(Warning: This chapter is raw and unedited to feature the trueness of it. Best to read after finishing volume 1.)
Honestly, I think I should write this as a reminder to myself or as a remembrance mark. My idea for Competition Unknown...well it was completely sudden that it came to my mind while trying to find a better story. My mind back then was like...damn these follow such a common pattern and I am bored of it! And then I downloaded Webnovel...meeting the most life changing feature out of them all.
Introducing...the writing option! The turning point of a middle schooler's life.
For the first few days, I mendled with the idea of creating an entirely different world in a novel someone could explore. But mostly...it was just something I wanted to do for myself as a hobby. I had no idea or what-so-ever as in how to start or 'how' to structure this thing called a 'story'. I may have read many tales, and none of them seemed to be able to get any idea as in how to write.
Then...randomly...I created a book. Which is now known as 'Competition Unknown'. Although...I must say that deducing a proper name for this novel was a major debate between me and me. Sometimes...I wanted to settle for Unknown Competition...or Unwanted Competition. And then also some bizzare ones like...Unwanted World??? But honestly those ideas stayed for only ten minutes inside my mind...and officially, after fifty holy minutes I could have used to solve my homework...I came up with Competition Unknown.
But that was the first worry fixated and the next worry was the sypnosis. Like...what is the story going to be about??? I didn't even get a chance to write a chapter! How am I supposed to know!!!! After minutes of recking my mind...there it was...an empty sypnosis and fifty words into my first chapter...which was a wreck now that I glance back.
Because I had deleted the first chapter like around three times and rewrote it...and looking back...why does it make no sense? Then I realized...I just have a personal writing style and that is to add more suspense and add cleared details at the end, while tieing one chapter to another arc and eventually making things connected somehow.
But here is the thing...why did I add the Mafia arc??? Simple...to add more puff to the volume.
Honestly...no. It kind of serves as a backbone to Aefia and her souless complexion, her unidentified strength and her unforgettable knowledge with fights while to also display her mentality and intelligence. Now I don't know how an actual Mafia business works alright? I tried my best to structure it in a way so the readers can witness her past and, like I had said before, the mysteries are linked with chains here and there, and the fact about Mr. Elephant (the name is funny), was supposed to be what this arc was about.
If you can recall...Mr. Elephant is heavily associated to the final arc of the volume.
Having sixteen chapters into one arc, was honestly something I didn't want to add. But that is also the point I picked up the ability to stretch a story and add more into details into it. So overall, that arc can be considered as side stories for the novel to ease the intensity of the chapters moving forward.
Now, speaking of the first few chapters of the novel. I understand it makes no sense from the first or the twentieth or so, because it is supposed to be a little confusing and indirectly believable...and if you have read through all of the chapters, you will notice that in the ending arc, they all are seen as the main plot to this story. Why it was like that, why it was written in a way to make the audience go 'that is literal bad story' (well at least to me)...but why else would Nikoan be named The land of the Deceived? I needed to make the people and citizens look dumb too.
Well, that enough blabbering about the story arcs until now. If you have any questions related to the unanswered storylines...well, you will find the answer in the later chapters.
Thinking about the time when I just published my story, I had really suffered with the fact that I had to write a straight two thousand words per day, where I wasn't even accustomed to a hundred and fifty words. Now, I can flawlessly right throw two hundred words without looking back, what a major pick up for me as a student who didn't even step into their examination halls for their secondary school exams.
Flashback to when I had just posted my chapter, I honestly wasn't thinking into how I would wake up the next morning and suddenly stare at the two hundred views on the cover page of my novel. That was the first thing that made me pursue writing on a daily basis, and here I am now, with over a hundred twenty chapters in my novel and still writing on about Aefia's journey in that world. Or maybe the correct word would be suffering.
I honestly can't explain just how grateful I am for having readers who read my story and readers who send me powerstones. Believe it or not, expressing my thankfulness to every one of you viewers using words is almost nothing. I find it hard to try and express my thoughts on how I really appreciate thinking about starting this novel!
Moving forward, I pledge that I would try to add much better storylines and improve my writing style. I also will add more explanations to the mysteries behind why certain things happen and to why it happened. And if I can afford the time between my studies, I will try to add more contrast to the first few chapters too.
Added to that, and to end it will off, this story, although not yet confirmed and still progressing, it has a possibility to conclude at around the four hundred or the five hundred chapter, and there might as well be a second part where I explain the backstory to the world and so on. There is a much bigger plot behind this story and it is all connected to Aefia.
But until then...I will end my remembrance log here. Best of luck in your reading journey!...WaterMask.
PS...Aefia's name is selected through Irish/Celtic roots like Aoife which means pleasantries or radiance, but I also heard that the name has another meaning of Harmony. There is a second derivation to this name and it's Arabic 'Afia' which means good health or well-being.