What Would You Dare to Write?

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I recently watched the movie “Nerve,” with my daughter. The movie was adapted from Jeanne Ryan’s young adult novel and follows the normally-reserved character Vee, who decides to step out of her comfort zone and participate in the online game, Nerve, which offers players a series of challenges in exchange for financial compensation. The dares start out harmless enough ($100 for kissing a stranger in a diner), but quickly progress to things like walking out of a department store in a stolen outfit for $2,500. Before long, Vee is no longer a player of the game, but a prisoner who must find a way to outsmart the game before she and her family lose everything in their possession.

The movie kept me on the edge of my seat, and from what I hear; the book has a similar pace. The players (and watchers) in “Nerve,” were mostly teens and younger adults—commonly perceived as a group of people more likely to take risks. But what if there was a similar game out there for writers? How far would we dare to go if the promise of lucrative payment hung in the balance?

I dare say if someone offered me $1,000 to submit a first draft of a novel to an agent I would hit send on that sucker quicker than the idea of embarrassing myself with a manuscript rife with typos would sink in.

For example:

• Would a shy and introverted writer publicly post a short story online in the erotica genre if offered $5,000?

• What kind of money would entice an writer to write about their deepest and darkest secret on their blog? $500? $1,500?

• Do you think a journalist would submit a half-finished assignment full of errors to one of the editors who regularly supplies her work on a dare to make $3,000?

• Would $20,000 be enough for an author to submit a horror manuscript to their literary agent who had already brokered a deal with a publishing house for a chick lit novel? Even if it meant losing representation?

I can’t help but believe I would be much more motivated to finish projects more quickly if the potential for a large bonus waited at the finish line. However, I don’t think I would have the nerve to sabotage working relationships with industry professionals and trusted clients for money, or write about the most mortifying moment of my life and post in on my social media feeds. But you never know, I guess.

What other dares can you think of that writers might participate in for this fictitious game of “Dare to Be a Writer?”

Renee Roberson is an award-winning freelance writer and editor who probably plays it safe in the writing game a little too much.