Starting a trilogy (WARNING: Not Safe for Minors.)

[Memento]

Although I haven't written it on the doc yet, I have officially finished the fourth chapter and a third of the fifth.

 

[Memento]

An update that's minor...and yet major at the same time.

The minor thing is that this won't affect this trilogy in anything except in the terms of a universe (which is the same one this trilogy takes place in).

The major thing? I just came up with another legitimate story idea that has to be a stand-alone. And it came to my mind yesterday and stayed for so long that it wouldn't leave.

It is yet another deconstruction...but it's a deconstruction of a hero in fantasy-based games with specific caste roles (i.e., Dungeons & Dragons, etc.) You know how people would play as a hero and have their own party (typically a Fighter/Mage/Cleric or some variation in names), right? Well...the hero in a specific game decides that it's no longer good enough to simply be the hero in the game: he wants to rule the game himself. With the help of one of the three Demon Lords - Dullahan - he becomes a demon himself (now known as Strigoi) by betraying and cursing his party. The Warrior (Fighter) is genderbent and raped by Strigoi, the Sage (Mage) is turned into a small dragon who can barely control her monstrous urges, and the Healer (Cleric) has her soul stolen so that she can no longer communicate with the gods.

Meanwhile, in our world, a gay teenager, Fabian Brzezicki, plays the game often on his computer and doesn't really have much of a social life. He goes out to the local computer fair one night and is brutally beaten to the point of near death along the way. To his utmost shock, he wakes up inside of the game with the gods of the game telling him that he has to kill Strigoi in order to save his life (they don't know anything about Dullahan). And he has to use the party who was betrayed. The only difference? If one of them dies, there is no restart button to save them...and if Fabian dies, then it's all over for that world.

 

[Tron]

Sounds good. Get er done!!

 

[Memento]

Here's the prologue for the second story. (WARNING: If you have daughters or sisters and/or if you haven't watched Game of Thrones or anything as violent as that and have hated it, I urge you to please stop reading. This is the first-person perspective of the antagonist, who is such an enormous piece of shit that this is the only chapter I will dare to write from his perspective.) Now, without further delay:

-

I am Incubus. I was once the Hero of this realm, but no longer. I am the one true God who can do as I please.

I was tired of being the servant. I was tired of bowing to kings and queens, princes and princesses. I was tired of having to look after my party’s needs.

“But that’s what you’re supposed to do! You’re the Hero; you’re supposed to care for others! You’re supposed to serve the realms! Helping your party is what your job entails!”

Foolish words from foolish peasants. Incubus doesn’t need to listen to such drivel. Incubus takes what he wants, be it gold, silver, or women. Because I, the great Incubus, am no longer confined to such indentured servitude. A Lord showed me the truth, that I was only valuable to them as a tool. I am no tool. I am more than they ever were.

He gave me powers from beyond the world. The ability to split my body into four separate forms with all of the strength of my own form. The power to call shadow monsters from their pits to wreak havoc amongst the living. The gift of living as a nightmare, spying on all who dared to stop me. I admired him. No one else dared to speak such truth to me. That I could be more than a Hero, that I could rule this world if I wanted to - and I badly wanted to rule this world.

There would be...sacrifices to make. Three sacrifices for three permanent powers and the control of this world. A fair trade.

The first sacrifice was to destroy and curse the purest city in the world from the inside out. It would be a difficult task, but not at all impossible.

I went to the most religious queen-city in the world - a far little tropical island known as Jormunlok. Queen Temew Warthorn, the queen of this beautiful paradise and a powerful war-cleric in her own right, welcomed me with open arms, oblivious to my intent. I went into her chambers while she slept. I fucked her brains out, and soon enough, the screaming stopped. By the time I was finished and left her, she was a catatonic shell.

As for the soldiers, priests, and the citizens? The shadow monsters took care of all of them in short order. It was really not much of a fight, as my monsters could come back to their half-life to continue the fight, while the humans could not. I cursed the city to never sleep for day and night. I cursed the people to become undead monsters protecting their now-helpless queen, never being able to die until their duty was finished. It was a joy to hear their spirits wail in misery.

The next sacrifice was a bit harder: corrupt a just king of a powerful city to the point of despair, drive him into madness, and make him the monster that he despised.

