#mischiefiswritten

*finally opens WIP*

*deletes two words*

I'm currently listening to Neil Gaiman's MasterClass on storytelling, and I thought I'd share some of my primary takeaways from the first few episodes.

There are a million bad lines inside of your pencil. Your job as a writer is to get them all out so that you can get to the good ones.

Your influences/inspirations as a storyteller are not just other fiction writers. Stop and think how musicians and other artists influence the stories you want to tell and how to tell them.

When you sit down to begin a new story or project, first take some time to write down everything you know about it so far. Write down all your ideas, sketch and doodle and annotate if you need to, and then look for connections. This is where a story emerges from a jumble of ideas.

What is it about? Every good story is saying something, even if it's not a deep social commentary. This is different from your concept and it will guide you as you go. Stories are about telling the truth through fiction (lies), so think about what truth you're trying to tell.

What do your characters want? This will help you establish conflict. Pick two of your characters, answer this question, and make their desires mutually exclusive. Characters will always get what they need, for good or ill, but not all of them can get what they want.

When you're stuck in your plot, you can also ask yourself what your characters want. They may just save you!

What happens next? This is the most important question, not just because you have to continually answer it to build your plot but because it's the question that makes your story matter. At the end of every chapter or at every shift in character perspective, etc., your readers should be asking this question. It's the only way to keep them turning pages. This question has to matter to you as well, because if the author doesn't care what happens next, neither will anyone else.

It's my 5 year anniversary on Tumblr 🥳

[WRITEBLR RE-INTRODUCTION]

I honestly can't believe it's been 5 years since I started this writeblr. I was very active here for quite some time, and I enjoyed this writing community like no other.

I got a doctorate (you may now call me Mischief, MD or Dr. Mischief, which makes me sound like a DC comics villain) and that was obviously a huge privilege and milestone. But it also cost me a lot, particularly in my creative life! I've been taking some time to recover my creative spirit, and I'm ready to wade back into writing.

So consider this my writeblr re-introduction.

Name: Mischief, or Mis for short

I write: primarily scifi/fantasy, which is also my favorite genre to read. I'll dabble into anything though, including the occasional fanfic. You can check out old WIPs here on this blog!

I like: literally anything related to writing including asks, tag games, and getting to know your WIPs!

Details: I'm 25, fem, married, USA, currently living in the CST zone

That's pretty much it! I love the writeblr community so much, and I'd love to find new, at least semi-active writer friends to connect with and support. Please comment, reblog, DM, follow, whatever so I can check out your blog!

I am happy. I am proud. I am relieved.

Today has been a tough one. It's been hard to get the words to flow and to see the scene in my head. But I'm still proud of myself for persevering and getting started. I've written for three days straight now and written a couple hundred words a day. That's a big win for getting my writing practice back in order!