#Book draft

[clanslist]

The first draft of Warriors: Into the Wild as posted by Kate Cary.

[unfinishedsonglyrics]

For Charlie:

In a distant galaxy across the stars there is a planet that discovered how special you are.

They found you one day looking through a big telescope and they got so excited about it they could barely cope.

Their brightest write essays just about you and all the interesting things that you do.

And they hang posters of you on their wall. The images are a bit fuzzy but they don’t care at all.

They think you’re beautiful.

They have so many questions and plenty of theories. Enough to write books, movies and several TV series.

They love you so much that they put you all over their stuff. They would be devastated if they learned you don’t think you’re enough.

They would form a committee and plan a long trip with their best and brightest on a big rocket ship.

They would blast off as quick as a race. Rumble, rattle and hurtle through space just so they could wipe the tears from your face.

When they got to your house they would give a parade to show you all the wonderful things that they made inspired by you.

But then they would be stuck here. They couldn’t go home and they’d have to live in your bedroom so they don’t end up alone.

I’m not sure how to feed so many from space. That’s a lot to keep in a very small place.

Maybe it’s best that they stay where they are. Where they love you where it’s safe at home from afar. I’m not sure they can even breathe here okay. Best not to make them come out all this way.

So when you get frustrated and your eyes want to cry. Look up, smile and wave to the sky. To the planet who loves you so much from afar you’re not just you. You’re a beloved star.

[larissa-the-scribe]

guys I had this realization the other day that Redwall works really well for reading aloud, and kinda half-remembered something about the author reading to kids? So I looked it up to see if I had made a connection.

And it turns out, yes, actually, because he read aloud to kids at a school for the blind. But all the books they gave him to read were depressing. So he wrote Redwall, a story about heroism and courage and making it through struggles, and filled it with so many sensory, visual details so he could give them something better and I just-- that's so wholesome-- help

[averyauthorship]

The first time I’ve ever held my book draft in my hands…… I’m so giddy even tho I just spent $50 to get it printed 😅

[3llisarts]

Working on a draft for one of your books and trying to decide what happens after which scene is the hardest fucking thing

[hummise]

are we still doing bill cipher angst ?

[late-draft]

Shocking, but it seems I haven't posted this WIP animation here yet! Well here it is

[hoomanwithpizza]

Bhai mai ek cute draft likh rahi ek cutu story ka kisiko agar writing style pe revise Dena ho toh batao ekad chapter bheju

[omnificent-orion]

Waiting for...

[comicaurora]

i keep seeing things about a physical aurora book, but i haven't seen anything concrete about it. was there something announced, or is it still in the nebulous in development phase? is there anywhere i should look to hear more about it? i just can't wait to hear more in either case, and i'm always looking forward to new pages! the art and the story are so awesome, and the lore of the world is so capturing.

It is open for preorder and hitting shelves at the end of July! Volume 2 (covering arc 1 chapters 12-22) is also in progress, slated hopefully for a few months after that!

[writingwithfolklore]

What to Worry About in Each Draft

Your first draft is never going to be your best one. That’s why we’re often told to be prepared to write your worst version first—but what does that really mean? Here’s a (non-strict) guide on what you should really be worrying about in each draft—and don’t move on until you feel you’ve achieved it.

Draft 1: Foundational Scenes

This draft is only about getting the basics of the scenes in the right order and onto paper. You may start exploring who your characters are on a deeper level, but all you’re really focusing on is getting them from their A to B.

Draft 2: Developing the Characters further

Start developing your characters and imbuing those foundational scenes you’ve already written with their motivations and heart. We’re not worried yet about voice or anything, just the bare bones of their arcs and making sure that the conflict they face will eventually form who they become.

Draft 3: Theme

Theme should develop through the character arcs, but I always set aside a draft to ensure that it’s coming through and the ending is working for me. I tend to leave it for a bit later because the theme isn’t always apparent from the get-go, but usually jumps out at the end of my protagonist’s arc. Before you move on, really ask yourself if the message you’re sending is one you like. If not, you may need to adjust your ending.

Draft 4: Pacing

Now that we have the scenes and the heart within them, we want to make sure that there’s nothing extra. You should have a good idea of what’s important after developing your characters and theme, and now’s a good time to cut out the excess.

