A Good Muse is Hard to Find
My 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.
May 30th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
What a refreshing article, Adele! My little whisperer is, I think, controlled by an unreliable switch in my head–you know, the kind of switch that has defective wiring. Sometimes, I get an even flow of creative current; sometimes, it sparks wildly; sometimes, it’s intermittent and produces only frustrating flickers of light.
I never know from one day–or hour, for that matter–to the next how that switch is doing to work.
The patio set with sun umbrella and lovely woodland views? Got it. Bird song? That too. But they really mess with the switch’s operation. One slight breeze bearing the scent of lilac, and my current begins to stutter…
Guess I’m better off writing indoors. My switch is too danged touchy!
May 30th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
Oh, I love the scent of lilacs! The fragrance would derail my muse, too. Thanks so much for visiting my site and for your entertaining reply to my blog post.
Best-Adele Dubois
May 31st, 2008 at 7:16 pm
I envy you both the patio with the woodland view. Sounds absoluely lovely. Thankfully, I have an understanding muse who puts up with a corner of the living room. LOL I’ve promised her that someday she’ll have a woodland view. It keeps us both going.
May 31st, 2008 at 10:46 pm
Clearly, you and your muse are doing a great job! I bet you have a really pretty living room.
Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving your kind comment.
Best–Adele Dubois