The reason/or inspration behind one of your proudest works?

Luosiuwu

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Hello!

I've always wondered about how someone's creative process brought them to make such wonderful stories, and I'm always fascinated with myself when it comes to this.

I used to believe that you should only make a story that the reader would like to see, but after a while and continuously writing what I deemed as failures, I finally decided that I would write something for myself that I would enjoy creating.

Currently, I'm writing my story called 'I Don't Wanna Live My Second Life' which I thought was quite peculiar, I mean come on..would you seriously not want a second chance in life if you got it? Especially after you've been done wrong in your past life?!

Well, unfortunately, the ideal reality of getting revenge never works, it just makes things worse and that's just what I think.

So here we are! After searching for a story that wasn't about revenge, a super clever female mc, or about a weird forced and verbally abusive marriage, I decided that I would write the EXACT opposite in some form. I wanted a story about someone who wasn't hooked on revenge but would try to understand why someone would act in the way they did and reflect upon their own mistakes.

And hence...Eleanora was created! She wasn't exactly a bad person but had flaws, and she was a bit selfish. When she died, looking back upon her memories her regret was not being able to help the Emperor's children, who all had emotional issues and stress. Why? Because she couldn't have children of her own...The thought I wanted for Eleanora to have was, "How could I ever be a mother if I am selfish?"

She didn't wanna live her second life, but she did want to do right while she was living her second life.

Motherhood is a blessing and a wonderful thing, I wanted to be able to capture the beauty and wonders of it while writing this story, while also introducing the struggles of motherhood and how other issues can affect her as being a mother.

Now! Please tell me what stories you've made, and the inspiration that derived from it!

(Check it out if you want :D)

My second life.jpg
 

MrTiemos

DinoSir, thank you very much!
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Dreams, like writing down what I can remember when I wake up.
 

Myrane66

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The fact that nobody has written this particular fantasy yet.
 
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IvyVeritas

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The Eighth Warden takes a lot of inspiration from the feel of a tabletop role-playing game campaign, but translating it into an epic fantasy story without any of the game mechanics.
 

Kotohood

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One of the main inspiration for my series is seeing those harem novels/series or series where the female characters are often relegated as "selling point" rather than actual characters. :blob_melt:

Then there are just characters that have very excessive fanservice for no damn reason. Any plot stuff and actual integrity of the character is often thrown away in favour of being more sexy and erotic.:blob_popcorn_two:

I get that there is nothing inherently bad about these things, but people always do it wrong or sometimes go too far.:blob_upset:

Why does the first woman who is suppose to be the most impactful person to the main character relegated to a side character a few woman later?:blob_pout:

Why is this super proud character wearing thongs instead of actual armour? I get wanting to have a good design and that they want to make the character appealing but is it necessary to make them wear bikinis in combat?:blob_catflip:

It is like the author themselves believe that the characters cannot stand on their own and have to rely on external factors.:blob_no:


So in the end I thought, eh why not do just that? Have a female character that actually has character for once. Of course, I'm not sidelining the male one either, they are both my precious creations :blob_reach:
 

MrTiemos

DinoSir, thank you very much!
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One of the main inspiration for my series is seeing those harem novels/series or series where the female characters are often relegated as "selling point" rather than actual characters. :blob_melt:

Then there are just characters that have very excessive fanservice for no damn reason. Any plot stuff and actual integrity of the character is often thrown away in favour of being more sexy and erotic.:blob_popcorn_two:

I get that there is nothing inherently bad about these things, but people always do it wrong or sometimes go too far.:blob_upset:

Why does the first woman who is suppose to be the most impactful person to the main character relegated to a side character a few woman later?:blob_pout:

Why is this super proud character wearing thongs instead of actual armour? I get wanting to have a good design and that they want to make the character appealing but is it necessary to make them wear bikinis in combat?:blob_catflip:

It is like the author themselves believe that the characters cannot stand on their own and have to rely on external factors.:blob_no:


So in the end I thought, eh why not do just that? Have a female character that actually has character for once. Of course, I'm not sidelining the male one either, they are both my precious creations :blob_reach:
Like the girls (on the cover) from this series?: https://www.novelupdates.com/series/did-you-know-that-a-playboy-can-change-his-job-to-a-sage/
 

cyanwaw

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I got tired of overpowered characters and wanted to watch someone struggle for a long time.
 

