#the protected

"I’m writing a book."

That’s something many people have already dealt with. You have an idea, a vision, or maybe you're simply inspired by a work you’ve just read. Many write fanfiction, spinning further stories in an already existing world they love—and maybe they just want their favorite characters to do what they didn’t in the original story. And other write down everything in a novel – no matter how many pages!

As for me, I’ve had this one idea in my head for about two years now.

Time and again, I tried to put the story into words or even just find a starting point. But the same obstacles kept getting in the way. I had no time, work was overwhelming, and then that nagging thought crept in: "Am I even good enough to write a story?"

So I let it go. Not because I was discouraged, but because at that time, it just seemed unimaginable to take on that challenge.

In the meantime, I shared my idea with my friends. I listened to their thoughts and used those conversations to let my creativity flow freely. About a year later, I knew what how I wanted to write it down. The basic plot was in place, the characters had their traits, and I knew exactly what they should be like—how they should behave, what their dynamics were, and what their rough backstories looked like.

I can’t even say how much time went into the planning. Probably not as much as it feels, since I only worked on it when I had the time and motivation.

So, how should it continue from there?

Writing, of course! That was the only logical next step once the planning was done. But the project still felt like a massive mountain I didn’t dare climb. So I started writing fanfiction.

And damn, for over half a year I typed like a person possessed. I uploaded updates almost daily and received so much feedback that I really got the chance to improve.

Both positive and negative.

Of course, negative criticism isn’t always pleasant, but people still made the effort to explain exactly what they didn’t like—and that really helped me move forward. I think that helped me grow.

In the end, I finally started putting my own work into words. Thanks to all the practice I had beforehand, it actually became quite easy to finally write down my thoughts.

Which brings me to today and the reason why I’m writing this blog. Because I’ve genuinely found joy in writing this story, and I’ll definitely see it through to the bitter end—no matter what it takes!

With that, I hope I might be able to motivate other aspiring authors to take that first step toward bringing their own projects to life.

I’ll most likely be uploading the story to Wattpad soon and will update it regularly. In my next post, I want to dive deeper into the story and share a bit more about it. I’ve also found a designer who’s creating a cover for me, and beyond that, there will be much more to see.

Maybe I’ve piqued someone’s interest here, and I’d be thrilled if you’d continue to accompany me on this journey.

this was supposed to be a sketch of how would i look like with some animal features (think kemonomimi or something like that)

Totally forgot to post this beautiful cover of my story "The Protected"!

This Cover was designed by my beloved Nika and she did a really good job with this masterpiece. I really love her art and how she brought my characters to live!

Since we will work together for more artworks, there will be much more to see. More illustrations, chapter and character art! I am really hyped for everything new she will create for me, hehe! <3

Also I love the expression of Davis in her character art:

He's so confident. I really like him! <3

You can find much more of her art here:

Before I had even decided on a genre, I already had a rough plot in mind. I knew what kind of main character I wanted, and it was supposed to be something in the BL (Boys' Love) realm—maybe with a bit of spice, too. At the time I came up with the idea, I was pretty obsessed with BL.

I had read several manga and a ton of fanfiction, including original stories published on Wattpad or other web novel platforms.

It really helped me figure out what I liked and what I didn’t.

After all, reading is a great way to quickly discover your own preferences.

So what I wanted was a laid-back character with a dark streak. I liked characters who had a witty, sarcastic attitude. But more serious characters had also stolen my heart in an instant.

It didn’t actually take long before I had tailored my characters’ looks, behavior, and backstory to fit them perfectly. The idea slowly started to take shape, and my motivation to invest more time into the story grew.

I can’t even say how quickly I gathered everything. Thanks to my friends, I was able to do a lot of brainstorming, and we came up with some really great ideas.

However, the project then lay dormant for quite a long time. For about two years, the idea just sat there untouched. I kept going back to read what I had written, and occasionally, when I felt like it, I added a few things.

But still—I couldn’t find a beginning.

How the hell do you even write a book?

How do other authors manage to find a good starting point? How do they bring their characters to life and make settings feel vivid through words? How was I supposed to write a story that wouldn’t lose its readers’ interest right away?

Then one night, when I really should have been asleep because of work, the idea hit me like a bulldozer.

By that point, I had read so much fanfiction that the next steps seemed pretty straightforward: I just had to write something. So why not fanfiction? Why not write my favorite characters their own story?

It turned out to be pretty much the best thing I could have done.

I spent half a year writing fanfiction. I tried out all kinds of scenarios and wrote so much smut that I sometimes wondered what the hell I was even doing. But I started getting a feel for how to make dialogue interesting, my smut scenes kept getting better, and even though I’m still far from perfect, writing fanfiction gave me the courage to finally get started.

Which brings me to this year.

Since February, I’ve been working on my story. I’m so deep into it that I can’t even bring myself to finish my unfinished fanfics. Everything else just feels like a distraction, so I only work on fanfiction when I get stuck on my main story and need to redirect my brain with something else.

Not writing wasn’t an option.

I was afraid that if I stopped, I wouldn’t continue.

So I kept pushing myself and wrote more and more. Sometimes a chapter took just a day, and sometimes a week. Occasionally I couldn’t continue without getting feedback—despite the fact that my friends were reading everything I wrote.

I’m nowhere near finished, even though my story already has around 200,000 words—and all since February of this year. I’m pretty satisfied with my progress so far. I really like what I’m writing.

Of course, I still worry that other people might not like it.

At first, I wanted to finish the whole thing and send it to a publisher, hoping that one day I might hold a physical copy of my work in my hands. But like so many things in life, that perspective changed.

Who would buy a book written by someone completely unknown?

So I decided to upload my project to Wattpad or another site known for web novels. I’m not sure yet which platforms I’ll publish it on, but there will definitely be both a German and an English version.

In my next post, I want to share more about the story itself and post some visual material too, since I’ve met some amazing artists who are helping me bring my characters to life.