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A Muse by Any Other Name Is Still A Bitch.
Ahh the etherial, elusive muse. She guides the hand of the artist and leads us to the deepest well of our inner… blah blah blah blah blah.
Fucking muse.
She’s a backstabbing cheating tease who flits in and out of my life for what appears to be the soul purpose of torturing me.
It’s happened before. Remember when “Walking in the Air” went on hiatus? Remember when I completely ripped apart and rewrote DEVOUR three times! And that fucker’s still not done. Oh or the first time I started Shadow on the Wall for nanowrimo and couldn’t get past the first 20k words?
Well now she’s got her sights set on Shadow again. I write and I falter, the words won’t flow or hold together with that elasticity I pride myself on having in my writing. Instead its just kind of flat. I’m doing a lot of telling and not as much showing and I’m stuck! I’m torn as to how to proceed. I’m not willing to allow the muse-bitch to win this time. I love Shadow. I have something special, something precious here and it’s a story I need to tell, even if I don’t quite know how. So my choices are:
- Plow through, finish the round of work I’m on now to the end and deal with the plot holes and problems in the writing in the next round.
- Go back and work on all of the things that are nagging me as wrong with the story so that I can free my mind to move forward with the story without that weighing on me.
- Work on something else for a while and hope to rejuvenate later.
For the past week I’ve been trying #1, it hasn’t gone so well. Yesterday I tried #3 and pumped out a 9k word story, WITH EDITS, in one day. Granted is was just a silly little fanfic thing for my darling friend Candace’s Just a Kiss contest. Those are so much easier to write than something original, but STILL, it just flowed and shaped so simply and easily. And as nice as it was and as happy as I am with the out come its actually managed to just piss me off more.
Stupid Muse.
So I’m thinking it’s time to give #2 a go. Today I am working at a clients (really, I’m working, right now, can you see me? Ohhh accounting! 3+7=10, the analysis of last month’s gross distributions is…) so I will let my muse off the hook and tomorrow I have meetings and other exciting work things to focus on, but then, THEN, I will go back and work on solving the problems I’m obsessing over and see if by fixing those things I can finally move forward.
I'd try #2. At least it will quiet your mind of all the interruptions you are having about what's written. Then you can move forward.
"Every time I hear writers talk about ‘the muse,’ I just want to bitch-slap them. It’s a job. Do your job."
–Nora Roberts
Thought this might help. The woman knows how to get words down on a page.
Jane I love it! I'm generally of that belief but you won't have a job if all you write is crap!
Great post, Pavarti!
My muse sometimes takes a vacation and forgets to invite me along. I figure it's the least she can do…why should I have to sit here and work while she lounges at some sandy beach completely free of worry or care?
In all seriousness, #3 works best for me…which is why I have 3 or more projects in the works at any given time.
Happy writing!
Sharon
OMG Sharon, I'm already schizophrenic with these stories as it is! How do you keep them all straight??
Love the title. Mine isn't a bitch, but she seems to be taking a week off, again. Lazy thing. Sloth more than bitch maybe
I got with three as well. I'm constantly posting for my Picture Prompt Blog and occasionally pumping out other flash fiction or fan fiction for contest. That's fine until one of those extended project, like the sequel to my just published debut novel, sits for more than two weeks with nothing done on it. I'm getting further away from that story… Not Good! Slap you, you lazy bint. Get up here and give me some direction, dammit.
Yeah, I know what you mean.
Mind you, one of WIP sat for a few weeks and now I'm done the first draft and heading back to patch holes. Maybe #1 will work for the sequel as well. Chances are, I'll do what I've done often in Fan Fiction. Now that I have an idea where I'm headed, I'll jump ahead and work back. Get that clear moment out and then fill in what I need to get there. That worked VERY well, twice, in Twisted Fate.
Kim, I'm supposed to know your fanfic name, I know I am… crap, what is it again? Link me?
Actually, I am editing my vampire book, while simultaneously writing the sequel…so it's really like one long story…
A few months ago I started a time travel book, got to chapter 10, and sort of put it on hold while I finish editing said vampire book.(s)
Book number 4, (which is really the first one I wrote – a straight up romance story) is shelved for now, until I finish these others.
Now, if only the voices would leave me alone…
Kimmydonn. Yeah, you might know it. You might not too. I'm prolific but not popular.