The king-city known as Fenlok, which held the largest royal military and the largest sage academy in the icy part of the realm, was my choice. I looked at King Berentor VII, a calm and perfectly-sane war-sage with the power of cryokinesis. I told him nothing of Jormunlok. He suspected nothing of me and welcomed me in the same manner as Temew Warthorn had. I went to an inn to sleep the night, and as a nightmare, I crept into his chambers many times, delving deep into his mind, deep into his fears, tormenting him with them. He went to many clerics to dispel the demon in his head. Nothing worked, as I was long gone by then.

Soon enough, I grew bored of this game and came up with a better idea. He had a beautiful baby son and an even more gorgeous wife. I crept into their chambers while her son suckled at his mother’s breast. I cut his wife to pieces, and crushed the screaming brat’s head against the wall until it was a pulp. I then spread the room with their remains and places their heads on stakes that I had fixed. I taunted the king with their deaths, showed him the room with my work. His mind snapped right after he found that I told the truth.

Once insanity sets into the mind of a royal, it is quite simple to turn him into a monster - figuratively and literally. He began to execute every cleric and their supporters for failing to stop the demon who murdered his wife and heir. He smashed their temples and allowed free reign on the nuns by his subjects. He banned all religions from his city and burned every book connected with them, along with the ones in possession of the books. It was fun to watch the king’s mind devolve into a feral beast’s.

The final task should have been the hardest one yet...but it was quite frankly the easiest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life. To betray and curse my party - whom the Lord thought were my truest friends left - was rewarding in every way. I had always been disgusted by the two women in my party. I knew that they fucked each other whenever they could. The young man was even worse, as he was bisexual and had romantic feelings towards me. Of course, that was not condemned by the deities, but I was a God myself, and that would no longer be tolerated in my new perfect world.

It had started off without incident. They had heard rumors absconding from Fenlok and Jormunlok, although none of the rumors was close to the truth. After they had gone to sleep, I split my body into three and had pinned them all down, destroyed their tents and supplies, and kicked their weapons and armor to the side.

I smiled as I looked down at their struggling forms. I heard them scream my name and beg me to see sense. They thought that I was possessed or something. They all shut up after I told them that I wanted this. I loved the looks on all of their faces after I told them exactly how I had destroyed Jormunlok and Fenlok. I enjoyed their tears when I told them just how much I hated them all, their depravity and fornication, their willingness to be slaves to the realm, and every little detail about them that I despised.

I had turned to the warrior first. He stared into my eyes blankly, not believing that my actions were happening. I smiled when I spoke to him.

“Warrior. Your honor and valor have been celebrated for years, in spite of your disgusting beliefs. You enjoy your despicable mindset. You loved me as a soulmate, and I want you to know that I always hated you the most. Now, I don’t fuck men like you do, but I will gladly fuck a woman. You were once proud of your manhood. Now watch as I take it all away.”

The curse worked quickly and painfully, and soon a tall woman lay under my arms, her icy-blue eyes wide with horror and disbelief, her lips unable to make a sound. I removed her armor and her clothes from her body...and I claimed her for myself. It was a while before she could no longer please me, and when she began to lose my interest, I tossed her aside, as she sobbed like the pathetic wretch she was.

I walked over to the sage next and ripped off her clothes. She was quite a beautiful, well-endowed woman, although her features mattered not to me. I owned every woman now; what difference did one make? She spat into my face, and I slapped her breasts, lusting to claim her and her lover as well. But my deal with my Lord demanded otherwise. The degradation of the other two had to be different, in ways that would hurt them more.

“I will torture you beyond your darkest nightmares, and there won’t be a single hole where you can hide when we find you,” she snarled like a rabid dog.

I grinned. “Sage. You are powerful, and yet you desecrate your standing by fucking a woman. This abomination doesn’t please me. Your knowledge of magic has been a source of pride to you, as you fight against the monsters that plague the people. Now watch as you become the monster you have always hated to see.”

She squirmed under my grasp, fighting to get away, spewing all manner of curses and threats against me. I merely gazed into her eyes, watched as they turned a deep crimson color with cat-like slits for pupils. She wailed in agony as her skin turned to scales, her fingernails extended into claws, her teeth shifted into fangs, and a long thick sea-green tail sprouted from the end of her spine. I left her bleeding and writing on the dusty ground.

My gaze went to the cleric, as I tore away her clothing. She glared at me with deep-gray eyes, her bald head and tattoos shining in the moonlight. Again, I was tempted to claim her, but her punishment needed to be more severe.

