For the last two weeks, I swear my muse went on vacation. Or maybe she was there and it was me having too many ideas swirling in my brain. Usually, if that happens she pulls me back out of the maelstrom of the tornado and plops me in the chair and has a good talk with me about sticking to business.
I had fifty pages completed on my manuscript. I thought it was going well, until I couldn't go forward. I struggled, and I mean really struggled with where to go. Then my muse told me the story sucked. She asked why I made my heroine such a wimp. So I went back and she was right. No wonder I couldn't move forward. So I began to play around with ideas to beef it up...and my muse went on vacation. I think she was disgusted with me.
Ideas began to take over my mind, a new one every time I blinked my eyes. What to write, what to write became my mantra. Finally I started the story over again, word by painful word. Where was my muse? Why wouldn't she come back? I became frightened thinking I'd reached the point where I'd never write another good story in my lifetime. Have you ever reached this point? Ever felt you couldn't write your way out of a paper box (pun intended)? What did I do?
I looked around my office at the shelves lined with unread Harlequin and Silhoette books I just haven't had time to read. Why not? I sifted through until I found something that looked really good. I read the first chapter, and...you guessed it, my muse returned.
So how do you wake up your muse?
2 comments:
Wake up my muse? Are you kidding?
You are one brave woman!
My muse gets ugly if I try to wake her up. I've resigned myself to the fact that I must wait for her to be ready.
Down time, usually doing something relaxing or creative--like reading or a good movie--does wonders for me.
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