A Good Muse is Hard to Find
Tuesday, May 27th, 2008My muse is a terrible nag. No matter how many hours I work in a day, my muse complains. She doesn’t care that I have book promotions to do, edits to finish, or workshops to plan. My family matters are of little concern to her; and she doesn’t even want to hear the words rest and relaxation. All muse cares about is the bottom line: production. “Write faster, work harder!” she hollers. Her unceasing demands plague me with guilt when I stop to smell the proverbial roses.
I tried placating my muse with a comfy new patio set with a wide sun umbrella so that we could work outside. Beautiful woodland scenery soothes my muse. But it rained nearly the entire month of May, and we were stuck indoors, missing what were typically the best days of spring. We improvised by sitting under a picture window facing the view while we wrote during our regularly scheduled hours. Still, muse wasn’t satisfied. She harangued me the entire month to write more. She wants my new book done now!
As far as my muse is concerned, I should write sixteen hours a day. Twenty if I could survive without REM sleep. She gets impatient when I take time to edit and polish my books to make them just right. Muse only wants to create.
Quantity without quality means that muse is taking charge and running amok. And while a good muse is hard to find, inspiration needs discipline. Every good book has structure, colorful characters, fresh dialogue, and an interesting story. An author’s life should be filled with those things, too. Don’t you agree?
I’m taking time to smell those lovely, blooming roses before I get back to work.
