The first book that I worked on was The Past, Present and Future. I first came up with the idea in 2015 but didn't start menulis it until 2019. I spent years thinking of ideas about the story. As time went on, the story changed a lot.
Initial idea:
Originally, The Past, Present and Future was going to have a male protagonist. In the story, the male protagonist met a girl around his age and became best friends with her. The two were good friends during their childhood and could have grown to be more. However, the female friend was murdered oleh her neighbor. After growing up to the age of a young adult, the male protagonist would plan on seeking vengeance on his neighbor. However, he would eventually bring the neighbor to justice and befriend a young woman that would become his girlfriend.
selanjutnya idea:
After changing the protagonist's gender, a lot of other changed about the story, too. In the story, the female protagonist would befriend a girl around her age that ends up being murdered oleh her neighbor. Years later, the female protagonist still hasn't gotten over the loss of her best friend. Meanwhile, the neighbor tries to suppress his guilt and focus on his work, but he feels like a broken person. The female protagonist would initially be focused on confronting the neighbor, but her attention would start going towards her new female friend. Her new female friend would help her with her studies, while also being a comforting, supportive friend. The female friend would start expressing romantic interest towards the female protagonist. However, the female protagonist doesn't feel comfortable expressing her true feelings. The female protagonist has a fight with the neighbor in his office. A api would accidentally start in the office. The female friend shows up and saves the protagonist. The neighbor feels so bad about everything he's done that he stays behind and dies in the fire. At the end of the story, the protagonist finally expresses her feelings towards her friend and kisses her.
What the story ended up becoming:
In the version of the story that I ended up going with, the protagonist's name is Kate. She was a shy girl that befriended a girl named Lacy. The two friends were like sisters, until Lacy's sudden death. It's believed that Lacy died in an accident, but Kate blames her mysterious neighbor, Robert, for what happened. After growing to the age of twenty, Kate starts attending college. She still feels lost without Lacy around. However, a woman around her age, named Penelope, goes out of her way to befriend Kate. Penelope can tell that Kate has a lot of stress in her life, so she tries to make her life brighter. Kate and Penelope start forming a very close bond. However, Robert is now the assistant of a businessman, named Mr. Gorshin, who is running for mayor. Kate feels that she has to avenge Lacy's death, so she wants to confront Robert and prevent Mr. Gorshin from becoming mayor. Meanwhile, Penelope's close friend, Tara, feels jealous of Penelope's friendship with Kate, so she tries to intervene.
Character changes:
Kate: As I kept working on ideas for the story, Kate ended up having lebih and lebih traits of mine. Like me, Kate has a lot of self-doubt, guilt and social anxiety.
Penelope: Penelope and her older brother, Brandon, were originally intended to be American, but I ended up making them Japanese.
Robert: Originally, Robert was going to be a murderer and the clear villain of the story. However, I decided to make him a lebih morally ambiguous story. In the story, Kate thinks that Robert was responsible for Lacy's death, but whether atau not he actually did that is kept a mystery for a majority of the story. I won't spoil the answer in my article.
Mr. Gorshin: Mr. Gorshin wasn't even originally supposed to be in the story. After coming up with the idea of the character, I intended him to be a side character and a comedic relief. However, I ended up loving the character, so he ended up becoming lebih and lebih integral to the events of the story.
Tara and Emily: Penelope's friends, Tara and Emily, weren't originally supposed to be in the story. However, I figured that it would make sense for Penelope to have friends, so the characters were added to the story. Tara ended up becoming a big part of the story and an even bigger part of the sequels. Emily was a character that I originally created for other stories, but she ended up being a useful addition to the book.
I believe that taking time to think out my ideas worked out for the best. I believe that my first book wouldn't have been as good if I used the first two ideas. I wanted the book to be a story that started off sad but became lebih and lebih optimistic as it went along.
If you're interested in the story, I put the story on Fiction Press. All of the chapters are now available to read.
link
Initial idea:
Originally, The Past, Present and Future was going to have a male protagonist. In the story, the male protagonist met a girl around his age and became best friends with her. The two were good friends during their childhood and could have grown to be more. However, the female friend was murdered oleh her neighbor. After growing up to the age of a young adult, the male protagonist would plan on seeking vengeance on his neighbor. However, he would eventually bring the neighbor to justice and befriend a young woman that would become his girlfriend.
selanjutnya idea:
After changing the protagonist's gender, a lot of other changed about the story, too. In the story, the female protagonist would befriend a girl around her age that ends up being murdered oleh her neighbor. Years later, the female protagonist still hasn't gotten over the loss of her best friend. Meanwhile, the neighbor tries to suppress his guilt and focus on his work, but he feels like a broken person. The female protagonist would initially be focused on confronting the neighbor, but her attention would start going towards her new female friend. Her new female friend would help her with her studies, while also being a comforting, supportive friend. The female friend would start expressing romantic interest towards the female protagonist. However, the female protagonist doesn't feel comfortable expressing her true feelings. The female protagonist has a fight with the neighbor in his office. A api would accidentally start in the office. The female friend shows up and saves the protagonist. The neighbor feels so bad about everything he's done that he stays behind and dies in the fire. At the end of the story, the protagonist finally expresses her feelings towards her friend and kisses her.
What the story ended up becoming:
In the version of the story that I ended up going with, the protagonist's name is Kate. She was a shy girl that befriended a girl named Lacy. The two friends were like sisters, until Lacy's sudden death. It's believed that Lacy died in an accident, but Kate blames her mysterious neighbor, Robert, for what happened. After growing to the age of twenty, Kate starts attending college. She still feels lost without Lacy around. However, a woman around her age, named Penelope, goes out of her way to befriend Kate. Penelope can tell that Kate has a lot of stress in her life, so she tries to make her life brighter. Kate and Penelope start forming a very close bond. However, Robert is now the assistant of a businessman, named Mr. Gorshin, who is running for mayor. Kate feels that she has to avenge Lacy's death, so she wants to confront Robert and prevent Mr. Gorshin from becoming mayor. Meanwhile, Penelope's close friend, Tara, feels jealous of Penelope's friendship with Kate, so she tries to intervene.
Character changes:
Kate: As I kept working on ideas for the story, Kate ended up having lebih and lebih traits of mine. Like me, Kate has a lot of self-doubt, guilt and social anxiety.
Penelope: Penelope and her older brother, Brandon, were originally intended to be American, but I ended up making them Japanese.
Robert: Originally, Robert was going to be a murderer and the clear villain of the story. However, I decided to make him a lebih morally ambiguous story. In the story, Kate thinks that Robert was responsible for Lacy's death, but whether atau not he actually did that is kept a mystery for a majority of the story. I won't spoil the answer in my article.
Mr. Gorshin: Mr. Gorshin wasn't even originally supposed to be in the story. After coming up with the idea of the character, I intended him to be a side character and a comedic relief. However, I ended up loving the character, so he ended up becoming lebih and lebih integral to the events of the story.
Tara and Emily: Penelope's friends, Tara and Emily, weren't originally supposed to be in the story. However, I figured that it would make sense for Penelope to have friends, so the characters were added to the story. Tara ended up becoming a big part of the story and an even bigger part of the sequels. Emily was a character that I originally created for other stories, but she ended up being a useful addition to the book.
I believe that taking time to think out my ideas worked out for the best. I believe that my first book wouldn't have been as good if I used the first two ideas. I wanted the book to be a story that started off sad but became lebih and lebih optimistic as it went along.
If you're interested in the story, I put the story on Fiction Press. All of the chapters are now available to read.
link