It’s funny how some of the strangest thoughts can create an idea that leads to something as fascinating as a story plot.

Daughters of Twilight started off as just a thought of an impossible love between a man and a woman. They were as different as night and day, the sky and the earth, the good and bad. But despite the differences, they are both human, both redeemable and both needing love. This is the beauty of fiction: characters may differ in their mindset and motives but there are common grounds that should bring them together towards a common goal – or else experience a certain moment or emotion, like love.

I had just watched Romeo and Juliet for the hundredth time when I thought how much I would love to write something as moving and love torn as that. They were in love and everybody knew it. But I cannot just duplicate the storyline as I felt it has been abused and overused by many fiction writers before me. Though I had imagined Daughters of Twilight to be a modern retelling of the classic or any other popular romance tale, I wanted to make different: unique and revolutionary. I had to check out many different books and movies and even visuals over the Internet to sustain the inspiration I had in writing my book.

I had to come up with a unique story line that would grab my readers’ attention. I want make them wanting to know more about my characters and also invite them to get involved in the story. I want them to experience how it is to be in Waterloo, witnessing the incident, getting to known the unknown, experiencing the fear. I want to present the endless possibilities of a fantasy fiction tale.

Of course the whole thing entails research and brainstorming and yes, many moments of realization. I want to present an entirely different story even if people may sense Daughters of Twilight was inspired by other romance tales. I don’t want people to tag my work as a rip-off but a pioneer in a league of its own. I felt I made the best use of my creativity, imagination and love for reading as I was able to maximize my characters, my setting, and my storyline.

Now sometimes you want to do an all-out description from head to toe of your leads but I found out adding little hints and pieces was more interesting. Sometimes you have to cut out conversations, thoughts or actions that tend to drag the story out even though it may seem interesting to you. This was hard for me because I always wanted more and I wanted to give more to my readers but I don’t want to bore my readers halfway when they read my book. I re-read my draft multiple times, fighting with my mind whether to leave this out or not. I made my characters better, and the dialogues and scenes more intense. Call it a self-review, but it was self-flagellation for me. I got rid of the excess detail and was left with what was necessary.

I found out staying on point by knowing what my characters’ next moves are helped me a lot. I tried to be careful not to add too many subplots as not to send my readers into a literary spin or distract them from the main plot.

Creating Daughters of Twilight as a series has given me the time and opportunity to thicken the plot of the next book. Everything has become a cycle but it’s a challenge worth taking because I could write a far better, more exciting story. I want to offer my readers not only a good story but also a great experience. Will this be a great series? We’ll have to wait and see.

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