Be a magpie

Sometimes it's better to lean into the myth, and skip the reality

Hey, Runners!

Some of you know what you’re going to write this year, and that’s awesome. For those of you who don’t, no worries; we’ve built in time for a full Discovery process, so you can start the run on the 9th without any idea of what you’re doing.

But now’s a good time to work up your magpie skills.

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We run from Sept 9—June 13! Subscribe today to be one of the runners and get your novel, or other long-form fiction project, written this year!

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What’s a magpie?

Glad you asked!

Magpies are a variety of crow that are legendary for flying around, grabbing sparkly things they find as they fly around, picking up said sparkly things, and lining their nests with the sparkly things they find.

Is this true? I don’t know. Do I care? Yes, that’s why I don’t want to look it up and find out that it’s not true. I like this idea too much.

Today’s Comments Assignment:

What sparkly thing do you want to include in your WIP this year? I’ll start; I want to include, somehow, the famous line from Moby Dick: “From hell’s heart I stab at thee.” There’s something about that line that is just funny to me, and I’m gonna use it humorously.

Your turn. To the comments!

Be a magpie

Over the next few weeks as we wait to get started on the 9th, I want you to set aside a few pages in your journal or a document on your computer, and every little thing you come across in your daily life that delights or interests you, I want you to jot it down.

During your Discovery and Drafting phases, whenever you’re not sure about what you want to do, I’m going to instruct you to go straight to all the sparkly items you’ve been collecting to line your magpie nest with.

Maybe you’ll use it; maybe you won’t. Maybe it’ll inspire a scene or a character; maybe it won’t.

But even if this journaling is nothing but the gathering of delightful things, doesn’t that make the endeavor worth it?