I remember Larry Niven writing a little piece about how working within an arbitrary restriction can be a handy creative tool. He and Jerry Pournelle decided to use a plastic model space ship, the AMT Leif Erikson, as the basis for the INSS MacArthur in The Mote in God’s Eye. It was a neat exercise: Start with the plastic model and then justify the functionality of the various design choices of the model. Why were the engines arranged thusly? Why were their aerodynamic features? Stuff like that.
I mention this as a way of getting myself psyched for a writing prompt which feels less than promising at first glace. We’ve been directed to a random title generator which and told to only roll the metaphorical dice one time. Six possible titles were generated, and while they are each plenty plausible, none of them jumped off the screen, grabbed me by the shoulders, and shook me vigorously, as if to say “Me pick me I am the one can you imagine the adventures we’ll have!”
Bother.
But, one of them stuck in my skull and I’ve decided to go with it. It’s both awkward and obvious at the same time: “Wife of the Woman.” Not exactly in my wheelhouse, is it? But…I think, I think I have a direction I can take it. Otherwise, I may have to try to do something with “Prince of Slave,” a prospect which should provide ample motivation to make literally any other title work.
So, tomorrow, off to work. Oh, and mental note to myself: Try to keep it around a thousand words this time, ok?
-RK