Draft 5: Voice, Tone, Motifs

Voice I tend to leave pretty late in the game since dialogue is pretty easy to go through and edit altogether, and it’s helpful to know what the characters mean before I add subtext and voice quirks that make them individual and add more interest to the dialogue.

This is also a good time to do the same with your narrator’s voice—the overall tone of your piece—and make sure that you have those key things that continue to come up throughout your writing to make it feel cohesive.

Draft 6: Grammar

You should never edit for grammar/spelling until you have totally locked in your story and are happy with how it reads, because if you need to add or remove any scenes, all that work on grammar you had done will be wasted. This is always the very last thing I do before I move onto beta readers.

Draft 7-??: Feedback!

I try to send out my pieces to at least 3 people, so if there’s any discrepancies there’s a tie-breaker. Also, two could be seen as a coincidence, but three is a pattern—if all three people point out something, I usually take that as a sign that it needs work.

This isn’t usually one draft but several as you talk with your beta readers and have them take second and third looks (if they are willing!)

As well, you may get feedback from editors or agents, and will definitely get feedback and need to write subsequent drafts if you get far in the trad publishing process. Everything before Draft 7 is your baby, and you get to keep that forever, but you should know that afterwards, this baby is being raised by the village and may no longer look exactly how you thought it would. That’s okay, that’s part of it, and while you may not see it at first, it does make the work better.

Anything I missed?

[daunart]

And I, lost in the golden hour, felt the weight of it all, the way you turned everything to gold, the way your presence filled the silence with unspoken things...

[jaydove-writes]

Moving intro to pinned post so bio is less cluttered

~ he/him, cis, biromantic asexual, engaged to @starlightprincess98, (Planning to get married February 14th 2026) born July 12th 1997 (listed the year so I don't have to update my age every year) ****

Platonic soulmates: @aflairforthemelodramaticc and @translesbianfoxgirl

**** Formerly known as **** @princesssparkle42 **** @jaydovesworld **** Other blogs include **** @ask-skybluecmc, if you want to do some MLP OC RP **** @phoenix-of-grandeur, if you want to talk about your favorite games or mine (Though I also do that on main) **** @phiction-of-grandeur, if you want to talk about your stories or mine (Again I do that on main) **** @ask-the-felicity-crew, if you want to RP between your OCs and mine or ask me questions that I will answer as mine. The characters may or may not know they are fictional depending on when in the timeline you ask them.

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@ask-simon-devlyn, same as the Felicity Crew, but centered around the captain, Simon Devlyn. On this blog Simon knows he's fictional.

**** I love talking to people and making new friends! I'm also creating my own story series called Starbourne. Wanna be friends in the gaming multiverse? Here are my Friend Codes:

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Steam: 111892045

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Nintendo Switch: SW-5163-5533-6136 ****

Musical Fandoms:

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Chrono Trigger

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Undertale

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EPIC

**** Show Fandoms: **** MLP **** Steven Universe **** The Owl House **** Amphibia

**** The Ghost and Molly McGee **** Sailor Moon **** Cardcaptor Sakura

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Spongebob Squarepants ****

More later

**** Game Fandoms: **** Any RPG that features Mario (Such as Super Mario RPG, the Paper Mario series, or the Mario and Luigi RPG series) **** Any indie game inspired by Paper Mario (Such as Bug Fables or Born of Bread) ****

Undertale and Deltarune ****

In Stars and Time

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Kirby

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Hollow Knight and Silksong **** Zelda (mainly just watching other people play them) **** Pokemon (see Zelda) **** Might add more later **** Book Fandoms: **** Percy Jackson et al **** Amari **** Serafina **** Might add more later ****

Webcomic Fandoms

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Homestuck

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***** Donation Links

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Book 1 of my series, Starbourne, is FREE!! For the other books please donate $6 per book to one of the aforementioned links. I'm planning on making this a series of 9, but currently working on book 2.

Doing one of those note things for motivation (or notivation because notes lol)

25 notes - I do the dishes and clean out the litter box (done, for now... But these are Sisyphean tasks)

50 notes - I clean up around the house (I did a little cleanup, might do more later)

100 notes - I do a little work on my book (it still needs editing before I can publish it and write the sequel, but I'll do some work on that when my PC stops crashing)

250 notes - I start working on book 2 (or work harder on editing book 1 if it still needs it)

500 notes - I participate in artfight (in the first July after it reaches this threshold. I doubt it'll get there by this month.)

