Help! and an offer of fic

[rj_anderson]

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.

Comments

Well, if you really want to write...

[(Anonymous)]

Shit. Write complete and total, unadulterated terrible horrible gak-awful shit. Give yourself the freedom to write badly, and I'm guessing you'll remember not only how to write, but also the joy of doing so.
(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.)