The Insecure Writer’s Support Group ~ No#16
If you are here for the A to Z Challenge C-post, click here!
Welcome to the IWSG post. This is a place where writers can come together and express doubts/concerns and offer assistance/guidance… the ultimate writers' support structure. For more info go HERE.
Today, I want to talk about the muse. We all know and agree, that the muse is linked to your source of inspiration.
But what exactly is it?
People refer to this phenomenon in a variety of ways. It has also been said that the muse inhabits different/various forms. Is it a part of the writer? An external force?
Do ideas just strike you out of nowhere, like a bolt from the blue? Do you have one muse? Many muses? Or one for each type of art form, for example, a writer who paints and sings… would he have three separate muses? Do they have names? Or titles?
Some people engage in meaningful conversations with this muse. Whole conversations, I might add. Are muses metaphorical? Reality? A form of psychosis? An other-worldly creation? A figment of the imagination? An ethereal entity from a different dimension?
What do you think?
I believe if you believe in muses they exist. Muses can be anything or everything, as long as they help to safely motivate.
Hey, I like the new look!
I think of muses as snippets of ideas and thoughts in our subconcious, and when we think hard enough, they eventually surface. (And of course, we wonder where on earth that idea came from!)
I just write…
I do find my writing a lot easier some days and more difficult on others. Sometimes it does feel like there's a force inside me typing the words onto the page – other days not so much. Perhaps that's the muse?
Hi Michelle,
We need muse to write. Sometimes this muse hides then we are in trouble!
All the best!
When I'm looking for an idea, nothing will happen. Then when I give up and say "No more writing for you." Ideas come in like crazy. Once I realized this, I've been using reverse psychology on myself. It works for me.
Sir Poops and Hair Ball help me all the time.
Hugs and chocolate,
Shelly
I love it when ideas come from sermons, like "Salted with fire" or the witch of Endor, or from writing prompts, like when I used the name "Rebecca" from Aliens as a prompt and wrote a story that became a main character and subplot of my WIP.
OMG it looks GREAT over here! Love the new look. (:
I have a hard time writing without the muse (an idea tha pops into my head) but sometimes I can't wait around for her so I'll force myself to sit and write, and sometimes that ends up working out.
I just know mine is very random and unpredictable!
If I have a muse, I think she's a slavedriver. She unleashes a story on me and I write compulsively until it's finished.
Love the look. Lots brighter, like your personality.
Funny you should ask about Muses, since my IWSG post this month is a conversation with my Muse! 🙂
I've found it helpful to personify my creativity this way because it gives my ideas a voice. I guess it might seem strange at first, but once I get past that (I'm a writer of fiction, so imaginary people are my thing anyway 😉 ) it feels quite natural to discuss my puzzles with 'someone' who has their own input. Giving my creativity a personality makes it more difficult to ignore, and though I'm of the belief that my ideas come from my subconscious and my life experiences, sometimes writing stories does feel more like magic than mere words!
Eep! Love the new look, Michelle. 🙂
Ah, muse (s?) I speak to mine. I know I look crazy half the time arguing with him or her, depending on the story I am writing (my kids have pointed that out on more that one occasion).. 😀 It's fun though
I like the new look!
To me, a muse is just an embodiment of my creative mind when I write. The reason why I call it my muse is that everything I write comes from my subconscious, which means it usually feels like a separate person is telling me what to write.
I love your new header.
I suppose I have many muses since I get inspired by many things.
Thanks for all the comments! I wish I had more time to respond to each one! 🙂
Oh! Pretty new blog template!
I'd have an opinion about my muse if I could ever find her… She moved and left no forwarding address. I guess I'll have to go hunting for a new one. Maybe I'll find one in the 99-cent Fairy store. 🙂
Great question. For me, it's my characters as I write them. I have to actually sit down and write, either without an idea at all, or just a shred, but then a character will show up, or perhaps I find the character in psychic space, and I just write their life.
Loving these… this sound like a place you have to run to go pee. You know, dash to the pot. Or, maybe it just sounds like that to me at 10pm. 😉
I think you meant to post this comment on my D-post. I know… I know… it's 10 p.m. so the brain is almost in sleep mode… 🙂
Your new blog look is spectacular. Love it!! My muse(s) are super unpredictable. They arrive at moments when I least expect them to. I've always wondered what they are exactly. Figments of my imagination, divine intervention, my own warped mind O_O. I have learned to listen when they speak up. Enjoyed the thought-provoking post. 🙂