1k notes - I start working on a video game in the Starbourne multiverse. A small one, like Undertale is to Deltarune. I'm calling it Saturn Robe which is an anagram for Starbourne, like Undertale is for Deltarune.

2.5k notes - I start working on my dream game, Starbourne. The one that's the reason I started writing in the first place. (If the small game isn't finished I work harder on that)

5k notes - I dedicate my time to taking care of myself/my partner/my family, and working on my dream game.

10k notes - I become a god in the Tumblrverse (this will not happen)

If you want to know more about Starbourne, check out my other blog @phiction-of-grandeur and my community for more details. My askbox is always open if you want to ask me something.

Here's the first book now:

And here's a newer version of the first book, with (hopefully) better writing. It's gonna be longer than the draft above.

Here's the book on AO3 as well ^^

[aroaceleovaldez]

"the solangelo book" looks inside. i dont think this is solangelo.

[mysharona1987]

[anghraine]

It's interesting (if often frustrating) to see the renewed Orc Discourse after the last few episodes of ROP. I've seen arguments that orcs have to be personifications of evil rather than people as such or else the ethics of our heroes' approach to them becomes much more fraught. Tolkien's work, as written, seems an odd choice to me for not wrangling with difficult questions, and of course, more diehard fans are going to immediately bring up Shagrat and Gorbag.

If you haven't read LOTR recently, Shagrat and Gorbag are two orcs who briefly have a conversation about how they're being screwed over by Sauron but have no other real options, about their opinions of mistakes that have been made, that they think Sauron himself has made one, but it's not safe to discuss because Sauron has spies in their own ranks. They reminisce about better times when they had more freedom and fantasize about a future when they can go elsewhere and set up a small-scale banditry operation rather than being involved in this huge-scale war. Eventually, however, they end up turning on each other.

Basically any time that someone brings up the "humanity" of this conversation, someone else will point out that they're still bad people. They're not at all guilty about what they're part of. They just resent the dangers to themselves, the pressure from above, failures of competence, the surveillance they're under, and their lack of realistic alternative options. The dream of another life mentioned in the conversation is still one of preying on innocent people, just on a much smaller and more immediate scale, etc.

I think this misses the reason it keeps getting brought up, though. The point is not that Shagrat and Gorbag are good people. The point is that they are people.

There's something very normal and recognizable about their resentment of their superiors, their fears of reprisal and betrayal that ultimately are realized, their dislike of this kind of industrial war machine that erases their individual work and contributions, the tinge of wistfulness in their hope of escape into a different kind of life. Their dialect is deliberately "common"—and there's a lot more to say about that and the fact that it's another commoner, Sam, who outwits them—but one of the main effects is to make them sound familiar and ordinary. And it's interesting that one of the points they specifically raise is that they're not going to get better treatment from "the good guys" so they can't defect, either.

This is self-interested, yes, but it's not the self-interest of some mystical being or spirit or whatnot, but of people.

Tolkien's later remarks tend to back this up. He said that female orcs do exist, but are rarely seen in the story because the characters only interact with the all-male warrior class of orcs. Whatever female orcs "do," it isn't going to war. Maybe they do a lot of the agricultural work that is apparently happening in distant parts of Mordor, maybe they are chiefly responsible for young orcs, maybe both and/or something else, we don't know. But we know they're out there and we know that they reproduce sexually and we know that they're not part of the orcish warrior class.

Regardless of all the problems with this, the idea that orcs have a gender-restricted warrior class at all and we're just not seeing any of their other classes because of where the story is set doesn't sound like automatons of evil. It sounds like an actual culture of people that we only see along the fringes.

And this whole matter of "but if they're people, we have to think about ethics, so they can't be people" is a weird circular argument that cannot account for what's in LOTR or for much of what Tolkien said afterwards. Yes, he struggled with The Problem of Orcs and how to reconcile it with his world building and his ethical system, but "maybe they're not people" is ultimately not a workable solution as far as LOTR goes and can't even account for much of the later evolution of his ideas, including explicit statements in his letters.

And in the end, the real response that comes to mind to that circular argument is "maybe you should think about ethics more."