I think back to why I became a writer to begin with. It all started with a germ of an idea…multiplied by a hundred. Two hundred! Notebooks full of ideas: good ideas, rotten ideas. They popped into my head at the most random and inconvenient of times. And I loved every minute of it.
Now I realize we all have ideas. It’s the implementing of these ideas that creates the problem. Yes, it’s a lovely idea. Can you write about it for 250 pages or more? Will it hold someone’s interest for that long? What exactly is the plot conflict for this idea? Is it fresh? Does it have a hook?
Looking at “The Dream of the Poet or, The Kiss of the Muse” by Paul Cezanne (above, obviously) makes me slightly ill. Did Cezanne feel this way? Gosh, he must have—look at his body of work. An angel, coming from the heavens to kiss your furrowed brow and deliver the goods.
Lucky guy.
Not that I’m bitter or anything. But my relationship with my muse is..strained at best. In fact, we’ve not been on speaking terms for years now.
So what do we do with such uncooperative muses? Didn’t they realize we had an appointment with them? That we’re here, laptops in place, large mugs of coffee on our end tables, and an eager ear for their words of inspiration?
We plow ahead. One word at a time. Yes, it’s a blank page. Maybe what we’re covering it with isn’t much better than a blank page. But it’s a point to edit from. You can’t make something better if there’s nothing there.
Things I do while my muse is AWOL:
Work on a different section of the book than the one I’m currently stuck on.
Brainstorm: See how many ideas I can come up with—for the next two pages. Just the next two pages. Baby steps…
Research something pertaining to my book.
Edit a few pages. Sometimes reading back over something I’ve already written can get ideas flowing again.
Change the scenery: Run some errands. Find inspiration in the little things (jot little descriptions of the people I run across as I’m out, settings I see, the feel of the weather that day as I walk around.)
Hope my muse is the forgiving type and doesn’t carry a grudge for too much longer…
Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays. I’m taking a short blog break for Christmas and reposting some of my older posts from 2009. Thanks so much to everyone for making my blogging year a happy one.
Elizabeth – No doubt about it; Madame Muse is fickl! You have some good ideas for things to do to be productive while the muse is taking a break; Thanks ; ).
Your posts are new to ME! Thanks. Merry Christmas, Elizabeth.
New to me as well. The right ideas are so important. I gather all those tidbits together until I have a critical mass that screams “I’m a book. Write me!” And yes,, as soon as I get started that pesky muse flits off somewhere else, leaving me to do the grunt work.
As always your post are most informative. I love your quote, “You can’t make something better if there’s nothing there.” So very true and we don’t stop and realize that enough.
Looking forward to your “old post that are “new” to me.
Enjoy the holidays. Wishing peace, love and happiness for you and your family this holiday season.
I find my muse deserts me when I’m having a plot problem, so figuring out what should happen next and why usually works. Not always quickly, but nobody ever said writing was easy. And sometimes I simply plod on without the muse, which must make her jealous, because things start happening. Eventually.
I also do a lot of “head writing” which can be done anywhere.
Sometimes I take my muse golfing or out to lunch. That seems to help.
Happy Holidays, Elizabeth! Enjoy your well-deserved blogging break!
Muse is fickle, very fickle. But you seem to have figured out how to get around her fickleness!
Happy Holidays, Elizabeth. I look forward to reading your old posts – you are always extremely readable!
I agree with Lorel–the best ideas always come when I’m not writing, and can’t possibly get to a computer, or even a piece of paper to write it down! That said, I have more problems finding the time to sit and write uninterrupted than with having the muse show up. Kids!
Thanks for the block-breaking ideas, good lady. And Merry Christmas!
Great advice, Elizabeth – enjoy the holidays :)
This is so great! My muse seems diabolical at times, so I understand. :0)
Have a merry Christmas, Friend!
May you be kissed by your muse every day from now on.
Merry Christmas!
If only we could train our muses to be more cooperative!
Merry Christmas to you and your family.
M.I.A. Muses…
I find that reading the newspaper (or online news feeds) gives me a bit of a kickstart when I’m stuck. I often see something that catches my eye and will twist it and turn it and ask myself “what if this story happened to one of my characters?”
Real life is much stranger than fiction. The news is a great springboard at times.
Cheers, Jill
http://ow.ly/FGOm
Merry Christmas!
I like to brainstorm and work on a different section too. I’ve heard the best thing to do with a sagging middle is to throw a conflict in.
Wonder if my middle will be sagging after all the cookies I eat over the next few days? :D
~ Wendy
Elizabeth, I don’t think your muse–or natural talent–is ever too far away.
Best Wishes for a great holiday season. Galen.
I find my muse is a tease… a flasher of sorts. I get this or that set up or scene and the REAL work is in processing—pulling together SEVERAL ideas… bit if thigh here, peck there, until I can see the whole body, but that it is MY JOB to rearrange all the parts into something coherent, and THAT I don’t think is muse. I think it’s persistence.
I have trouble when the muse pulls up prudish, but if I go work on something else that’s in a different stage for a while, eventually he hungers for attention again and unties the trench coat.
I keep at least 3 WIP’s going. That way if my muse gets “stuck” in one story, I have two other completely different stories that may kick start it back to life. Works for me.
Marvin D Wilson
Research is good!
My muse overloaded me for awhile, but she’s been taking it easy lately. Not sure what I’ll tackle next…
I do pretty much what you outlined. If I can’t use what I write I place it in my “Junkyard of Spare Parts” and maybe I can use it to plug a hole in a story in the future.
Stephen Tremp
Great post. I like the baby steps. I do some of what you do when my muse is on vacation.
You’ll do just fine without your muse, Elizabeth.
Merry Christmas and happy 2010.
Bob Sanchez
http://bobsanchez1.blogspot.com
Changing the scenery is a good tip. And all the best for the holiday season.
Margot–I think mine is just lazy and easily distracted. At least I can work around that!
Teresa–Thanks! And Merry Christmas.
Lorel–The grunt work is right! Then they show up at the WORST times with ideas for a sequel…when you’re supposed to be doing revisions.
Rayna–Thanks! :)
Simon–I do have a rule when school is out that Mama needs 45 minutes to write. Unless there are visible flames or one or the other of the children is bleeding *significantly*, then I should NOT be disturbed. :) Or there will be chores.
Jane–We should send them to muse reform school. Have a great one, yourself!
Jill–That’s a wonderful idea! Especially for a mystery writer. :)
Mason–I just throw it on the page and fix it up later! :) Hope you and your family have a very merry one!
Terry–They do get wickedly jealous, don’t they?
Wendy–I always put a dead body in the middle of every book. Seems to work well for me.
Alan–My muse would lose at golfing. I think that would make her even more upset with me. :)
Jemi–You too!
Kristen–A diabolical muse! That’s mine, too.
Carol–Thanks so much! And you, too.
Hart–Your muse is a flasher!! Oh…too funny. Maybe mine is, too. She only shows up for a moment at a time…
Marvin–Okay, I don’t know HOW you do that. I’ve got 2 going and I’m struggling with it.
Diane–It’s either feast or famine, isn’t it?
Galen–Aren’t you nice! But she is. And a snippy thing she is, too…
Stephen–I have one of those, too. :) But I call it a graveyard. ‘Junkyard’ is much nicer.
Carolyn–Taking it a step by a time works well.
Martin–Thanks! And hope you have a great one, too.