I wrote a drabble on the train this morning.
The Merlin drabble community had as one of the current prompts the word “tree.”
An idea for Merlin and a magical tree instantly lodged itself in my mind a week and a half ago. It drew upon pagan mythology. I knew what the story was, I just didn’t have the words. It needed to cogitate.
After writing out my To-Do List on the train this morning, I continued writing on the notebook paper. To my surprise, it was this drabble, the one about Merlin and the magical tree. I hadn’t thought about it, I hadn’t thought about the words, and yet, there it was, wanting to come out.
Some drabbles take a long time to write. This one flowed out shockingly quickly. All the words were there; they just needed to be on the page.
Surprisingly, it came out quite close to 100 words. The scribbled first draft weighed in at 107 words. A revision to the first paragraph brought it down to 101. Revising a later clause brought it to 100. Then it was just a matter of using stronger verbs and more precise nouns and adjectives.
I wrote out a title. I wrote out a second. I liked neither.
It wasn’t until I typed up the hand-written drabble that I had the right title.
“The Solitary Wood.”
I was pleased with it when it was done. Fifteen minutes work, tops, and it clicked. 🙂
I may record it as a podfic this weekend, just for fun, much as I did for “The Twain in Camelot.”
You can read “The Solitary Wood” here. My other Merlin drabbles are here.