No More Muse by Julie Butcher

Ah-ha! It Isn’t a Muse

You know when you get the moment where all the things squirreling around you brain go flash and the story comes together? It’s not a Muse. There’s no magic fairy that whaps you on the head to give you ideas. Your brain isn’t different from anyone else’s brain. You figure out plot and characters using the same building blocks in your mind that drive your car.

Sorry, Snowflake. You’re not SPESHUL.

Frankly, I’m sick and tired of the “Waiting on the Muse” excuse. Once I discovered that my Muse went wandering off about the same time Castle came on…I realized that the Booger Monster of Lazy was jumping up to block my thoughts.

Let’s get this straight kid, once and for all. THERE IS NO MUSE.

If you want to be a full-time writer, you write full-time. You sit, and you type, and you figure out ALL OF THE THINGS. Then you do it again and again until people want to read it. No one can make you write and succeed—except you. No one can make you lose your imaginary muse but your own lazy self.  Got it? Good.

Now let’s look at what’s been discovered about the creative side of your brain. Go read these articles because I know that right now, you do not believe me one little bit. I’ll wait.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1147152,00.html

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/129/rewiring-the-creative-mind.html

What it boils down to is this. Once your mind is stuck, it needs new stimuli to unstuck itself. No one knows exactly what or why. But newness will jerk your brain out of a familiar rut and back onto your story. How many people have told you to take a shower or a walk? This is because it freaking works.

Do something different. Stand on your head or hide in a dark closet. Try a new food or walk around the block. If you’re writing kids, go to the mall and watch some for a half-hour. Move your desk to face another direction. Hang a different poster on the wall.

I swear to God, I turned my chair to face the other way and thought up an entire new series.

The possibilities of changing your stimuli are endless and free. Just like your imagination, okay? You can do this, guys. Now, go move your chair.

And no more Muse.