Ninetailed_Furball

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Generally, my inspiration seeing something and going "I wonder what it would be like if this was different". It could be a single scene, or an entire story. Like "what if The New Gate was a party instead of just one OP guy?" or "what if Kuma Kuma Kuma bear crossed with Tondemo Skill de Isekai Hourou Meshi?"

For The Reincarnated Vampire Just Wants To Enjoy Her New Life, it was "What if you got rid of all the bad parts of That Time I Reincarnated as a Slime?" I really enjoyed that series and finished both the WN and anime, but I couldn't help but think about all it's problems. From the near chapter long exposition, mostly one-dimensional cast, severe lack of agency for the MC, the fact that everything was solved for him by others, and a whole bunch more lesser issues I had despite enjoying it.

That's how this story was born, though I struggle in actually making sure that those problems don't creep into it, making me really understand how hard it is just trying to practice good basic writing principals.
 

ArcadiaBlade

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'Reteach Common Sense'

Instead of the usual fantasy troupe, i would tell a story of an OP char who was instead sent back to his place?

Instead of writing a harem for the MC, it would be from his friend?

Instead of the MC being the strongest in the world, it would be a side character whose way below in power that even a average person can kill?

Thats the thought i put into what i wrote for this novel.

I didn't abandoned writing but was busy in RL but i did just finished a chap. It says that the novel is completed but i kinda pause writing it due to having mutiple thoughts about how the novel would go. Then, as i just finished writing the latest chap(chapter 10)...

'What if the strongest char in the novel is a normal dude who only has a sword that feeds on negative emotions?'

I think i'll probably release the chapter pertaining a new arc after i finished writing my other work but i think it is the best one i've written even though it isn't polish and has a lot of errors.
 

OneSixSeven

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hrhngnbrbhgrng

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a lot of fantasy world stories tend to be pretty laid back. obviously, there's some pretty serious ones, but most can fall into a pretty casual category.

right now, i'm writing Cata Maestra. it fits into the category of fantasy stories that aren't so casual. there's obviously bits of comedy, and some chapters are a bit light hearted (although there isn't a whole lot of content yet), but what really got me writing this was that i wanted to create something with a solid storyline and plot compared to a bunch of other stories, with a concrete beginning and ending.

additionally, when planning the character backgrounds, i was trying to see how much pain i could put into a single character within reason (as seen in one chapter in particular), but lets not talk about that
 

BenJepheneT

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My story has an inspiration that's a tad less grand than others. Mainly, I'd rather if stories out there don't go as huge as they are in terms of scale, lore, characters, etc.

I'm not saying that lore and stuff are bad, it's just that in a market so over-saturated by so many of these self-made, original universes that I just want a simple story without a giant, impending rush of info and breaths of fresh air.

How about a story about the little things? is what I thought when I started doing Communicatively Errored, I Am. What if all these world-changing, doom-bringing and universe-saving plots and premises gets a time-out chair and let the simple humanity take charge of the scene for once? If I can manage to make an engaging story just based off the norms of life and the more relatable side to our modern, teenage life, wouldn't that just negate the purpose of bringing yet another Tolkien-esque universe for the intention of just writing a story of your own?

Find the fun in our daily conversations; find the sad in relationships; dive just a bit deeper into the corners in each of every one of us and show them all without a hint of dressing or any coatings. Have it laid out bare, open and naked.

Like I said, I'm not saying that lore and universes are bad. It's just that there's so much of it out in the market that it just doesn't hurt to just kick back and let the simple workings of human relations take in charge, right?
 
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Scribbler

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I have a couple reasons. Ones that I saw and one I did not see. I will explain the ones that I saw, the ones I had intended. The last reason is a bit embarrassing, though I'm still proud of writing it the way I did.

