Warning: Spoilers Ahead

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Inspiration

I have shared most of the worldbuilding inspirations in the Author's note. So now, I would like to share some of the inspiration for the plot and the magic system.

I initially wanted to write a Peter Pan retelling, but the only thing I got from that is the flying boy. The description of this power was then based on Sanderson's Second Law of magic.

Usually when I start a story, I have a specific image or scene in my head. I then had this idea of a boy and a girl going on an adventure, traveling across the kingdom and making discoveries. In a way, Jiro and Alet are traveling across the kingdom though not intended to be a grand adventure, and they are mostly running for their lives.

I also focused more on the character's stories. I know high fantasy is very big on focusing on epic themes and plot and the grandness of it all, but I thought it would be unique if I focused on the drama of what's happening to these characters. I thought of creating a high fantasy drama subgenre. Thus you will notice that I have elaborated on Jiro's struggles with anxiety and depression.

The parallel plot of Reiji and Kazuri was then created to expand the story and answer the question, what happens to the boy and the girl when they reach their destination. And this will be revealed in Volume 2.

The military portion of the story was initially inspired by Violet Evergarden (anime series)—the idea of a soldier surviving a war and what comes after that, though Alet's experience is darker. I have tried to discover what sort of miseries the world would experience after a devastation. The scenes are based mostly on research and some help from my husband as he trained in Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) when he was in highschool.

There are plenty more inspirations in here but those, I think, these are the major ones.

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Behind the anxiety

I am not an expert on anxiety or any mental disorder, but Jiro's experiences are referenced to my own as I have had anxiety since I was in college and I've experienced my first panic attack during the 2020 pandemic, which was a horrifying experience but a humorous one when I think about it now because my husband was also in panic while I was having the attack. One of the funny moments when he rushed me to the hospital was that he forgot there was a nearer hospital and drove for a farther one. I shouted at him in the car and he switched routes.

Despite the laugh I get out of remembering the experience, it is not something I want to relive though it has happened again after that. Each time is never better than the first. Even with anxiety, I do not like being in that state and I'm continuously working on it.

I haven't taken any medication for it, though a psychiatrist once offered. And I have never taken any illegal drugs either. That part of the story is based solely on research.

Each anxiety or panic attack experience is different for everyone, but I hope I was able to portray at least one side of it.

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The Title

The original title of the book was just Daracka, which is the name of the kingdom. I have a thing for using names (people or places) as titles for my books. But then I learned from the Wattys Bootcamp that titles in Wattpad are supposed to be condensed loglines of stories. So, I went and updated the title of this book. I still kept Daracka as the title of the complete duology but for Volume 1, I came up with Head Hunt.

Head Hunt: Separated word to mean different from 'headhunt'. Head is for Reiji as the heir to the throne. In the political structure, there is a role (currently Master Hatari's) that is the Keeper of the Head--the adviser to the Kahani or the Kaharaza who are the head of the kingdom. And Hunt is for Jiro who is a hunter-tracker, and the whole plot revolved around finding (hunting) the soldier. And when Jiro found Alet, they were hunted by the other Aradacko. At the same time, Reiji is, in a way, also hunted because of the assassination attemps.

I favor this title because the major inspiration, the Igorots, practiced headhunting, which lasted until the early 1990's.

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Word Count

A little story about how I submitted this for the Wattys Bootcamp.

Three days before the submission deadline, a Wattpad friend told me about it and I thought to submit my only ongoing story (Sea Gypsies with 20K words) on this platform then. But when I checked it out, the minimum word requirement was 40K for ongoing stories, so I thought I'd try next year.

The next day, I remembered I had written a chunky fantasy novel that I put away. I pulled out Daracka and edited it like crazy for the submission. It was my first time to write a summary and a logline.

The original plan was for Daracka to be a standalone. The initial draft reached upto to 87 chapters with target wordcount at 200K to 250K words.

When I submitted to Wattys Bootcamp, a Wattpad friend advised me to try to cut it into tomes, and I chopped it down to two with the first Volume having 54 chapters (now 55 plus prelude and epilogue).

Most mentors were looking for books that are about 50K, some can take 100K.

I initially submitted the first 40K words (I think until chapter 20) but when I got the interview form from the mentors, asking which chapter is the climax, I had to publish all 54 chapters of the first Volume. This ended with around 120K words, which was over the maximum that they wanted but I noted that I was willing to cut chapters.

I did not expect to get in the Bootcamp because my submission was blah. So when I saw my tag on that page, I couldn't believe it. I had to click it to make sure it was me because I just couldn't believe it. After I verified that it was me, I couldn't stop smiling ear to ear. It was an awesome feeling, and it was a validation that my writing somehow has value or is, at the very least, readable. 

Now the final total wordcount for Volume 1 (Story Chapters + Prelude and Epilogue) is still at 120K words.

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