I'd love to be an 'empty head' or have a few drinks. Heck a movie would be lovely! Unfortunately I'm a mom w/ 2 toddlers (1 still nursing). I don't get out much. They're in bed now - I'll go for for that book. Now, which one on my shelves haven't I read in awhile...?
Oh, showers are REALLY good too, because you're all alone with nothing much to think about, and there is almost no way to write down your ideas without specialist equipment.
Mine is missing too, though i can still feel his angst as I pass the time listening to Steve King's short stories. I am half hoping he finds another job, then I can hire another idealistic prospect off craigslist. Only .001 cents a word! Service with a smile!
This is a ransom note. I have your muses! If you ever want to see them again you will give me five thousand internets or i will proceed to feed the muses nothing but Red Bull and Butterfingers for 24 hours straight, then unleash them upon the world! You don't want that horror on your conscience do you? Do you!?
Juat keep on writing because you want to be sure you sitting at the keyboard with you writing habits intact, writing once it comes back again. And you can always ask yourself: Have my habits changed in some way? Is my life more stressful then normal? Do I sleep well? Do I eat well? Getting enough fluids? Do I get any physical exercise? All of that and a lot more stuff can effect your creativity.
It's not missing - it's just gone walkabout. It'll be back when you least expect it. But you have to let go of it a bit. The more you worry, the longer it'll be away.
Just keep it out of my garden lol Seriously you have two young kiddies best way to get it back is take time for Terri something I suspect is in short supply. I have three (which is oddly easier that two) - there are days I can't remember my own name or where I put my house keys never mind where I put a muse
I'll be going to PA to visit my parents for two weeks. NO INTERNET. Good 'ol pen & paper might bring the punk back. She prefers those over a keyboard anyway.
I came up with an idea that a muse's physical form is a metaphor for how it works. Butterfly muses bring stories that "burst forth" whether you want them to or not. My dragon muse often goes into powerdives and I just gotta hold on for the ride, screaming all of the way. Sometimes my muse tries to eat me and I gotta get my girdle around it. Sometimes it goes into egg form and acts like the butterfly muses. Maybe your muse is just using a lesser aspect of its nature.
There once was a writer named Flame To whom writing was ne'er much more than a game She'd never sit down and work, Found a reasons a'plenty to shirk, Then ended up giving her muse all the blame.
That makes a lot of sense. Maybe for some people, the muse is always a dragon, but from time to time the dragon wants to sleep. Or hibernate. Toting around a willful artist can quickly get tiresome. I like this idea though... a physical representation of a muse would be easier to deal with than a foggy, ambiguous life-form.
Well, she's returned enough to whisper in my ear & help me chop down & revise a short story into flash. Now if the editor who recommended those changes will like what I've done... I'll be happy with little miss muse once again. Cross your fingers for me, folks. This could be my first publication.
If it's missing.... Read a book. Pick up something you don't normally read, nonfiction, science-fiction, fantasy, something, anything, just pick it up and read. Anything. Hell, a newspaper, even. Something may kick-start an idea. My High School History book just helped me out...
Writer's Block Busters! What do YOU like to do to try and get past your hiccups? They happen to all of us, on some level, so how do you overcome them? My personal plan of attack has often been to sit down and get frustrated, then put the project away for years and years, then come back to it with a totally fresh perspective. I do NOT recommend this approach. So lately, I've tried writing or editing, working on one project for at least 1 hour every day. I may not have anything new to add, but I can edit or re-read for continuity, make notes for myself, or *something*. But most of all, actually getting into the habit of writing something out. Anything. It doesn't really matter what, some days, just the act of typing (or writing by hand if you are old-school, whatever!) can really help with getting the juices flowing. You do that long enough, and you'll find ideas seeping out that you didn't realize you had in you. I've come up with more than one story idea this way. If you get ideas, don't forget to save them somewhere! Or, if you're like me, 5 somewheres. Anyway, so that's me. Just keep at it. Set a timer and shut off your phone, get some good music going (I made a writing playlist with my favorite orchestral soundtracks over on grooveshark.com that I like to run through), and just DO it. What works for you? Maybe your method will help someone else. Happy writing!
Get interested in the story. If I spend an hour or two daydreaming about my main character and his story, then I'm going to sit down and try to hammer it out. If I lose interest, it's dead.
I usually dislike feeling that I'm in a rush to write something. Instead, when you slow your self down to work on your ideas you can approach success with minimal mistakes. Re-editing is a great method, and we have all been taught this when in school. Just sitting there brainstroming is always a very successful method - Taking your story step by step is the best way. Whatever you do, don't rush though.
See, if I don't push myself, I won't ever get anything done. I know I can do this, I know I have the ability, I just need to DO it. It is to the point now where I have decided I either need to get to work or give up on this idea of writing altogether. And I'm not going to give up. This is all I've ever really wanted to do. So, I need to stop putting it off and DO it already. How I wish I had made it to college for that fiction writing major. Stupid transcript issues. I don't give myself deadlines to finish things by (yet, anyway), but I do insist I do something to work at one project or another. Setting a timer and having it count down can help if you need to know you won't be sitting there forever. There are applications for your smartphone or computer that can do this, if you want, or you can simply set yourself a timer on the stove. Having someone else push me to get things done works pretty well too, assuming I know the story and how it will pan out, up front. Other people pushing me when I'm already stuck, however... not good. I usually warn people who I invite to my private blog that many things are unfinished and if they are going to get upset with me for not necessarily knowing the ending yet, they may not want to read.
