Mission: Collaborate

One of my goals for 2016 is to do some writing outside my normal genres, just to mix it up and stretch those muscles a bit. So for the last few weeks, I chipped away slowly at a thing I would never have come up with on my own.

I don't want to give too much away, since it's not even my story, so let's start at the very beginning: about six months ago, recurring Cheeky guest blogger Bill sent me a prompt for a collaborative story he's working on, which I stuck in a file and immediately forgot about. About two months ago, he circled back and asked if I had written anything yet. Ooops!

Not here.

So I did. It's sci-fi, set not on Earth, and is the kind of story I love to read and watch but have never written myself, so I was a bit scared and a lot stymied about how to begin. As so often happens, an idea arrived while I was out running. (I mean, what else do I have to think about for four miles?) I started writing with that idea in mind, managed a half dozen pages, and sent it back last week in the hopes that it jibes at least a little bit with the rest of the project.

I'm totally flattered that anyone would voluntarily ask me to collaborate on a writing project. Bill & I first met when we were in the same Creative Writing class at UT (I used to crash into him with my backpack a lot-- I'm not that great at spatial awareness) and we've been friends ever since, so for someone to have read as much of my writing as he has and still want to read more of it is super-friendly.

So! One goal, well underway, with a little help from my friends. I may write some more sci-fi/fantasy just for fun and to continue to work writing muscles that haven't seen a lot of action.

What have you done to stretch lately?