What have you done for me lately? | S y l v i a D a y

May 1st, 2005

Posts in Series for Renee Luke

We all know the words to this song. Thank you Janet J. We’ve probably asked it before, a time or two, of our spouses, friends, family, critique partners, agents, editors. Those in our lives who we expect something from. But I’ve been thinking about a different sort of question recently, and how I can use it to make thing better for me.

What have I done for myself?

And the answer, I’m afraid, is shamefully very little.

I’ve been rather lazy with my writing recently. I keep thinking that inspiration is going to strike. That my muse will take over, spilling the words effortlessly onto the page, beautiful and flowing. That the words she weaves will create a story readers will be unable to put down, and hell, one I will be unable to stop typing. But as the days go by and my muse doesn’t well, muse, I find myself feeling frustrated and angry. And lazy.:mad:

Should my muse control me? Control my writing regardless of deadlines? Control my productiveness? My laziness?

Or, should I control her?

Should I search deep inside and say,”Look here, wench, I’m the boss of this writing. I rule the roost. I’m queen of my creativity.” I’ve decided to wrestle her into cooperation, to do my bidding, to write when I say she’s going to. Whips, chains. The cold hard steel of handcuffs. Look-out:!: I’m tying my muse down and making her write when I say so, not when the *B* thinks she’s good and ready. Which could be never if I don’t take command.

What happens for me is that she’s moody at first, irritated by being forced. The words are choppy and ugle and in desperate need of editing, hell, of deleting. But, as I force her onto the third and fourth page, as I make her keep going, make the words keep coming, she gets into the rhythm, the flow, the tempo, the beat. Look out, my muse got her groove on. Sizzle, she’s smokin’.

So, I’m wondering how you all control your muses. Or do they control you and your writing time?

Ask your muse, “What have you done for me lately?”

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This entry was posted on Sunday, May 1st, 2005 at 10:29 am and is filed under Guest Musings, by RENEE LUKE. You can feed this entry. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

6 comments to “What have you done for me lately?”

I have to inspire my muse sometimes. Re-reading an old favorite or watching a great movie.

Other times I have to beat her at her own game. “You’re not talking to me? Fine! I’m not talking to you either. I’m going shopping or out to eat or to a friend’s house.” Then she’ll get worried that I’m not coming back and she’ll be nice again and ask me to play.
by Sylvia May 1st, 2005 at 12:40 pm
I’ve learned to give the muse a tad more control. In the other parts of my life, I am anal, organized and linear. But when I try to force my characters to perform the scenes in order, they sometimes refuse to play at all. When I tried to remain in command, they stopped speaking at all and I found myself revising the same old sentence for the 100th time. But open a new file and write the scene they want to perform (even if it’s the last scene) and suddenly they are willing to cooperate with the others. I’m interested Renee, how often do you write chapter 5 before you write chapter 2?:?::?::?:
by Pigtails May 1st, 2005 at 1:41 pm
I bribe mine :roll:. Seriously, we have a deal going… She hangs out and might or might not help me with the words and pages, that always depends on too many other factors (kids, noise, what kind of day its been, whats going on career-wise) but I do my part and sit down here to write. Alot of the time, I figure it’s pure garbage but keep pushing to hit my page count. And honestly, I think she goes in after I’ve shut down and fixes the mess, because most often when I go back and read what I thought was garbage… its not.

But the deal is, I sit down to write and get some pages, and I get bribes. It might be a movie, a chat session with friends or some downtime doing something else like scrapbooking - but it seems to work.

We won’t talk about the times I don’t keep my end of it and blow off the ’sitting down to write’ part

Tawny
by Tawny May 1st, 2005 at 1:48 pm
Like NEVER, Pigtails. I just can’t. I see things in a very linear fashion. Even when I know what’s coming in a book, I don’t always know how I’m going to get there. If I write ahead, I tend to have to rewrite too many times.:sad:

For me, it’s straight shot through the book, complete draft on the first run–minus a little editing. My CP is very different. :idea:She can write what’s talking to her throughout the manuscript while I always must start at the beginning.

Once I had an ending in my head and I wrote 400 pages just so I could get there.
by Renee Luke May 1st, 2005 at 1:52 pm
I guess with me the muse and I try to have 50/50 control. Somedays she has 51% percent or vice versa. I think my problem is actually getting her to cooperate so that I can write.

I get so easily distracted from writing when I’m sitting there doing it. An email will come in or someone will instant message me, and I’ll totally lose where I was. Lately, I’ve helped my muse along a little by shutting off the instant messenger and email program when I’m writing. It has been helping some. The muse isn’t so easily distacted.

As for the writing itself, the muse likes to bounce around, giving me scenes out of order at times. Other times we do a straight shot from beginning to end, but this seems to be only with the shorter stories. When it comes to trying to write something long the muse gives me ideas form everywhere and anywhere at anytime. As long as she gives me something to work with though I’m happy.
by Gina May 1st, 2005 at 3:36 pm
My muse is tough and moody. If I start a new story, she’s right there, whispering non-stop, no interruption. And I write for hours, sometimes all through the night. By the second or third chapter, I need CPsÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ comments. I edit and edit forever. But my poor muse disappears for days, weeks and sometimes months. To bring her back, I read, take long walk on the beach, daydream my plot, change and re-change it in my head, then I sit on my computer, and read my own work. And suddenly sheÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s there. I hold on her and write my story straight to the end. No editing, no interruption, day and night.
by Mona May 1st, 2005 at 6:48 pm