Hey, peeps–
I have a few things I do before I sit down and start writing. Not sure whether “ritual” is the right word, but it involves preparing my space, getting things in order, and creating a welcoming environment not only for me, but my muses. I was thinking about that and BAM came across this blog at The Write Practice about your relationship with your muse, and 7 reasons she might not be talking to you. Or, if your muse is male, why he isn’t talking to you. For ease, we’ll stick with a female muse.
Here are a few things that might make your muse cranky, according to the blog:
We refuse to work until she shows up.
We put demands on her, like a perfect first draft or we demand that she show up whenever we want her to, and we expect she’ll drop everything to accommodate us.
We dink around on other things on the computer or whatever during the time we’ve committed to her.
We don’t pay attention to her or note the ideas she gives us nor do we give her credit when we create something.
Basically, treat your muse the way you would treat someone special in your life. Why the heck would your muse want to hang out with you if you diss her and diss your writing by not making time or space for it?
The reality is, your muse is only as good as you make her feel. And if you don’t treat your writing like the gift it can be, you’re going to end up with a muse who doesn’t give a rat’s ass, either.
Think about that. If you create the time and space for your writing, and treat it as something more than just sitting around playing on the computer, you create the good ju-ju (for lack of something more scientific) for your creative process (note the number of times I used the word or root CREATE in that sentence).
So if you’re having a difficult time and the muse isn’t talking to you, maybe get her some metaphorical flowers and make a date night. And make that a habit. See if you don’t notice an improvement in your relationship.
Happy writing, happy reading!
Andi Marquette 