"The first mages" was originally the name of just the first book then, later on, became the name of the series and the first book got renamed to "Newfound might". Probably will be renamed when I start translating or writing it in English.
With The first mages, when it was still just one book, I learned not to let people's opinions get to me. When my classmates found out I'm thinking of writing a story they laughed. We were really young all it took was one kid to start making fun of me and all would follow. At that moment I gave up before even starting. I didn't think of writing for a long time. Not until my literature teacher made us write a short story for whatever. Now I didn't write this short story on The first mages but it was enough to show me what writing really should be. A joy that only the power of words can give you.
After getting back home that day I started writing my first book which later became my first series.
This book taught me that I'm not a writer who can easily write stand-alones. After getting towards the end and feeling that need to write more for this story I should've known. Just when I started thinking it will end after the second book an idea for a third one came to mind. And so on.
I learned I am not a planner. Making a complicated plotline, thinking of every little detail isn't my type of plotting. I prefer to write a simple short story and let the details come on their own. This is also something that changed lately. I am not making extremely complicated plots, I just want to do this little bit of plotting to make my books cleaner, easier to edit, and that little bit more interesting.
With it now being a series I learned never to write two books from the same series at the same time. And of course, this rule applies to sequels. If the book is with events that happen after the first one you are gonna want to finish that piece before starting the next one. My character should've been with her magic eyes already stuck onto her but no, I had to multitask the wrong thing. Of course, I didn't leave it like that but I'll talk about this in a second.
This series also showed me the painful beauty of rewriting. Almost finished with the second book I decided to go back and change it all. add more details, fix plot holes, and all of that just to realize I want to rewrite the whole thing after finishing the third book. I am currently in the process of rewriting the second book. The first edited draft was written in a childish style. I will forever love it but I gotta move on from it and give myself space to grow around a more complicated plot with better pacing and character arcs.
I also learn how to write in English with The first mages series or at least the prequel of it Tails of broken kids. It's the new aspect of writing I'm excited to explore. It gives me this beginner feeling and motivation that I had writing the first book of the series back at the end of 2016.
The series has one more thing to teach me. Either translating or rewriting in English. I am this close to finishing the second book and moving on the third. After this, I have only one book to write in Bulgarian and it's (hopefully) my first stand-alone.
The first mages series is my ultimate journey, it will forever stay my favorite and I will never stop loving it. Sarah is the character closest to me. My first character. I knew her name and personality before even writing the first chapter. I still remembered her name when I wrote that short story for literature class. Her story and relationships have changed a lot. She first had a loving family and now I seriously don't know how she is keeping her shit together. She taught me how to flaw my characters and make them grow.
Thank you so much for reading this post and getting to this point. It truly means a lot to me. Till next time hammer-on and jam along.