“You shall be cursed by every deity of the Four for what you have done,” she said with malice heavy in her voice.

I kicked her in the ribs before I spoke again. “Cleric. You have always been gifted, although I can’t say that you’re devout for your foul depravity by lying with another woman. You believe in the older gods, but I am the only God who matters now, and yours are now worthless. I know that you will never renounce them, so I will do what I do best: I will destroy them completely and wholly. Now watch as your gods are cast away from your very being, as you never see them again.”

She desperately kicked at me, but I felt nothing. I ripped her soul from her body and scattered it to the night sky. She screeched as four new tattoos - four upside-down stars that were spread inches apart from each other - etched themselves on her forehead. They looked extremely painful. Better her than me, though.

I watched my former friends gasping for their lives on the badlands, watched them fall unconscious from their pain. And then I left, my work completed, my duty satisfied. The Lord gifted me my powers permanently, renamed me Incubus, and told me that the world was mine to do what I wished to it.

So I, the great Incubus, was merciful. I demanded a tribute of gold, silver, and women from every city and town in the world. In return, I would not send my shadow creatures to annihilate them. One luscious town near my castle - I forget its name - refused. I took the females by force, sowed salt into their crops and lands, and watched in pleasure as the rest slowly died from the newly-created wasteland and the town was wiped off the map. The women I spared for the moment, of course; they were now mine to do what I pleased with.

Of course, human women are quite...fragile compared to a demon. They went insane after two times. Their minds themselves were gone after three. They quickly became dead in their brains, unable to care for themselves. Not that it stopped me from what I did best; even if they couldn’t resist my advances, their bodies were still mine. Eventually, they died after a fourth time. It concerned me not. There were always more women in the world, and even though I could no longer impregnate them, it wasn’t like I wanted to have squalling whelps in the first place.

And what was more, I learned that no man, woman, or deity alive could kill me. That was prophesized by an enslaved shaman before I gutted him and hung him from a yew tree by his entrails. I was beyond elated at the news. The shaman people were known well as magical seers. Not at the same magical powers as sages, but they had past and future sight.

As for my old party, I had heard that they had gone to the largest city they knew for help. I had learned from my nightmare form that they were all imprisoned in various places and given new demeaning names that fit their status. The Rogue Warrior. The Dragon Sage. The Dark Cleric. I was thankful that the largest city in the world was also one of the most corrupt. It made my life so much easier. Either way, they would be dead very soon, and my betrayal would be complete.

As for those others plebeians beneath me, they did not matter. All of them fell in line soon enough. Of course, the mothers and fathers pleaded for their daughters back, but with the Old and New Knight Templars desperate to defend their faith and royalty, there wasn’t much of a choice. The four deities were helpless to stop me. After all, how can a lesser god stop the one true God!

And why would they even try? I am the Hero! I am Incubus! I am the God of this realm! No man, woman, or deity alive can kill me! Who would dare attempt to stop me? WHO?!

 

[Memento]

Finally...I've completed the fifth chapter! Just a little update I wanted to share.

Unfortunately, I cannot access Google Docs, so I'm using OneNote to write my stories. I apologize, but the link will be a little out-of-date (because I can't edit anything.)

 

[Memento]

Hey, guys. I know that I'm seriously bumping this thread from the dead, but I had an idea from my writing class to share with y'all. Here it is:

I woke up to the cold feel of rushing water, and I realized that I was submerged in the river. I frantically fought the undertow, trying not to breathe. At last, I managed to get to the surface and swim over to the muddy bank, breathing in air.


The sound of industry assaulted my ears, and I looked up to see a most shocking sight. Buildings that touched the sky were farther than my eyes could see. Vehicles that looked like cars -- at least, I thought they were cars, but they looked different from they did when I saw them -- drove past me on an asphalt pavement. Sirens echoed in the distance, and I thought it would be prudent to move away from the river.


As I walked away toward the city, I saw a sight that froze my blood: the bridge that was the cause of all of my problems. I noticed a nearby construction site and one of those strange cars. There weren’t any people there, so I decided to look at myself in the side mirror of the car, just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. A twenty-four-year-old white man with straw-blond hair and sea-green eyes stared back in disbelief.


