Until now, I find it surreal that I managed to finish the writing of The Diary of Modern Cinderella. If you have written a novel before (or fanfiction if you have never written anything full-length before), it’s not easy to finish your manuscript no matter how short the story is.

The process of writing The Diary of Modern Cinderella is no different as the manuscript has gone through 3 rounds of the editing process. I’m not sure if I can reduce the editing process to 2 rounds but since this is my first novel, I think 3 rounds of the editing process should be okay.

The first draft for The Diary of Modern Cinderella not only less than 40,000 words to be considered a novel but it also has so many plot loopholes! Editing the manuscript is hell for me because it makes me feel like I’m writing the whole chapter whenever I’m editing chapter by chapter.

But then again, I’m glad that I’ve finished the manuscript after 3 months of writing the novel so I’m happy that I’m able to publish the novel this year.

What got me to write The Diary of Modern Cinderella

When I’ve decided to take a leap of faith to become an author, I have no idea what I should write for my first novel despite watching lots of anime from the different genre. I think it’s not news to you that anime, manga, and video games are the things that fuel my inspiration when it comes to writing my novel.

Not to make it sounds like a woo-woo to you but somehow the universe told me that I should write a novel based on the script from the stage play that I used to be a part of. Back then in college, I used to join the drama and theater club as a part of  extracurricular activity. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to graduate.

The script for the stage play is somewhat different than the storyline for The Diary of Modern Cinderella though.

The premise is almost the same like The Diary of Modern Cinderella with the exception that the family consists of stepbrother and stepsister, the main character’s name is Cindy (it’s a ripoff name from the word Cinderella), Cindy suddenly becomes rebellious thanks to being influenced by her best friend and rebel against her stepbrother, stepmother, and also her stepsister.

The story ends with Cindy’s father committing a murder by killing all of them just to save Cindy from their continuous abuse and arrested by the police. After her father’s arrest, Cindy finally found her happiness by living with a foster family who resembles a lot like her previous family but in a more loving environment.

Personally, the storyline isn’t that bad but I’ve decided to add my own twist to make it more interesting.

What’s my own twist

I was thinking of making her father committed suicide after he was being arrested just to make it more depressing. I don’t know why but I kinda love the idea of making the storyline more depressing than it’s already is. For me, I feel that the story isn’t that interesting if it’s not depressing. Perhaps that can be my guilty pleasure though.

Heck, I even thought of making the epilogue with Cindy received a letter from her father before he committed suicide.

That seems like a good storyline overall, but at the end of the day, I’ve decided to scrap the idea and creates a new storyline which is what you’ve seen in The Diary of Modern Cinderella.

Why I scrap the idea

If I ever intended to use the script as the basis for the novel, I should have made a dedication to my senior because he was the one who wrote the script for the stage play. Unfortunately, I forgot what is his name so crediting him for the original story even if I’ve added my own plot twist is impossible.

Besides that, I find the story itself is boring because it doesn’t seem to have the anime and manga appeal to me. Honestly speaking, I don’t know how you should classify a story with anime and manga appeal but I’m only saying it based on my own gut feeling.

So yeah, I’m sorry because I don’t know how to tell if the story has the anime and manga appeal either. If you can tell me how you can tell that, then feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment because I’d love to know myself.

Because of that reason, I end up changing the whole plot as long as it doesn’t feel like a carbon copy of the fairytale version and it has a healthy dose of Detective Conan feel.

I’m not sure how people will perceive this kind of storyline, but I feel amazing with the end result.

Get your copy

If you’re the kind of person who prefers the dark version of Cinderella story, then you may enjoy The Diary of Modern Cinderella. The book itself is already available for pre-order, so get it here if you’re interested:

Pre-order The Diary of Modern Cinderella here

Over to you

What do you think about the initial story for The Diary of Modern Cinderella? Do you actually prefer the initial storyline or the current one? Share your thoughts in the comment below.

P.S I won’t be changing the storyline no matter what even if you prefer the initial storyline though. I just want to know what’s your preference which I can use it for my future reference if I intended to write a similar story like this.