Of course, as everyone knows, Van Polan is Swedish, born and raised in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden.
As a kid, he played basketball and was very active in sports. For example, being broad-shouldered is a part of everyday life for this author. Inherited genes from his Grandfather, who had a stocky body, made him look a little scary on the basketball court.
At an early age, when he was struggling to understand more complicated grammar in a Swedish language book, his Swedish Teacher was very concerned about Van Polan’s future if he didn’t keep developing in the language. When Van Polan was 14 years old, his Teacher urged him to compete in a high school event with five other schools, featuring a writing competition attended by 500 students. Even though he was a little shy and didn’t think he had any chance in the competition, he joined it at the last minute and shared his story with the judges within the 10 minutes before the deadline to compete.
As scary as it was, Van Polan finished in 2nd place in the competition. He was very close to winning the competition, but lost to a story called “The Green Bus Stop”.
The story Van Polan pushed into the competition was named: A Week Of My Life!
After coming in second place and achieving the highest position in his school, his Swedish Literature teacher encouraged him to continue writing. His Teacher was an author in literature and prized in Europe for his books, so he was famous, but worked in a shit school LOL.
During the years, Van Polan released several Novels in Swedish:
- The Fox(Action Drama):
A young assassin with no memory receives an assignment to protect a girl he knew in high school. The problem is that the girl is on a revenge path to kill the young man who killed her father, the one responsible for the murder is The Fox. He tries to keep his face up, as he was undercover several years ago, working as a bodyguard and was then known as The Fox. - The Black Room(Psychological Thriller):
A guy wakes up from a coma and has to take care of his three siblings, who have waited several years for him to wake up. The problem is that the traffic accident, because he was the one responsible who had their parents killed, does not make his life easier. His siblings do not know that he was the one driving the car, and they are also unaware that, as the eldest son, he was adopted into the family before the others were born. When all suffering happens, he gets blackouts and ends up in a black room with people from his past making him suffer on a psychological level.
- Love From A Different Kind Of View(Comedy Romance), Story Renamed and Rewritten in English:
Van Polan wished to write a comedy, but he had a broad perspective on things and found humor in everything. He wanted to write something different. The Swedish version of the story revolves around a guy who has a dove giving him advice on how to get laid, but his phone Ifun gets in love with the girl’s pink Bampung phone. It was pure humor, but the English version got a big chance, and a Dog and a Cat joined in with the dove removed. This one is being rewritten in English right now.
- No Sunshine On The Other End:
A former underground fighter’s wife gets murdered, and he decides to go Berserk on all those who had something to do with his wife’s murder.
There are also several stories with 1-3 chapter beginnings that Van Polan doesn’t even want to mention, as he never continued with them.
How does Van Polan come up with the stories?
Luckily, he never steals other stories, but getting inspiration is key. He never plans anything before starting writing, but the only thing he knows when writing a story is how it STARTS and HOW IT WILL END.
Being a real asshole type of writer, he is not afraid to kill off characters who may have had a vital part in the story, if it will ultimately lead to a better conclusion of the story. He does not like to drag out a story.
- WRITING STYLE
Most of Van Polan’s stories are in First POV. Some stories switch between 3rd Person and First POV. One example is “Zark Van Polan And The Creatures of Darkness.” Although the story begins in the third Person, it shifts to the perspective of the main character. Then it goes through First Pov a while and suddenly starts in 3rd Person again. There is a significant difference, though; the scene or the inciting incident story does switch to third Person as something vital has happened. One example is Arc 2 in the Zark book, where the main character is not present during the incident, so the narrative shifts to a third-person perspective, focusing on those closest to him.
The Creation Of The Van Polan Universe?
Initially, it was a straightforward story that became complex on its own.
First Story: Zark Polan
The first story about the creation of the Van Polan universe began with a Geeky character named Majtis (a Dutch guy). The story was simple, with Zark coming from a typical orphanage and searching for his sister. There was no Paladin Woods at that time, only a simple story about a guy in a suit who was looking for his sister. Zark was a successful man (rich) who hired a private company to look for his sister (this company was later named the Van Polan Organization) when the story changed. Zark was nothing special, except that he could see spirits; however, the origin of his powers was unknown at that time. So while Zark is looking to find his past, at the same time, he discovers a powerful entity, Majtis, so Zark buys up Majtis’ company and starts investigating this red creature(a Krat). All results in Zark begin to jump into Majtis’ dreams to fight off the Krat.
Overall, after 20 chapters, I scrapped the story because Zark was grown up in an orphanage, and Berk was also in the story but wouldn’t have any role in it. His sister would only show up towards the end. Also, the side characters were stale, and there was too much joking around in the story. The biggest realization I had was “Who The Fuck Even Cares About THIS Storyline”.
THE STORY GOT SCRAPPED
Second Story, Taz Van Polan And The Dungeon Of Death:
I started a dungeon story, but I didn’t want the story told on Earth. So, how do you keep a story real, yet avoid using Isekai, and try to make it more natural?
In some sense, people will tell me I used isekai, but is it Isekai?
Valiant is a world situated between Earth and Hell. It has a total of 9 plain levels, similar to a game with different kingdoms and areas in each level. Four levels with location on the Earth side, and four levels with location on the Hell side, with the 5th level being the central part of Valiant.
It also needed some storyline, for Taz, a character who is nobody, to travel to Valiant; something significant had to happen. Included in the story was a hot ginger girl princess, a blue little dragon that looked like a baby, and, of course, Taz. The importance of the story I wanted to build was a Dungeon story with unknown levels. I wrote around 25 chapters, but stopped to develop the worlds more.
Not scrapped, but paused to prioritize looking more in-depth at the world of Valiant.
