The Muse
I wonder how everyone views their muse. Some writers feel like they "channel" someone else, some other entity, something separate from themselves when they write.
Some feel they "wrestle" with their muse--fight with it. So there's clearly a separateness there.
Some name their muse.
HE is not my muse. He is my Muse Slayer. Along with him, whose annoying songs are playing in the background at the moment.
But I generally don't think of myself as having a muse. Not as a separate entity. I think I feel creative most of the time, and at certain times I get to sit down and WRITE it versus playing scenes and dialogue out in my head. The muse has never been elusive for me. In fact, it delivered the Shiniest of New Ideas to me last night and I have that "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I better get this one down on paper before someone ELSE thinks of this idea." But did the muse deliver it? I don't know. Then again . . . using logic . . .
If I have a Muse Slayer, I must have a muse.
So how about you? Do you think of the creative side of yourself as a separate entity? We're amongst friends. You can confess to another personality. Or naming an invisible muse. Share your muse with us all.
26 comments:
I consider my muse the better part of me. It's the me that's there when I go quiet, like when I'm doing yoga or meditating. And it's the me that loves. I feel like I'm streaming love when I write. (Okay, I just actually blushed for real; that's so corny! But really, that's how I feel.)
When worries or thinking or nonsense gets in the way, then everything gets mussed up.
Hi Spy:
It's not corny at all. I think that's a great way to describe it.
E
I have always wondered about a muse. I see, feel, channel no one when I write. I do zone out when I write, become slightly possessed and obsessed...but I never considered that to do with a muse.
But I too have what deters me, like your Muse Slayer. That would be stress. Stress is my brick wall.
I'm not even sure I understand the concept of a muse, so I hope that some of your readers have good stories, confessions and insight!
Oh but if I did have a muse. It would be a he. :-)
Amy:
Stress is a huge Myse Slayer for me, too. But nothing--and I mean nothing--compares to Demon Baby.
E
I blogged on this a while back. Mine are named:
Larry the Loquacious (did I spell that right?)
Terrance the Terse (or something similar to Terrance, but I can't remember right off hand what it was)
Bruno the Bill Collector (him I have no problems remembering)
Mark:
Bruno frequently drops by here as well. :-)
E
Bruno is GOOD. He always gets results. Problem is, he only pops by at the last minute!
Spy:
LOL!!!
E
Well because I am now obsessed with what a muse might be for me...and because I'm a geek in my own right...here ya go:
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-muse.html
I like the explanation and would think that each body of work could have a different muse. I didn't realize that before.
Amy:
Thanks! I forgot about human muses . . .
E
I have seen the muse explained in some really cool ways, and as a metaphor it's a cool idea, but...I've always tried to guard against accepting it.
Believing that the magic is somehow outside of you is disempowering.
Instead I think it's better to believe you are made of the magic and it exists as long as you exist.
I think my whole writing process looks slightly insane to bystanders... at least the ones who've seen me in action. The Muse to me is not one person but kind of a collective thing. All of those startling ideas that seem to come out of no where and drop into my head - those things I just think are kind of a gift from God, or whatever you want to call her :-)
I still have to go through the whole process in writing them, but there are certain ideas that don't come from me... I've also had bouts when writing where I'm not even thinking and it just comes out in a way that I didn't conciously map... those I think are the muse too.
zoe:
I love that. I think that's why I have never overly embraced the muse concept as much as some other of writer friends. But I know those who embrace the concept really nurture it and it works for their process.
E
Hi MerryL:
I sometimes wonder where these ideas come from too.
E
For me the muse is the invisible lightening rod that keeps me grounded to the universe.
Kath:
THAT IS BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!
E
My muse is a stream of conciousness that lets a piece of my soul touch the page. When its here the words jump and dance. When its not...it actually hurts.
Hey Erica, muse to me is my characters. They come to me, and I type what they say and do. And the scene flashes I get in the process is magical, and I give them all the credit.
aimless:
Another good one. Thanks!
E
ladonna:
Gotta say . . . your response comes closest to what I feel. Thanks! I just didn't articulate it myself until I read your comment.
E
I've often thought it would be lovely to "channel" a muse. A spirit guide who in a previous life was Jane Austen would be nice. But I don't get that feeling as I write. Especially the times I slog my way through it.
I love what Spy says about streaming love when she writes. I'm going to try that! Just center myself, find that love, and start streaming.
I like to think a muse(s) is a part of you, but doesn't show up until you let it. Kind of like spy. I think that's why I'm in the zone of the writing I'm not even there. It's just my brain and my fingers on the keyboard. The muse(s) show up when get out of the way. I don't know. It's kind of like when you do anything creative. A part of your brain shuts off and your just doing.
If that makes sense.
But the way I like to see my muses... they are three women who drink a lot and make crude jokes that I rather not repeat. They live next to my libido *and they have complained about him* They send me little nuggets and when I move aside they do they heavy lifting.
Erica, thank you. Now that I re-read it I'd like to make it a needle-point (if I knew how).
edie:
Jane would be wonderful!
melissa:
When I'm in the zone, it's delicious--just not there either.
E
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