Why the disbelief about my appearance? Why the shock about the bridge? Because the last thing I saw before I plunged to my death in the river was the bridge collapsing. How I saw my wife shot by the man who paid me a handsome sum of money to destroy the bridge before leaving me to die.


The realization of what must have happened hit me like a train. I wasn’t only alive. I wasn’t just the same age that I was when I died.


I was in a different time period.

Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts about this!

 

[Karate61]

Hey, guys. I know that I'm seriously bumping this thread from the dead, but I had an idea from my writing class to share with y'all. Here it is:


Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts about this!

Couple of Thoughts:

"I woke up engulfed in cool rushing water; quickly realizing I was submerged in the river."

"At last, I managed to get to the surface, breathing in air as I swam over to the muddy bank."

 

[Memento]

Couple of Thoughts:

"I woke up engulfed in cool rushing water; quickly realizing I was submerged in the river."

"At last, I managed to get to the surface, breathing in air as I swam over to the muddy bank."

Thanks, Karate. I've edited it with your suggestions.

 

[Memento]

Well, I'm bumping this thread from the dead because I'm currently writing three short stories to hopefully publish in a short story collection! I'm finished with two and almost halfway done with the third.

Not to mention the pentalogy, while it's going slowly, is still on! I also have Upsilon (the writing class chapter I wrote, which has quickly gained a mind of its own, and turned itself into a novel) and Hunted to Extinction (which is a detective story, but with superpowers).

 

[1maGoh]

Well, I'm bumping this thread from the dead because I'm currently writing three short stories to hopefully publish in a short story collection! I'm finished with two and almost halfway done with the third.

Not to mention the pentalogy, while it's going slowly, is still on! I also have Upsilon (the writing class chapter I wrote, which has quickly gained a mind of its own, and turned itself into a novel) and Hunted to Extinction (which is a detective story, but with superpowers).

Are those for purchase somewhere?

 

[Memento]

Are those for purchase somewhere?

That's what I'm hoping...if I can get it published somehow. Problem is, I have no idea where to publish it, lawl.

 

[Memento]

Updating with a lot of info!

I have changed quite a few things (the story known as "Hunted to Extinction" has had the title changed to "Ziz Hunting"; there is a fourth short story that I'm working on along with the announced third, etc.) and I've come up with a few new ideas!

Firstly, @ozarkram has helped out with this first story. It's called Down With the Eagle: an alternate universe set in the 1860s where the Confederates not only succeed in seceding from the Union, but managed to take it over. How, you ask? With the help of a witch who causes bad luck to happen to the Union at every turn (such as Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain being killed before he can rout Pickett's Charge; Ulysses S. Grant dying from illness before he can take command of the Union Army; and Abraham Lincoln being assassinated early on). She has a romantic relationship with Bloody Bill Anderson (sorry, Ozark; I'm going with the whole cheating idea instead of all of the names of unmarried officers you came up with. I sincerely apologize for that.) and they have a daughter whom is prophesied to bring the Confederacy down.

The second story is called Spirit's Purgatory. (Yes, it's admittedly a working title. I wanted to use Spirit's Game, but I don't want to get copyrighted by someone such as the author of "Ender's Game", for example). It focuses on a group of twelve young people (six men, six women) captured by a sadistic A.I. named Spirit. Basically? They all have to work together to escape its Matrix-like confines...or they die.

The third story is one that's become somewhat of a personal one to think out. It's called Starbright Peninsula, and it focuses on anthropomorphic animals (think Redwall). The immortal wolverine king and reincarnating chinchilla advisor decide to carry out a systematic genocide of all foxes, leaving only one male kit remaining on the peninsula. He's got a prophecy about him that states that he's the one to bring peace to the land. Why is he so special? Why is this story my current fling? Because of his ancestry. He's the last descendant of a so-called pirate queen and a knight who becomes a king. His father's side comes from the knight; his mother, the pirate's. And they both have their own story that might get another book about this thing, which I'm really excited about.

Ziz Hunting has more characters to think about, including the aforementioned Ziz: a supervillain serial killer who has the power to read minds (although they can't control them). The non-binary detective and main character, Clovis Duplessis, has the power of super senses. They're joined by three main CIA agents, two of whom also have powers, and a couple of crime lords.

