Okay, here goes.  Keep in mind that these are meant as writing exercises, 
not necessarily "fanfic ideas" -- the point is to get us writing in ways 
that we might not think about, to stretch our imaginations.  Most 
examples will be non-fanfic, as I don't want to write an "example" for 
each exercise -- I'm no teacher, nor do I want that position, and I'll 
probably be doing most of these myself as an exercise.

That being said.... Bon appetit!

Fanfic Challenge 1: Practice Writing Good, Clean Prose
(from "What if?" by Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter)

Too often new writers think in terms of story, rather than in terms of 
words -- of building a story with words.  As a result, their early 
efforts are often overwritten and flowery.  The following exercise will 
challenge your use of language -- and it might change the way you write.

THE EXERCISE:

Write a short short story, scene, or vignette using words of only one 
syllable.

THE OBJECTIVE:

To make you conscious of word choice.

EXAMPLE:

The Street
	There's an old grey bag who stands on the stoop of an old grey 
house to beg folks from out of town for a bit of change, don't you feel 
bad, I'm so old, so poor -- but she won't ask those who walk past her on 
the way to work, see?  They watch her dropped off at her post each day by 
a big black car with a new paint job, and know she makes more cash from 
the saps on tour than the girls who work nights at the strip joints.  A 
bit down the street, a slouched man in a black Saints cap tells a blond 
with a cup of beer in his left hand and his girl's ass in his right, I 
can shine your shoes, they's nice shoes, ain't they? and I bet I knows 
where ya got those shoes, ten bucks says I knows where ya got those 
shoes.  The blond man looks like he'll fall for it too, but don't you 
stop to warn him -- he's got to learn, don't he?  You just don't trust a 
guy on the street, not this street.  There, in front of that store -- 
that's the hag who sells beads, she comes up to you from the side and 
asks you in that thin voice of hers to buy a bead, a bead for luck -- and 
what do you do with one of those beads once you have it?  Throw it out, 
that's what most do, but they buy 'em first.  That one's a bit of a nut, 
but like the Cat says, we're all mad here.  You hear the sax?  He's in 
the same place each night, shows up at eight, plays good, but not so good 
for this town, I guess, or he'd be in a bar with a gig, not on the 
street.  And that tap-tap-tap you hear down that way -- that's a boy, 
he'll be nine or so, with a pair of tap shoes and a big box to catch the 
change.  They got to look sharp, those boys -- I once saw a man run off 
with one kid's take for the day, could of fed his ma for a week.  That 
one just burns me, ya know?  There's all sorts down here, but the ones 
that don't give a show are the worst.


NOTES TO FANFIC ML:
This one is going to put some special limitations on you in terms of 
character usage, since most characters have multi-syllable names.  Since 
I loves ya all, you can use Japanese words that are multi-syllable in 
*Japanese* but become one syllable by English conventions ("hai")  Good luck!

mata ne,
bengman


bengman           *"Nanika kuwasero, tonikaku kuwasero, zenbu kuwasero! 
Bridget E. Engman * Demae mo ii ze! Henshin shichau to yubi ga futosugite,
b-engma@students. * Pizza no chuumon sae mo denwa dekinai!"
   uiuc.edu       *   ---Wan Dabada, "Can't Stop Eatin'"