rj_anderson (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rj_anderson) wrote2007-01-29 03:48 pm
rj_anderson) wrote2007-01-29 03:48 pm
Help! and an offer of fic
After spending the last six months tearing my old novel to pieces and rebuilding it, and the last few weeks outlining a new novel, and reading endless discussions about the craft and business of fiction, I seem to have forgotten how to write. No matter how many times I remind myself of Elizabeth Bear's dictum that "Writing is not a performance art," I can barely get a sentence onto the page without telling myself it's no good and erasing it. I think I am just trying too hard to get this book right the first time, and somehow I have to shake that mindset. So now I'm looking to you to help me out with some stretching exercises:
Tell me what you want me to write.
The caveats are that it has to be a scenario or a fandom I'm familiar with -- so no use asking me for Stargate fic, okay? But if there's a scene or an incident you'd like to see, a particular pairing or tag-team of characters, romance or action or suspense or what-have-you, tell me and I'll write... something. It might be a sentence, a drabble, or a vignette, depending on how much your idea inspires me and how well the writing's going. In a pinch I'll just set the timer for 15 minutes and you'll get whatever I can hammer out in that space of time.
Ready? Go.
Tell me what you want me to write.
The caveats are that it has to be a scenario or a fandom I'm familiar with -- so no use asking me for Stargate fic, okay? But if there's a scene or an incident you'd like to see, a particular pairing or tag-team of characters, romance or action or suspense or what-have-you, tell me and I'll write... something. It might be a sentence, a drabble, or a vignette, depending on how much your idea inspires me and how well the writing's going. In a pinch I'll just set the timer for 15 minutes and you'll get whatever I can hammer out in that space of time.
Ready? Go.
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Ah, the thrilling power of having you at my mercy. How about a scene between Romana and Jackie? *big blue pleading eyes*
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The woman across the table from Jackie smiles, but her eyes are distant, and the curve of her mouth unbends just a fraction of a second too quickly to hide that her thoughts are elsewhere. "And where is your daughter now?" she asks.
Jackie stabs another forkful, but her hand never lifts from the plate; her mouth is already full of indignation and words. "I haven't the slightest, that's the worst of it. Gone off again just like that, who knows where he'll drag her off to next, or whether she'll--" She stops, sniffs, and looks around the cafe as though only just recalling where she is. "Well, never mind that. Nothing to be done about it, anyway, is there?"
"I'm afraid not," says the strange woman, her gaze perfectly balanced between coolness and compassion. A plate of chips sits cooling in front of her; she has not eaten a single one. "But I'm glad to hear that she's alive, at least. When I heard she had gone missing, I... wondered."
***
Okay, that was a completely unsatisfactory use of 15 minutes. Sorry. :P
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Oooh, very nice.
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Or, if it is not too wrong to write Narnia fic, write me a conversation between Peter and Edmund at school, post- any one of the first three books.
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Elizabeth
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i'd love either a sark/lauren or sark/evilfrancie scene with the lovin' and the spyin'.
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Well, if you really want to write...
(Anonymous) 2007-01-29 10:47 pm (UTC)(link)(The other Rebecca, who also recommends you read the bit in Bird by Bird about mice in a mason jar, while you're at it.)
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House/Harry Potter
House/Lost
House/Heroes
Hmm. Lookes like I'm running a theme here. LOL.
Beat me to the punch
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And if you don't make it this far, that's fine.
*wicked grin*
(Anonymous) 2007-01-30 01:40 am (UTC)(link)Well, you did leave it wide open, you know. I can just see Snape and Spock squaring off. Though I have this sneaky feeling that some HP and Trek characters would get along superbly. Alastor Moody and Worf, for instance?
Snape anything, Rebecca--you know I'll read it if you've written it!
Mary Anne
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On the other hand, a House/Lost crossover sounds like great fun, too (but only because there are so many things and people in Lost that I want House to snark on).
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I'll think on a House/Lost crossover, though. That could be an... interesting challenge.
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***
"This is a joke, right?" said Wilson. "Ha-ha, that sort of thing. Except... not especially funny, and more along the lines of bizarre and slightly disturbing?"
House eased a hip over the divider between their two balconies, stretching out his bad leg and leaning back against the sun-warmed brick of the wall. Below, the grounds of Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital basked in the afternoon sunlight, and a faint smell of tarmac and grass clippings wafted toward them on the breeze. "Nope," he said. "Scout's honor. She's taking me out to dinner Friday night."
"Cameron. Is taking you. To dinner." Wilson's voice was flat with disbelief. "You mean it was her idea?"
"No," said House, "it was my idea, and she fell for it. Clever, huh?"
Wilson shut his eyes and put his fingertips against his forehead, in the manner of a man performing some complicated feat of mental logic. "Let me get this straight," he said. "A couple of days ago you told me you weren't interested in anyone, Cameron very much included. And last I checked, she was still mad at you for spying on her. Now all of a sudden the two of you are dating? What did I miss?"
"It's not dating," House corrected him, "it's a date. Dating implies repeated activity and possibly even some degree of commitment. I'm not signing up for anything, I'm just scoping out the territory."
"Uh-huh," said Wilson. "The last time you scoped out anyone's territory, you ended up living with her for five years, and it took you another six years to get over it."
"Well, aren't you just a little ray of bipolar sunshine. You're telling me not to go out with Cameron? A couple of days ago you were practically drawing up the wedding invitations."
"I'm not telling you anything. I'm just --" Wilson made a vague, helpless gesture. "Confused. That's all."
"Aw, don't worry," said House. "We'll make sure to take things nice and slow so you can catch up."
"You seem awfully... relaxed about this."
"That's just my patented devil-may-care façade. Inside I'm all a-quiver. See?" House held out a theatrically trembling hand. "I mean, you never know what may happen on a date with Allison Cameron. She may launch herself across the table and ravish me right in the middle of Earl's Seafood Shack."
"Maybe a little too relaxed," said Wilson.
House let his hand drop. "Oh, come on. I've known Cameron for four years. The element of surprise is not exactly a factor. And if the evening sucks, so what? Been there, done that, bought the puttanesca."
"True," mused Wilson. "And if she hasn't snapped and beaten you to death with your own cane by now, she probably never will."
"Wow, you're good," said House. "Have you ever thought of going into sales?"
***
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Suggestion
(Anonymous) 2007-01-30 10:36 pm (UTC)(link)Regards,
Shawn
sabigail.blogspot.com
Re: Suggestion
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Everyone's writing muscles get tired now and then. Take a short break, do something else, and come back to it refreshed. And try writing several paragraphs before allowing rewrites.
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(Anonymous) 2007-01-31 05:33 am (UTC)(link)How you and your family would react if you received powers ala HEROES.
Greg Gick