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Just an exploratory question and discussion...

I've read about alot of different takes on the Muse and just thought a discussion would be fun.

Some things I'd like to talk about...

Do you believe in Muses?
Do you have a Muse?
Do you have different Muses for different types of writing?
Is the character you're focused on your "Muse" for that work?
What does your Muse look like?
Does your Muse have an attitude?
What strange Muse stories have you heard?

And anything else Muse-ish you can think of!

Happy Musing!

I don't have a Muse!!! I don't know what it looks like or feels like.
My stories just write themselves inside my head and make me feel like a crazy person talking to myself all the time.
I totally talk to myself all the time, especially when I first wake up in the morning while getting ready for my day. That's when all the images are fresh, after sleeping.
I just finished writing a book last week. It was insane, but at least I got it out of my head. Whew. It wouldn't go away otherwise.

Not of course as an actual entity, spiritual or supernatural or whatever. That's bunk.

However if you have a psychological "muse" as a helper to get you to write better, that's perfectly valid and you can "pretend" to yourself that there's an actual muse out there who's encouraging you, if that works as an incentive.

I like the way Stephen King talkes about it.
In a way, if you believe you have a Muse, you do.
The mind is a powerful thing.
I've heard alot of authors talk about their Muses and am fascinated by the concept.
The way that Laurell K. Hamilton talks about her characters is Muse like.
I like the idea of having a Muse...

ALynnPowers wrote:I don't have a Muse!!! I don't know what it looks like or feels like.
My stories just write themselves inside my head and make me feel like a crazy person talking to myself all the time.
I totally talk to myself all the time, especially when I first wake up in the morning while getting ready for my day. That's when all the images are fresh, after sleeping.
I just finished writing a book last week. It was insane, but at least I got it out of my head. Whew. It wouldn't go away otherwise.

Have you ever thought of actively creating one?
Also...have you ever read Stephen King's On Writing?

Grave, your muse should tell you that "a lot" is 2 words, ha ha.

And I recommend King's book "On Writing" -- it's excellent.

A "muse" only works if you want it to. If you don't believe in the concept of a helpful but non-existent muse, fine. If "believing" in such (even if the muse is a psychological creation only) then be my ghost, er, guest.

Myself, I don't need such. I write because I love to write and it's "what I do" for a living. Of course, back when I worked for a paper or when I was writing engineering specs and other highly technical documents, my "muse" was the darned deadline and my boss asking me "When will you be finished?" and that "muse" worked just fine!

Stuff that has accumulated in my subconscious. No gorgeous statues or loved ones. Just the dirt in the back of my mind.

Interesting that over the past couple of days, my "subconscious muse" has started to tug at my conscious mind.

I finished my 3rd private detective novel in the series in March and after seeming endless tweaking and proofreading and revisions, I actually "finished finished" the book in September.

I've been busy with other writing (book reviews, an essay, an invention I thought up) as well as my girlfriend & I enjoying my birthday and her birthday, a sort of long-running "blend" of b-days that allowed us plenty of fun time.

But nothing extant on my 4th novel, until about 3 days ago, I started to "think" about what the subject would be, and how it might begin, and the major themes and plot lines to take. Last night I jotted those into my "ideas" document and they're now cooking in my fevered brain.

So I suppose that my "muse" (albeit imaginary) is working just fine.

Muses can be people who inspire as well.
I'm really curious as to what people think of this.

I am not a writer, nor do I wish to be, and I just write book reviews. I don't have a Muse so to speak which inspires me, but I need a muse to write those reviews if you understand my meaning.

-- October 16th, 2014, 1:57 pm --

Happy birthday to you and your girlfriend, @moderntimes.

I was just thinking of a "muse" as a thing (er.... could me a person, place, thing, or idea, I guess, so technically it's just some noun, haha) that inspires you or brings about your creativity. Maybe I have it in there somewhere.

