Sunday 6 May 2012

The Inconvenient Muse

Writers often struggle with that slippery customer, writer's muse. Mostly the problem is in pinning it down. Well, I have been hard at work trying to put down the first three chapters of my Passions book. I call it that after the name of the contest Mills and Boon India hosted and also because it is that for me...a passion. Though the amount of mental and even more psychological energy being expended - in seesawing the ever threatening question of Will It Be - makes for the more appropriate term 'obsession'. Anyway, to get back to the point, during this I have discovered how inconvenient my Muse has become. After wasting away precious keyboard minutes in jabbing away words I know can't be exciting to the reader since they sound flat to me, I give up and go start on lunch. Only to find that suddenly the situation I was head banging is crystal clear, the hero who had been mouthing dialogues like my recalcitrant son at lunch when he doesn't get his favourite meal, is now really talking as though he means it, all in my head, the heroine is whizzing away on her emotional stream, a stream made up of perfectly tailored words. Maybe it's because the stress of thinking is gone or that having your hands busy allows your mind to wander off on its own path. But the problem is, instead of tapping keys, my fingers are closed around the spatula. How tough it is only if you're a writer you can imagine! Out of desperation, I grab the nearest thing, my phone and starting qwertying the lines, only they've faded a little and takes me a bit of thinking to remember, what did he say after she said this?oh bother! And then the ominous sound of sizzling vegetables reminding me of where I am. Scratch the typing, I have a family to feed and a charred meal will not make for happy smiles.
Ah such are the trails of an inconvenient muse!


What about you? Do you wrestle with this inconsistent entity? Have you ever thought of the perfect scene then not remember a word when you started to type? Do share your thoughts, I'd love to know!

Have a great week! :)

12 comments:

  1. Yes, yes, yes! It's so frustrating when the muse visits at an inconvenient time.

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    1. Don't you wish you could set it a timetable? :) Thanks for visiting, Libby.

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  2. LOL - been there, Ruchita! My muse likes to torment me and will give me the perfect story line, usually when I'm in no fit state to write it down. And if I don't write it down... kablam it's gone!

    Good luck with wrestling that muse of yours. Try tempting her with a little chocolate, now and then ;)

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    1. Mmm, good idea Xandra, even if it doesn't help the muse, at least I get my sweet tooth appeased!

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  3. LOL...I'm glad I'm not the only one with a muse at work at the most inconvenient of times. There are some places you can't take a notepad. ;)

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    1. Very true, Kiru are you thinking of the bathroom? Ha ha. A relaxing shower certainly gets the grey cells working actively :)

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  4. It's frustrating when the muse won't play ball when you're sitting, fingers poised over the keyboard but waving its hands in the air when you're standing in the school playground or sitting on the bus. Ah well, it would be worse if they didn't visit at all now wouldn't it :)

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    1. That's a look on the brighter side, Jorja! Thanks for commenting :)

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  5. I know that feeling well! I usually think of the perfect lines when there's nowhere to jot them down - then they've completely gone when I get the pen out!

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    1. We could do with a stop/start button, couldn't we ;)

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  6. Hi Ruchita

    Yes yes yes! I have this same problem too! I'll be laying in bed, just dozing off to sleep and my mind is suddenly jam packed with fantastic ideas, fluidly flowing sentences which sound absolutely amazing. I often do what you mentioned, reach for the phone and get typing, but often can't remember the exact perfection that was just in my head! VERY frustrating!

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    1. I guess it's when we get totally relaxed that the creative side springs out like a Jack-in-the-box Pionggg!!! This is my complaint too Samantha. Hope you get inspired and all the best on jotting down even better words when you are awake! Thanks for visiting :)

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