RESCRIPTION II is the second iteration of the original RESCRIPTION PROJECT held in Chicago during 2012. Check out the book resulting from Chicago’s RESCRIPTION PROJECT here.
RESCRIPTION II: NYC
Let’s say you have a story. It’s written, polished, complete… and you hate it. The language is cheap, the characters are weak, the plot is tired, and worst of all, it’s not publishable. These are the stories we want.
The act of rescription examines what it’s like to revitalize these stories—taking them out of the dark, shaking off the dust, and letting new sets of hands try their luck at getting the old story’s engine to turn over. Writer 2 plays Dr. Frankenstein on the story originally penned by Writer 1 and uses his/her own writerly devices and methods to rescribe and inject new life into that necrotic thing. And then Writer 3, Writer 4, and Writer 5 (and so forth) could do the same thing.
RESCRIPTION II is a six-month collective project that will involve up to 15 writers with 15 dead ideas. These writers will collaborate to resuscitate all dead drafts by allowing each respective writer, with his/her own machinations, to leverage his/her vices an virtues on the work of others. At the conclusion of the project, Anobium will publish and release a book of these collectively rescripted stories, giving them a chance to see the light of day in an entirely new and unpredictable way.
With this project, the status of ‘author’ is no longer a singularity. At the start of the process, each writer acknowledges that in turning their stories over, the stories will belong to the group. Original stories and subsequent rescriptions are not credited to the individual, but to the group. The completed book will be the product of all project participants, working in tandem.
With each submission, the writer will present a loose set of expectations for the draft. The piece is then passed on and each subsequent writer will spend spend roughly three or four weeks on doctoring it before passing it on again.
RESCRIPTION II is an experiment in authorship and revision. As such, participants will meet once a month during the course of the project to: 1) explore how the collective process challenges their perception of ‘writing alone,’ 2) discuss the merits of navigating another writer’s world, 3) drink, schmooze, and maybe make some new connections.
Those interested in participating in The Rescription Project must have a narratively complete text (i.e. the idea of the story is executed completely) which has not previously been published. Writers must be based in New York City, have access to Google Groups, and be willing to attend monthly meetings (when possible) over a six-month period. A project fee of $60 is encouraged of all writers and will be used to offset printing costs of the completed publication. If you’re interested in participating, or if you have questions, please contact the group facilitators [Benjamin Schachtman (benjamin.schachtman@gmail.com) and Jeff Lennon (jbhlennon@gmail.com)] with “THE RESCRIPTION PROJECT” as your subject. If you would like to apply, please also include a short bio and attach a ready-to-be-rescripted story. More details to come.
[Benjamin Schachtman is a writer and teacher who lives in Chinatown, in New York. Jeff Lennon is from California. He has been to college, swum in all five of the American Great Lakes, and published previously in Slush Pile Magazine. He lives in Brooklyn, where he is at work on a first novel. He fights the good fight over at the Coastal Literary (jefflennon.wordpress.com).]
ANOBIUM 
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