WAIT! I thought of something! It's kind of morbid, but it exists. So about eight years ago, my mom died from leukemia while I was in my first year at a new university program. So I had just moved and I didn't have any friends around me to talk about it with, and it just really sucked all around. After that, I got really inspired to write, and I've been writing ever since. I wonder if her death is my muse? Eep... totally morbid!! Sorry!

ALynnPowers wrote:I was just thinking of a "muse" as a thing (er.... could me a person, place, thing, or idea, I guess, so technically it's just some noun, haha) that inspires you or brings about your creativity. Maybe I have it in there somewhere.

WAIT! I thought of something! It's kind of morbid, but it exists. So about eight years ago, my mom died from leukemia while I was in my first year at a new university program. So I had just moved and I didn't have any friends around me to talk about it with, and it just really sucked all around. After that, I got really inspired to write, and I've been writing ever since. I wonder if her death is my muse? Eep... totally morbid!! Sorry!

I don't think that's morbid...
Pain can be incredibly inspiring.
Honestly I think of the word muse as inspiration but also the typical personification.
Why not choose to believe?
Who does it hurt?

ALynnPowers wrote:I was just thinking of a "muse" as a thing (er.... could me a person, place, thing, or idea, I guess, so technically it's just some noun, haha) that inspires you or brings about your creativity. Maybe I have it in there somewhere.

WAIT! I thought of something! It's kind of morbid, but it exists. So about eight years ago, my mom died from leukemia while I was in my first year at a new university program. So I had just moved and I didn't have any friends around me to talk about it with, and it just really sucked all around. After that, I got really inspired to write, and I've been writing ever since. I wonder if her death is my muse? Eep... totally morbid!! Sorry!

I don't think that's morbid as well, but it is sad. My condolences.

Thanks, gali, and as someone who writes maybe 6-8 book reviews a month, I know what you mean about a muse to write them for you, ha ha.

Maybe like the shoemaker we could get the elves to do it?

I'm a mystery novelist (modern American private detective novels) and a big mystery fan, and I write reviews for a mystery e-zine and have been doing so for several years. And as you well know, sometimes a book drops on your "desk" that you aren't too keen on reading much past chapter 1. Awful.

I try to give the author a fair shake and try to read at least 1/3 of the book however bad it is, and just because the book isn't in my fave type of genre (I HATE "cozy" mysteries -- Agatha Christie type) I try to be as fair as possible. Occasionally a book is egregious and then I just put it up on the back fence and take potshots at it, writing a sarcastic review. I'm tempted to take it to the range and use it for target practice, too (I'm a pretty good pistol shot). But the shots I take are only figurative. Oh, well.

moderntimes wrote:Thanks, gali, and as someone who writes maybe 6-8 book reviews a month, I know what you mean about a muse to write them for you, ha ha.

Maybe like the shoemaker we could get the elves to do it?

I'm a mystery novelist (modern American private detective novels) and a big mystery fan, and I write reviews for a mystery e-zine and have been doing so for several years. And as you well know, sometimes a book drops on your "desk" that you aren't too keen on reading much past chapter 1. Awful.

I try to give the author a fair shake and try to read at least 1/3 of the book however bad it is, and just because the book isn't in my fave type of genre (I HATE "cozy" mysteries -- Agatha Christie type) I try to be as fair as possible. Occasionally a book is egregious and then I just put it up on the back fence and take potshots at it, writing a sarcastic review. I'm tempted to take it to the range and use it for target practice, too (I'm a pretty good pistol shot). But the shots I take are only figurative. Oh, well.

Exactly!

I love all kinds of mysteries and read other genres as well. I pick my books, and especially books for review, with great care.

I don't have that luxury, as my editor sends me a box of books per month and aside from their all being mysteries, I've got no real control on their merits ahead of time. But of course, not just good books need a review -- anything that's published should get a couple of reads and reviews, so that others might better judge whether to buy.