#firstdrafts

[exploresmallworlds]

Nano Day 27

I'm not consistent with updates, but I'm 80% done and this is approximately where I stopped the last time I attempted Nano. Although I will say that I have a stronger story and I have spent time at the end of the process, plotting out the things. And it seems a bit backwards to plot when a significant chunk of the draft has been written. But bear with me.

I think that I when I started I had a vague thought about how things were going to go, and instead of getting bogged down in the details I started writing. And it wasn't very good, still isn't very good but I actually know who the characters are now. And I've changed things, of course things are going to change, that is the reality writing and first drafts. But if the strongest stories are the ones that are character driven, I think finding the character and then the story is the way that makes sense to me.

I've also stopped thinking about the story in the linear way that it will probably function in. And today was writing the moment before the finale. And it was wildly cathartic.

The whole writing experience this month (now almost done) is that late at night is my best time for writing. It feels like that when the sun is down, I am done with doing things and now I can think clearly.

I'm just about to head off to bed, and the cat of the house has kept me imprisoned a little longer than anticipated by being the cutest lap cat.

[winter-unseelie]

I've bought a new notebook, I'm going to make it this semester's mission to write a novel, or at least a first draft. It will be about a girl named Maxine.

She holds a deep place in my heart, as I used to be very much like her. Her story deserves to be written.

I've started the outlining of story beats today.

Gods hope I stick to this

[sarahswriting]

chapter six of project revelation is going well, hoping to finish it soon!

[sunnyanddumb98]

In the writing course I'm taking, I must take a month-long break between the first draft and the second. During that month, I'm supposed to read as much as I can and take notes, erasing my own book from my mind. The goal is to read so much that I forget my voice, allowing me to have fresh eyes for editing. This week, I'll be reading Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín, an Irish author, and Strange Pilgrims by Gabriel García Márquez.

I'm not a fast reader, and as I've mentioned before, I have never read a book faster than it was written. Reading multiple books at a time helps, but I truly think I won't have enough distraction to reset myself enough. I can't read fast and probably only finish one new book this month. It is what it is. Thankfully and tragically, this is not a graded course, so I'm not going to fail any tests but my own—editing my book with fresh eyes.

[proflorax]

Illinois Ghosts

There are ghosts that tread these fields. They remember a time when they could dance with the grasses among birdsong and starlight. Now they twirl dust skirts to the sounds of lonely wind and roaring engines.

Soon these field will be green with corn again, for a season. Tall enough to lose yourself in. Tall enough to hide who knows what.

Corn once meant home, and hot meals, and comfort here. It was not meant to feed machines or dominate the horizon.

What did this place look like when corn meant home? It has been home to more generations of farmers than of consumers, of product buyers. For a thousand years people have grown and reaped corn, laughing over hot bowls of its soup and despairing at failed crops. And there are crops even older than corn that still grow here. But now the people only know these most ancient companions as weeds and food fit for squirrels.

This land has known many many more generations of hunters than both consumers and farmers combined. The hunters knew the other shapers that shared these fields and woods then. You see their bones in the hillsides and the echoes of their hunger in the ways plants still grow here. The trees still make thorns fit to repel mammoths, and fruits to entice the long lost giants. What might people learn from living in the footsteps of such long lost relatives? Can we still learn from them? These giant ghosts the land still remembers. You can hear it whisper their stories when you listen.

We almost lost all the giants that show us how a prairie can be home, but the buffalo are beginning to return. People care enough to help them. Can we be humble enough to let them care for us again?

Does the land feel more like home when you plant seeds, or when you trust it to provide what forage and prey is needed? It does not feel homely when it has been dominated beyond recognition. It no longer provides all you need, and the seeds do not become food. The ghosts dance in the dusts of dry fields, their stories of how to make a home here quieter every year.

I dream of a land where cornfields mean home. Summer skies will be lit with stars and summer fields mirroring the skies, lit by fireflies. We will listen to stories almost lost, and find our way to share the land with its ghosts. And far far in the future, we will join them to dance in grasses and wildflowers

[ferra-schreibt]

Diskussionen mit Charakteren Part 1

Ich schreibe im Moment an meiner VampirOma. Es ist das Projekt, das ich wirklich richtig gut durchgeplant habe und eigentlich machen alle Charaktere sehr gut mit. Bis gestern.

Katharina: Fährt Fänge aus und ist auf Streit aus.