Third Story: Berk Van Polan And The Cursed Levels Of The Fallen Kingdoms, 38 Chapters, Ongoing:
One of the funniest and youngest characters in the Van Polan Universe. He is a prick, he does not care about other people, he has the universe against him, he is cursed, he has suffered a lot, and he acts as a nobody.
There is no Hero in this story; instead, we get a storyline based on someone who is exposed not only as a villain but also as a murderer.
Berk’s story was important for Valiant, also it was important because I wanted to write a storyline where somebody gets treated like shit more or less the whole first Arc.
One of the amusing aspects of Berk’s story is the challenges; we do not have a stupid guy or a genius. We do not have a romantic guy, but a completely normal guy in an everyday scenario. Berk is the closest thing a reader can come to typical human behavior. He is horny, he often doesnt give a shit and he damn doesnt want to risk his life for other because everyone treats him like shit more or less.
He doesn’t owe anything to anyone; that is how I wanted to build the story. In the first Arc we do see a normal young man getting treated like shit, destined to rot in prison, he is cursed which can make him end up dead at any moment. Nothing goes his way, and I think the readers were a little shocked by his behavior in Arc 2.
Given that people do get to see his human nature more closely and being treated like shit almost all his life, he was not going to sugarcoat it. An example of a scenario is when he is going to test floating stars and throws his companion onto the star to test if it would fall and kill the companion. Another great example is the bickering between Berk and Mejni (Meercat), where they more or less try to kill each other on every mission; they both think that being stuck together will end up with their demise. There are, though, moments where they really stick together, but there are also moments where they do not give a shit about each other. I think this type of storytelling is not standard on Royalroad, mainly because what happens is truly unhinged; the reader gets fast-paced buddy action comedy in a fantasy world, but the characters doesnt like each other, and Mejni who is the side character, but does show himself as also a Main Character because he also have a backstory. The readers care about both of them, not just Berk.
In the Berk story, the creation of Paladin Woods helps to expand the area and the travels to Valiant. It also explained that, as a reason, because Valiant went to war earlier, those escaping and building a life outside of Valiant were necessary to tell a deeper story.
Berk Van Polan is my favorite character to write. He does not care; he does not have to show empathy. He no longer smiles. He has to fight for his survival, but even then, there is a big chance he won’t survive. Berk is a character driven by the purpose of survival, which is why I like writing him so much.
I pulled back Berk Van Polan to rewrite it as the grammar in the story was more or less shit. Hence, it has not been re-released yet because of Zark.
The Van Polans VS The Red Eyed Demons: Shorter Novel (Scrapped For Now)
10 Chapters written, but it got pulled back because the other stories needed focus.
Had an interesting story, told in the No-Go areas of Paladin Woods. Taz, Zark and Berk was in the same storyline in this one with Taz being the one telling the story in First POV.
Zark Van Polan And The Creatures Of Darkness:
The main story that sets the entire universe in motion. Goes in-depth into the backstory of Berk Van Polan, all the way back when he was a Baby.
One of the biggest critiques I received was that the story was first told in the third Person and then switched to First Person to Zark. Also, the pacing shifted too fast.
While I am excited about the growth in the Series, Zark’s book is like 1 out of 12 books. In the first Arc, we do get the past of Zark and Berk involved together with Meldan and Victoria. For those who have read Berk Van Polan before I removed all chapters because they needed rewriting, they know exactly what happens in the scene where they jumped into the pool. The reason is that specific scene is the first thing that happens in the Berk story, and that is approximately 11-12 chapters in Zarks’ story. Both stories intertwine, but at the same time, it is added in this way because all the moments happen in real time. Why do many followers of Berk read Zarks’ story? Because Berk shows up now and then in the story, and they want to know what happens in Berk’s journey as well, I do not leave big stamps, but leave breadcrumps to what they can look forward to and a new LITRPG character joining the team.
Zark is ongoing and the most prioritized of all the books right now, and it will finish at the top; the end is one of the better ones I have thought out. YES I DO KNOW HOW EACH BOOK ENDS HAHAHAHA!
OTHER BOOKS THAT ARE WAITING FOR WRITING IN THE VAN POLAN UNIVERSE:
Jia Hao Van Polan And The Demon Princess:
Take the end-of-year exam to complete high school and earn a diploma, marking their growth in powers and strength. A final exam takes place in an unknown area of Paladin, where students compete to determine who possesses the number one power and strength. Jia Hao, who has not even attended school in Paladin, gets paired with a demon princess as the schools in Paladin aim to build strong couples for the future to protect Paladin. When the games start, something goes wrong outside in Paladin when a bus carrying schoolchildren blows up, creating chaos. Many high-positioned leaders get arrested for the explosion, with a new organization taking over Paladin, and their first target is to kill off all offspring of the leaders.
Gerry Van And The Demon: Just one short novel.
A 15-year-old is hunting down a demon in Stockholm after accepting a job ad to monitor a 12-year-old girl who dwells in the corners of Stockholm during the midnight hours.
Veronica Van Polan: Potential for 5-10 books, both set in Paladin, Valiant, and Stockholm City.
I am trying to find a Female Author to write her story, as I feel it is better told from a woman’s perspective. I will only write a stale female character if I try.
Other Books By The Author:
Love From A Different Point Of View:
Volume 1 is released.
Pure comedy with animals giving dating advice to a guy.
Volume 2 will be released when Zark has at least a two-week backlog.
The Hillarious Angry Screenwriter Maz Palto:
About a movie screenwriter who gets his story dissected by the worst people in the industry, and how he tries to keep himself calm during all the meetings and suggestions made to his romance story about two beavers. Needs editing only before Volume 1 release. It will be released after Zark has a 2-week backlog.