Creative Laureate: Insha Fitzpatrick
Meet Insha Fitzpatrick, 2021 Storytelling Collective Creative Laureate.
When we thought, “Who do we know who is doing awesome creative work in different mediums?” Insha Fitzpatrick instantly came to mind. She’s a horror magazine editor, a graphic novelist, a game designer, and just an all-around innovative storyteller whose work we love to support. We asked Insha some questions about her creative career and plans for 2021.
What kind of creative work do you do?
My main creative work is writing, which is still super bizarre to say. Hahaha. I do a span of creative writing, though, from criticism and analytical essays and reviews to graphic novels and editing. My side hustle creative work is a little bit of sound editing, being apart of a podcast called Film Runners with my buds, and working on my small horror website, DIS/MEMBER.
What is your background (where did you go to school and how did you start your creative career?)
Education-wise, I went to New Jersey City University to study film, concentrating on film genre studies, scriptwriting, and audio and film editing. That made it possible to develop my love for film and writing. However, I couldn’t get a job in the field I wanted, so I took a hard left turned into writing for many different websites and publications till I started my website in February 2019 called DIS/MEMBER.
I initially wanted just to do that. I tried to hunker down and focus on the website, but I realized that I desperately wanted to tell stories because I’ve always loved and told stories. I also loved learning new things, and research is one of my favorite things. So, my first cool creative thing was writing a short comic with Kell Richards called ‘Tech Support’ in the Sisters Anthology by Ladies Night Anthology. After that, I wrote a D&D story in the wonderfully curated Uncaged Anthology called “The Pollution of Conatha.” However, in between that, I kept thinking of things I could write myself, but then [fellow author] Stephanie and I vibed some story ideas and co-wrote a book called Oh My Gods!, which just came out on January 5th.
It’s honestly been a wild journey in finding what I love and what I wanted for myself creatively, hahaha.
What would you consider to be your "creative process" when starting > working on > completing a project?
Good question. It’s still very new for me nailing it down. Starting, I do as much research as I possibly can. It takes a while for me to initially start something (if I don’t have a deadline) because I want to know everything. I watch the film, read the book, search the internet, look at the sources, listen to the podcasts. It helps so much. As I collect all that, I also have this great habit of making countless amounts of resources for myself, including Spotify playlists, Pinterest boards, and an insane amount of Google Documents.
When I head into working on the project, the research and knowledge gained help me head straight in. I put everything in an outline or pattern that makes sense to me and go back to make sure that it makes sense to other people.
Completing a project, first of all, is like a breath of relief, but it’s also the most challenging part for me? I don’t want to stop working on a project. I end up loving it too much. But I make sure that it’s double and triple checked to know that I’ve said all I wanted to say and do all I wanted to do. I keep all of that research and knowledge if I have to go back and work on it.
What is a must-have tool in your creative arsenal?
Spotify and Pinterest. I can’t tell you how many times Spotify and Pinterest helped me start and finish creative projects. I’ve created so many Spotify playlists for different characters, themes, situations, vibes than I could count. I’ve also made many Pinterest boards to create new characters and worlds based on what I want to see for books. They are two things that are fundamental in my creative arsenal, and I can’t live without them.
Oh My Gods!, released on January 5th, is available in a bookstore near you.
Tell us about your experience writing Oh My Gods!
Oh man, it was intense but very cool. So, let me give a little bit of the process in general because that affects my answer, hahaha. We had already started working on it for a while, so we took what we were doing and outlined the entire book to give us (and our editor, shoutout to Lily!) an idea of what we wanted to do. Once we had the outline and okay from our editor, Stephanie would rough script it with the outline we both made up. I would go in and also do some scripting, but make sure the characters are different, fix dialogue, and develop character moments.
It was a lot of communication, talking about mythology, character motivations, and more. It was intense but very rewarding. At first, and no one knew this, I was terrified of doing it. Mostly because my anxiety is hyped up to 50 in these situations, but the experience of just creating something incredible with your friends, learning more about writing a graphic novel, and writing a friggin’ book? It’s the wildest but bonkers and dope experience ever.
You're also the Editor-in-Chief of two creative publications. What's it like putting on the editor hat and working with writers?
DIS/MEMBER covers all things pertaining to horror media, including film reviews and analysis.
It’s one of the most challenging yet fulfilling experiences ever. I didn’t know how much I loved it until I started DIS/MEMBER. It’s very hands-on, challenging, but exciting, and pretty damn dope.
It’s easy to sit down, read and edit someone’s piece, then pass it off to be published. However, it’s even more rewarding to get to know who your writers are, listen to their pitches and work on a way together on how they’d like to get their passions out.
I like to think of editing as a collaborative experience, as well. You have to work together to get your best product. My writers are the best people in the world, and I’m also happy to say that they’re my friends, too.
Your work spans genres, notably horror and mythology. What do you enjoy most about those specific genres?
There are monstrous amounts in both genres to explore! Horror has a mountain of themes and subgenres (ex: Giallo, Folk, Psychological, Found Footage, Slasher, etc.), and mythological has spans of different stories to tell. I love that you can dive headfirst and catch yourself in a rabbit hole of sorts within them. You never stop learning about horror and mythology. You’re always thinking about the monsters, final girls, gods, and people the filmmaker and writer have created and how you can make your own. That’s what I love most about them.
Oh My Gods! II comes out next year.
Can you tell us about any cool 2021 projects you have on the horizon?
There’s a secret one that might be announced very soon. We’re still waiting on a date for it, but I’m SO excited about it. It’s a book that means a lot to me, especially coming out of 2020. Other than that, I’m working on a couple of proposals and hoping to keep doing cool projects. Also, OH MY GODS II: The Forgotten Maze is coming in January 2022, so look out for those!
What is a piece of advice you have for aspiring storytellers?
I wish someone told this to me when I was little, but: Keep telling stories, no matter what. Keep going. Your voice is different from anyone else, never take that for granted, and keep moving forward.
Insha is a New Jersey-based writer and editor. She's also the founder of DIS/MEMBER, a horror genre website, and co-writer of middle-grade graphic novel series Oh My Gods! (Etch, 2021). Talk to her about spooky movies, monsters, true crime, or Rod Serling's Twilight Zone. Connect with Insha on Twitter, Instagram, and her website.