Ich: Zieh die Fänge ein. Das ist nicht geplant.

Katharina: Aber ... Aber ... Er hat ...

Ich: Fänge rein oder die Rolläden klemmen bei Sonnenaufgang!

Zack - Ruhe. Man muss eben nur mit den überzeugenden Argumenten kommen.

[tctrojan]

FND # 4 - Affects of FND (Part 2)

FND: Functional Neurological Disorder or as it is known to a few within the medical profession and those suffering. Is as it says on the title a functional issue. An Issue with the brain where message or electrical impulses do not go to the required section of the brain. This mainly happens during times of stress. Yesterday was one hell of a stressful day where my body refused to work right.…

[yukinovels]

 "Overcoming Writer's Block: A (Mostly) True Tale of Triumph, Tears, and Typing"

Writing a book is tough work, especially when you hit the dreaded writer's block. I've been there more times than I care to admit - staring at a blank page, waiting for inspiration to strike, and ending up with nothing but a headache.

But recently, I had a breakthrough that helped me finally come up with a new chapter of my novel, without losing my mind in the process. It all started when I realised that I was putting too much pressure on myself to write the perfect first draft. I mean, come on, who am I kidding? Nobody writes a perfect first draft, except maybe Brandon Sanderson or Nicolas Sparks, if you know what I mean.

So I decided to give myself a break and just write without worrying about whether it was good or not. I mean, it couldn't be worse than the last chapter of Game of Thrones, right? (Sorry, George R. R. Martin.) And you know what? It worked! My ideas became clearer and the words flowed more easily, and I finally wrote something digestible and satisfying.

So if you're struggling with writer's block, my advice is simple: don't take yourself too seriously. Give yourself permission to write a crappy first draft, with the understanding that you can always go back and fix it later. And if all else fails, just take a break and binge-watch some Netflix or anime. It worked for me, and it could work for you too (just don't blame me if you end up getting hooked on Wednesday or Attack on titan).

Writing a book is a tough journey, but it's worth it in the end. Just remember to have fun along the way - after all, if you're not enjoying the process, what's the point?

[killer-miller]

I was here on this date. There an article publish in a literary magazine in Alabama called "FirstDraft" about some of my experiences at the Pedestrian gate @ FOB Diamondback, Mosul from Sept. 2006 til we moved to Q West in Feb. 07. I have tons of pics from that same gate. Same spot. Event gave the kids gifts there. One of those pics is published in the article. Small world!

This must've been our Replacements.

16 April, 2007. A girl becomes embarrassed after giving flowers to a female US soldier on duty in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

[danniswrites]

Kia's Biehshah Gift (on Wattpad) https://www.wattpad.com/story/380957910-kia%27s-biehshah-gift?utm_source=web&utm_medium=tumblr&utm_content=share_myworks&wp_uname=DannisWrites 

(Royal Road)

https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/97108/kias-biehshah-gift

Now complete in both places as 1st draft. Will be editing in Jan 24.

 Kia's getting a lawsuit when Irdaktin offers to pay for her co-worker's damage at her workplace. He shows her a future where her healing skills save him and his Biehshah Colony. Garat, Minister Of Leheren, threatens rulers hosting Biehshah Colony. Neither Kia nor Irdaktin knew she had a vital role to play in intergalactic war. [winner in the Fall 2024 Royal Writathon challenge on RoyalRoad.com]

12:17 PM 12-Dec-24 On Wattpad, 2 Engaged Readers 116 Total Reads 3 Votes 45 Story Parts On Royal Road, Total Views : 3,313 Average Views : 75 Followers : 3 Pages  : 338

[bakumonstrina]

This is my first desing. It's very similar to the one I had but apararently 300 years is to old for using pig tails. Never grow up kids, I guess

[infinitesimalstarrlight]

your rejection of me haunts

me defines

me upends

me

that my heart is broken

doesn't matter to you because

you offer me no second chances

so i write & i watch bob's burgers

instead of reaching out to you

bob's burgers

prevents more heart break from the

silence i know you will

hurl at me if i reach out

[raechelgasparacwriting]

Well well well…

It has been a minute since we’ve seen each other, isn’t it? While i have not been posting for a few years I HAVE in fact been working in the background on launching my Fantasy Author Career. What have I been doing all this time? Well, loosing a job first of all. Hear me out, it was the best thing that ever happened to me. I was putting my job and that corporation first and it was not doing the…