Lately, I’ve been thinking quite about the whole concept of muse and inspiration. I often get asked what my inspiration is. What do I have to have around me when I’m writing? Who, or what, is my muse?
A good cup of coffee and a sound night’s rest?
I usually try to come up with some pithy response so I sound like I know what I’m doing. After all, every author must have a muse, right? And naturally, something inspires them, lights that fire under their buns and compels them to write, write, write.
My current WIP has caused me to research the gestation period of red squirrels, what kind of deer are native to England, how long Scot’s whiskey is aged, harbors in Massachusetts, diseases in the 1800s, how old oak trees can get to be and whether their branches can grow along the ground. I also researched Galloway cattle, what to do if a bull charges you, names of hair and eye color, the Scot’s word for demon (actually a ton of other words too), and how cattle sleep, sit, and lie down. (Er, I might have some cattle in this story.)
Anyway, you get the point, and if I have a muse, I’m betting she’s frustrated as h%ll with the many times I stopping listening to her rattle on and am so brazen as to actually check her ideas for accuracy. Every time I look something up, it’s an interruption.
I can almost hear her gnashing her teeth!
I can almost hear her gnashing her teeth!
Sometimes I just highlight what I want to verify, so I can keep chugging along. That makes her very happy. I also use sticky notes. A lot. Right now there are 29 plastered on my computer and desk. I’ll have those all tidied up and put away by the end of the day, because I work best when things are orderly, and so does my muse whether she knows it or not.
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| My Shabby Chic Writing Room-Don’t think it looks like my creativity is stifled. |
I just read something recently that claimed writers who have neat desks and have nicely organized, decorated writing areas aren’t able to write. Supposedly, it stifles their creativity.
Hogwash and balderdash; what fustian nonsense as my Regency characters would say.
I’m betting those are the same experts who claim people with messy houses are more creative. Sure, they have to be creative—to find the laptop under the pile of laundry or behind the pillows and throws on the sofa, or under the couch.
According to Bloom’s Taxonomy (which, by-the-way has been revised to include a creative level at the very top) only the most intelligent and highest order thinkers require order around them. Aha! And Maslow’sHierarchy of Needs suggests those that reach the transcendence level, need beauty and order to function at their highest potential.
I knew it!
I knew it!
Okay, I hear the snorts and gasps.
I had to learn all about this stuff when I was going to school to be a teacher. It wasn’t any more exciting or believable then, but I share these two philosophies to make a point. I’m of the mind, it doesn’t matter where a writer/author does their thing, what they are surrounded by, or how messy or tidy the environment is if—and this is a BIG IF—it works for them.
I know authors who have to have themed objects around them and certain music playing. Many authors I’m acquainted with require complete silence to work, and still others, can only do serious writing in an office or designated writing place. The authors who amaze are the ones who can write in public places and are able to tune out everything around them. I’m not so good at that.
But, getting back to the whole muse thing.
There were actually nine Greek mousai (muses) and according to my research (yes, I did really look this up) each one was attributed with a specific artistic area related to music, dance, and song. Now, I always thought all art forms were represented by the muses. It seems that isn’t the case, though we’ve come to associate and attribute inspirational creativity to “our” personal muse. Many artists, authors, poets, and so on, actually call upon a muse to help them. I don’t do that, nor will I be starting that practice.
If you can write surrounded by piles of dirty laundry and dishes—fabulous. If a subway, bus, or spiffy little coffee shop is where your fingers fly across the keyboard, well then, that’s where you should write.
My desk may be piled with notes as I work, but when I’m done creating for the day, I’ll tuck everything away so I have tidy office tomorrow to sit down in and write.
Happy writing!
