LONG POST WARNING

TLDR; One Piece ruined my life. It inspired me to become a writer, now all of my original ideas and thoughts feel inferior. I don’t want to write a story about pirates even though being a pirate fits so well in my world. There is arguably nothing more anarchist than pirates. They’re cool asf. ———————————————————————————

I’m feeling so messed up right now. None of it is coming together, and I feel like screaming.

I was actually doing really good outlining my novel and getting into a good flow. Then I got sick for a week and had nothing much to do but some studying, fting my gf, and writing when I had the time. Depression also kinda hit hard too. A lot of my inspiration for my writing comes from a lot of different sources that showed me what fantastic writing can do to young minds. 90’s anime, ATLA, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, even Pokémon Mystery Dungeon brought a sense of adventure into my young life. But most of all, Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece really brought a sense of magic that nothing has ever been able to compare to. In so many ways is it a literary work of art and I hate it right now.

Reading One Piece was like my tipping point to wanting to write an amazing story, most likely a middle grade book that was easily accessible for kids but also with hopefully branch it into a series for people to grow with, a gateway for middle grade readers to comfortably explore YA fiction as they get further along. But let’s be real here, yes I want to write a series but atm I just want to write a good book.

That’s where One Piece has me kinda messed up. One Piece inspired me to write a middle grade fantasy book that had the emotional depth of a book an adult could pick up and still be entranced. To write a lovable wild chaotic main character that is a literal wanted criminal who’s only crime is being free and loving it. To build a complex world that feels alive, lived in, with history that isn’t thrown at your heads but is witnessed unfolding as you read further along. A book that goes against classist systems, that goes against patriarchal systems that are meant to separate the power of some people and leave it all for others. I want to show brokenness among people, countries, economies. I want to write gay and trans characters who have more depth than literally just being stereotypes. I want to write women who feel like actual women instead of weak damsel or strong and emotionless. I want my readers to flip off the govt but also hate when it’s right and to side for my protagonists but also fear and worry for their safety.

I also don’t want to write a pirate story. Which is hard because pirates are amazing and Oda made the best pirate fantasy story I have ever seen. There are kids out there reading and watching things saying they want to be a wizard like Harry, a demigod like Percy, a bender like Zuko and Toph, a super saiyan like Goku. And a pirate like Monkey D. Luffy. I want to inspire my readers to want to be something too.