Most western fantasy novels (The Hobbit, Dresden Files, Wheel of Time) involved the MC going through trial after trial and coming out better on the other side. The beginnings and endings were all nice enough. But the main chunk of the story, 75%, was just one depressing/dire scenario after another. I got sick and tired of it. So I wanted something that would make me happy and lift my spirits, something that would be fun.

I wanted to write a VRMMO. There was no specific reason why it had to be a VRMMO. I liked game well enough and the genre was among the most popular on Novel Updates. I though I could... I thought more people would read it. And I can write anything. I don't really have something like a preference. I'm the sort that bores quickly and does everything at hand just to try it out. I've written many different things doing that...

Back on the main topic! I read a couple VRMMO stories for research, some on Novel Updates and some on Scribble Hub. I hated the idea of going back in time; it takes away all the challenge and sense of discovery. I wanted an MC that was capable of failing. I didn't want the game to be easy. I wanted a more dynamic quest system. I didn't want constant status popups of experience or damage. I wanted enemies that posed some mechanical challenge within the game's system. I wanted it to feel like what a real VRMMO would if one truly existed. And real bloody plot progression. I wanted everything. I wanted it to feel right. And I'm proud to say I was successful.

So those were my criteria for writing the story. To be fun and to make sense, to find the value in failure, to create joy from sorrow, a pinch of true terror and surprise, and many more wonderful things that I'm regretfully forgetting.
 
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karsev

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I based my current story on the stories that my grandma(rest her soul) told me about WW2 and specifically the things that happened to her friend who was looking after her lover, and her lover. who was looking for her as well, and how many hardships they had to go through in order to find each other and understand each other in those days. I have two main characters, and that is Nolan and Ciara in my current story. I based them on the most stubborn couple that my grandmother told me about and how they chased after another at the end of the day despite their love and hate relationship.
 

Wintertime

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It's the goal of every writer to surpass his own work. A work that is unique in its approach, and is able to transcend their own narrative. Sometimes that doesn't happen, but you might as well try. My inspirations come from a lot of things, but the core value is to create something worthwhile.
 

UndyingEmbers

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For my latest story, The Necromancer and the Would-Be-Hero, the inspiration was that I wanted to create a villain story that had deep characters. What is it exactly that made her turn into the person she is? What are her motivations? Why does she decide to take on a sentient familiar rather than sticking with zombie-like undead, is she lonely?

Beyond that I like creating strong female characters, and in this particular story she's anything but helpless. She stands on her own and while the male MC is good in his own way, she isn't using him as a crutch. The other thing I notice with a lot of stories is they devolve into harems of one sort or another, and I can't count how many times I've started a story thinking it had a good premise only to find out a few chapters in that it would be filled with pointless harem stuff. So I wanted to write something that wouldn't do that.

All in all these were the primary motivations behind writing my story. So far I'm really happy with where its going and it's been really fun to write, and to me that's one of the most important things.
 
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TheIcMan

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Oh wow, everyone has really interesting comments about how they've gotten their stories.

Meanwhile here's me, still abusing the tactic I've had since I was a kid: Utilizing fanfiction.

Ever since I was a kid I'd see a bunch of stories and be like, "that's cool" and then stuff the ideas into my own story and think that I'm the best. For instance there's one story that was an extremely strange mashup of Rosario+Vampire, Fullmetal, that one anime with the walking domes that people live in... It was a straight up mashup.

Then as I got "older", I got caught up in the Vocaloid business. And I was a sucker for the stories told by song.

So in eighth grade, I had my brilliant idea. I'd take one of my all-time favorite songs, "Servant of Evil", and make something of my own. Thus resulting in my brilliant title: Twins: The Despised Fate.

And the reason I'm using this as my proudest work is because it was the first one I actually, legitimately completed. (I also printed the entire damn thing out and wove my own real book out of it, completely wasting my middle school's paper supplies but we don't have to talk about that)

Nowadays, I'm still kind of doing the same thing, just doing it more like, y'know, an actual writer. In the case of my current story, "The Violet Curse", I'm taking all of the aspects I love about Isekai and putting them in while taking out everything I hated (OP protags used to be my thing, but it's just so damn annoying now).
 
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