Then there's Upsilon. The unnamed main character (given the nickname of Rook) and two grey-hat hackers are up against Upsilon Co.: a major company in charge of basic life in the thus-unnamed city. Still, this is no Clive Cussler (because fuck that pathetic excuse for an author; I have many, many reasons to hate that guy and his "stories") story: the company's leaders aren't card-carrying villains - even the guy who shot Rook's wife and left him for dead on a collapsing bridge in 1910 had valid reasons for his crimes.

Then there's the trilogy. Right now, I'm focusing on how to best incorporate all of the various characters of my stories - and there's a whole hell of a lot of them - and make it so that I'm not info-dumping, which will bore most readers. And I need titles for three of those stories.

But if you think that I'm just dreaming big...well, I have two finished short stories: Hunger (a short horror story) and Poached (a sci-fi action story) - with two more on the way.

Poached

Hunger

Hope you enjoy, and don't hesitate to comment if you find something interesting!

 

[Dieter the Brock]

What is “info-dumping” ?
Never heard that term before.
I looked through Hunger - is that finished? Seemed to cut off abruptly
Poached seemed a bit pedal to the metal in the sense you’re not letting anything breath
Lose the all-caps - not sure it’s necessary
Why the Cussler hate? Dude is just making it happen - likes sunken ships. Seems harmless enough
Anyway keep pounding the keys!

 

[ozarkram]

@Memento Glad to help if even in a small way. I have faith in you. I want to be at your first book signing. Remember Bloody Bill while brave and reckless was a true psychopath. And he was also an influence on a young Jesse James.

 

[Memento]

What is “info-dumping” ?
Never heard that term before.
I looked through Hunger - is that finished? Seemed to cut off abruptly
Poached seemed a bit pedal to the metal in the sense you’re not letting anything breath
Lose the all-caps - not sure it’s necessary
Why the Cussler hate? Dude is just making it happen - likes sunken ships. Seems harmless enough
Anyway keep pounding the keys!

Info-dumping is a writing term where you just dump a bunch of information into a plot without making it plot/character relevant.

Hunger is finished. It's implied that the woman will eat her husband-turned-wendigo and become a wendigo herself.

Thanks for the advice on Poached. Will edit it further.

Cussler basically writes the exact same story. Starts off with some mystery in the past, Dirk Pitt/whatever-male-protag is amazing as always (no flaws, everyone loves him, and those who disagree have to have something bad happen to them), evil corporate head is evil and tries to kill Dirk Pitt, Pitt solves mystery of the past.

Oh, and did I mention that every female character in Clive Cussler's stories (and I mean every female character) are weak-minded and have sex at the drop of the hat with Dirk Pitt? The guy's a clear misogynist and transphobe (basically had two transgender characters, both were evil, both were considered "degenerates" by Dirk Pitt in story).

And that's not even getting into the fact that Dirk Pitt is as clear of a Gary-Stu/wish fulfillment character I've ever seen. Not only is he seen as always right by other characters, but those who disagree with him (mostly bad guys, but sometimes - Raise the Titanic is a notorious example - decent characters) always have the worst things happen to them. Raise the Titanic was notorious because Pitt literally slept with one dude's wife, never got called out on it, told the man to move on with his life, and the man literally went fucking batshit insane from all of the stress put on him - just because he had the audacity to question Pitt in the beginning of the novel.

And as for the whole wish-fulfillment thing? He named his first-born son after his own character. Yep, Dirk Cussler is the poor kid's name, I shit you not.

Clive Cussler is one of the worst authors out there. Are there quite a few fans? Sure. But I can't ignore the blatant misogyny he shows in his writing, the lack of plot variance between his best sellers, and the sheer lack of imagination when it comes to the creation of characters. He, Cassandra Clare, Stephanie Meyer (she of Twilight infamy), and E.L. James (she of 50 Shades of Gray infamy) are amongst the writers I absolutely despise for various reasons. I could name why for each of them, but that would take a while.

Anyway, thank you so much for your help, Dieter. I really appreciate it.

 

[Memento]

@Memento Glad to help if even in a small way. I have faith in you. I want to be at your first book signing. Remember Bloody Bill while brave and reckless was a true psychopath. And he was also an influence on a young Jesse James.

Yep, Bloody Bill and Jesse James were both psychopaths. Definitely writing them as such.

 

[Dieter the Brock]

Info-dumping is a writing term where you just dump a bunch of information into a plot without making it plot/character relevant.

Hunger is finished. It's implied that the woman will eat her husband-turned-wendigo and become a wendigo herself.

