. So I gathered all my creative powers and...
I wrote about 2 boys, Mark and Darren, who broke into the classroom. The door was actually a time portal, and the two got sent to Edward Jenner's time, just before he was about to invent the vaccine. Jenner's life was in danger, as the Duke of Manchester refused to believe a biological explanation to what he considered 'God's will', and was trying to assassinate him. So Mark and Darren help Jenner lie low, and inadvertently help him discover the vaccination!
I still remember the feedback: while the idea was good, the writing itself wasn't the best- too much dialogue and not enough setting! But in spite of this, I acquired a taste for writing.
But it was a while before I started using my own characters. When I started secondary school, I started writing fanfiction- mostly Sonic the Hedgehog and some old old animes, like Tekkaman Blade and Shinzo. How glad I am that those awful pieces of unoriginal scrap have faded into the shadows of time! I will say, though, that they did help me in developing my style, and I still to this day occasionally dabble in fanfiction to practice other aspects of writing. So, fanfic writers, while I would say the sooner you move on to your own characters the better, it's a good place to start!
So, when did I decide to change tack to using my own characters? It was a gradual thing, and was motivated by my other love; that of drawing. Again, I'd stuck with fanart (still do!). Then one day I decided to draw my own character:
I still remember the feedback: while the idea was good, the writing itself wasn't the best- too much dialogue and not enough setting! But in spite of this, I acquired a taste for writing.
But it was a while before I started using my own characters. When I started secondary school, I started writing fanfiction- mostly Sonic the Hedgehog and some old old animes, like Tekkaman Blade and Shinzo. How glad I am that those awful pieces of unoriginal scrap have faded into the shadows of time! I will say, though, that they did help me in developing my style, and I still to this day occasionally dabble in fanfiction to practice other aspects of writing. So, fanfic writers, while I would say the sooner you move on to your own characters the better, it's a good place to start!
So, when did I decide to change tack to using my own characters? It was a gradual thing, and was motivated by my other love; that of drawing. Again, I'd stuck with fanart (still do!). Then one day I decided to draw my own character:
I named him Kaylen, after my friend's boyfriend in America. He was a sorceror (the character, not the boyfriend!), loosely based on the anime character 'Sorceror Stabber Orphen', but with different hair. I did some more drawings of Kaylen, but I never really developed him past being a sorceror. I gave him a female companion, Ellia, and a male counterpart named Kester, though again neither had much development past my designs.
I moved on. In my mid-teens I got quite into astrology, having found a book about it on my Dad's shelf that looked interesting. This, coupled with my artistic streak, led me to create 12 Zodiac Monsters, which were based upon the traits of their star signs. I think a bit of the idea came from the anime Beyblade and the BitBeasts concept, but this wasn't a conscious thing.
So, I had my main characters and the 12 Beasts...what was the final ingredient?
I played the game 'Eternal Darkness' for the Nintendo Gamecube. The story of this game really blew me away. I loved it to bits, and it still remains my most favourite game of all time! The plot was so inspiring, it was the last thing I needed to complete the package for my story.
My novel began under the title 'Legend of the Zodiac', but here was my first error. I planned the story out, but it was too focused on the Beasts. There was no character development, no real plot, and let's not talk about how bad the writing was!
But I didn't give up. When the first draft was done, I began to mull over my plot and slowly it began to develop. Kaylen became a pirate, and the magical elements bar the Beasts were removed. Kester became Seth, a relic hunter serving the Duke of Macedonia rather than just a guard, and Ellie became Midnight, a relic dealer/ thief in New Cairo rather than a simple village girl. Ptyas (who was called Orius) too was reworked, and instead of being a demon became something much more (which I can't reveal here!).
The world changed from being in the past to being in the future; a future without fossil fuels and where archaeology rose to power. The Beasts, too, were given a proper backstory and new significance. The story was given to Kaylen instead of the Beasts, and steadily things began to REALLY fall into place.
Finally, as I realized that the book was too big to be a single tome (375,000 words), I axed it into three- 4 star signs per book, and gave a central theme to each to play along with the ongoing quest.
And so the Zodiac Hunters triology was born!
I moved on. In my mid-teens I got quite into astrology, having found a book about it on my Dad's shelf that looked interesting. This, coupled with my artistic streak, led me to create 12 Zodiac Monsters, which were based upon the traits of their star signs. I think a bit of the idea came from the anime Beyblade and the BitBeasts concept, but this wasn't a conscious thing.
So, I had my main characters and the 12 Beasts...what was the final ingredient?
I played the game 'Eternal Darkness' for the Nintendo Gamecube. The story of this game really blew me away. I loved it to bits, and it still remains my most favourite game of all time! The plot was so inspiring, it was the last thing I needed to complete the package for my story.
My novel began under the title 'Legend of the Zodiac', but here was my first error. I planned the story out, but it was too focused on the Beasts. There was no character development, no real plot, and let's not talk about how bad the writing was!
But I didn't give up. When the first draft was done, I began to mull over my plot and slowly it began to develop. Kaylen became a pirate, and the magical elements bar the Beasts were removed. Kester became Seth, a relic hunter serving the Duke of Macedonia rather than just a guard, and Ellie became Midnight, a relic dealer/ thief in New Cairo rather than a simple village girl. Ptyas (who was called Orius) too was reworked, and instead of being a demon became something much more (which I can't reveal here!).
The world changed from being in the past to being in the future; a future without fossil fuels and where archaeology rose to power. The Beasts, too, were given a proper backstory and new significance. The story was given to Kaylen instead of the Beasts, and steadily things began to REALLY fall into place.
Finally, as I realized that the book was too big to be a single tome (375,000 words), I axed it into three- 4 star signs per book, and gave a central theme to each to play along with the ongoing quest.
And so the Zodiac Hunters triology was born!
