on inspiration
Last night, as I laid in bed, I kept thinking about just how similar to my favourite mangas/animes my short stories are. First and foremost, I've recently watched The Vision of Escaflowne all over again and it just hit me. The main male character in my fanfic sports fluffy white wings and a mysterious ancestry just as Van Fanel does. Should I be calling myself a copycat or is it a mere coincidence? I mean, I do think that wings are extremely picturesque, almost poetic.. and also, I've created a side-trio of my own for the story, a trio whose dynamics I've read multiple times in the Kare Kano manga! But, as I had not read the whole thing when I started writing the fanfic, I cannot have copied that too. That just goes to show how similar my mind is to that of the mangaka, I feel like it's a compliment to me in a way.
There could be some other examples I could pinpoint, but then I'd be giving too much away of my original short story and I'm not ready to do that. See, I regard my work as a small treasure, I have selected people read samples out of it, but I mostly rely on my own skills to read, beta-read, proof-read and so on.. I bet that's the reason why I haven't finished (and subsequently published) any of my works yet! Sometimes I like to think of myself as a very good reader, and I am. I go into a bookstore, I browse the shelves until that particular book stands out and virtually screams buy me!.
I am not that good a writer though. I used to be, I used to stay up all night typing, I used to think of nothing else but writing and I would even act out whatever scene I thought didn't work. I didn't have a life back then, but I was a damn good writer.
There could be some other examples I could pinpoint, but then I'd be giving too much away of my original short story and I'm not ready to do that. See, I regard my work as a small treasure, I have selected people read samples out of it, but I mostly rely on my own skills to read, beta-read, proof-read and so on.. I bet that's the reason why I haven't finished (and subsequently published) any of my works yet! Sometimes I like to think of myself as a very good reader, and I am. I go into a bookstore, I browse the shelves until that particular book stands out and virtually screams buy me!.
I am not that good a writer though. I used to be, I used to stay up all night typing, I used to think of nothing else but writing and I would even act out whatever scene I thought didn't work. I didn't have a life back then, but I was a damn good writer.