Thanks for the advice on Poached. Will edit it further.

Cussler basically writes the exact same story. Starts off with some mystery in the past, Dirk Pitt/whatever-male-protag is amazing as always (no flaws, everyone loves him, and those who disagree have to have something bad happen to them), evil corporate head is evil and tries to kill Dirk Pitt, Pitt solves mystery of the past.

Oh, and did I mention that every female character in Clive Cussler's stories (and I mean every female character) are weak-minded and have sex at the drop of the hat with Dirk Pitt? The guy's a clear misogynist and transphobe (basically had two transgender characters, both were evil, both were considered "degenerates" by Dirk Pitt in story).

And that's not even getting into the fact that Dirk Pitt is as clear of a Gary-Stu/wish fulfillment character I've ever seen. Not only is he seen as always right by other characters, but those who disagree with him (mostly bad guys, but sometimes - Raise the Titanic is a notorious example - decent characters) always have the worst things happen to them. Raise the Titanic was notorious because Pitt literally slept with one dude's wife, never got called out on it, told the man to move on with his life, and the man literally went fucking batshit insane from all of the stress put on him - just because he had the audacity to question Pitt in the beginning of the novel.

And as for the whole wish-fulfillment thing? He named his first-born son after his own character. Yep, Dirk Cussler is the poor kid's name, I shit you not.

Clive Cussler is one of the worst authors out there. Are there quite a few fans? Sure. But I can't ignore the blatant misogyny he shows in his writing, the lack of plot variance between his best sellers, and the sheer lack of imagination when it comes to the creation of characters. He, Cassandra Clare, Stephanie Meyer (she of Twilight infamy), and E.L. James (she of 50 Shades of Gray infamy) are amongst the writers I absolutely despise for various reasons. I could name why for each of them, but that would take a while.

Anyway, thank you so much for your help, Dieter. I really appreciate it.

Great info on cussler - hahahha i guess me reading just parts of one book is all I need to read hahah

I’ll read Hunger again when i get more time to concentrate.

Have you written screenplays? You might have some good luck with that format. Your story ideas remind me of stuff I see on Netflix. You might wanna turn Poached into a screenplay - I think it would work out well

 

[Memento]

Great info on cussler - hahahha i guess me reading just parts of one book is all I need to read hahah

I’ll read Hunger again when i get more time to concentrate.

Have you written screenplays? You might have some good luck with that format. Your story ideas remind me of stuff I see on Netflix. You might wanna turn Poached into a screenplay - I think it would work out well

Yeah, I had the misfortune as a kid to read Raise the Titanic. Read other books of his, and they all turned out the same.

Thanks.

I've never written a screenplay...but I do appreciate you saying that my stuff is Netflix-worthy.

 

[Dieter the Brock]

Yeah, I had the misfortune as a kid to read Raise the Titanic. Read other books of his, and they all turned out the same.

Thanks.

I've never written a screenplay...but I do appreciate you saying that my stuff is Netflix-worthy.

You should give it a shot.
It's not prose - but more outline structure with dialogue. To me on first glance, your pedal to the metal is perfectly suited for it.
My advice if you wanted to give it a shot is to read some plays of movies you like. And then copy them to see how they are done. Then follow a simple act structure, beginning (set up) middle (conflict) and end (resolution). whatever you do don't read anything on HOW TO write a screenplay. That is the worst and it is a terrible industry. The key is not to care and just break down what you want to break down.
I have a job right now helping a film director write a screenplay to then be turned into a book, so that is sorta fun.
Anyway
Just copy the masters. Things like the Harry Potter screenplays are good to read to see how they translate from Book, Movie, and to the Screenplay. But you can do that with any film you like.

 

[Corbin]

Yeah, I had the misfortune as a kid to read Raise the Titanic. Read other books of his, and they all turned out the same.

Thanks.

I've never written a screenplay...but I do appreciate you saying that my stuff is Netflix-worthy.

Out of curiosity since I’m completely ignorant in regards to writing anything of length outside of papers in the last minute for school , but out of all writers throughout history how the hell do they keep a project or book material ( subject matter) private so some dick think that is a good plot etc. and steals your shit?

Is their a way to protect yourself? Or a way writers do it? Let’s say a rough draft, you send it to the editor/publisher and someone steals it out from under you?

Instead of google I’d rather have conversations.