Forum: Author Hangout

I was curious. Like many here, I'm often unable to sleep when new story threads begin percolating and I'm driven to rise to commit a few to the page, so I won't forget them all, but it drove me to consider who it is that actually drives us so relentless.

If we're lucky, it might be a specific loved one, who inspires our creativity. But baring that, how to you perceive and personify your creativity? Is you muse male, female, or ambisexual, or does that vary between your full-on stroke and non-sexual stories? Is it one person, or many? Is it a specific character who pummels you to write, day after day? If so, do the other characters get a vote? Is it the protagonist, the love interest, or does someone else sneak in and present alternatives ideas. Say, for example, why wouldn't the antagonist suggest alternatives endings: 'Do I really need to die?', 'How about you let me win this one battle?', or even 'You know, I'd make the perfect anti-hero in my own yarn. What'll it take for you to finally take me seriously?'.

So, who's your muse? Do they always present the same way? Do they change their appeal? Is their siren's call different at the beginning of the book than the middle or end? And the eternal question, what happens when they fall silent? Does that wake you up in the middle of the night? Do your other muses take up the call, filling in for their missing kindred, or do you simply ignore the story, waiting for her eventual call, rousing you from your creative slumbers?

Muse??? I wish I had one.

Well, since no one else is speaking up: in my case, I imagine my muse as being a young, enthusiastic woman, who continually prods me, telling me how eager she is too see my latest attempts, whispering suggestive things (about the sexy plot) in my ear in a seductive tone, when all I want to do is roll over and finally go to sleep.

However, she's persistent, as always. What's more, she knows precisely how I think, and realizes that creativity comes in waves, and that if I don't strike while the iron is hot, it'll easily take thrice as long to get the story going again if I let it sit for too long.

Physically, I'd describe her as an ancient Greek, with just enough of a (ancient) Greek accent when she whispers to me in broken English, her toga sloughing off as she leans over me, prodding me with her hip, beasts, hands and soft, minty breath (after all, she chews peppermint twigs).

Update: It turns out, your muse can vary from story to story. As I said, she's normally a cute little vixen who's currently prodding me as I'm trying to sleep, whispering sweet little things she'd love to 'do to my story'.

But today I'm getting close to wrapping up my latest story, and it's getting dark (i.e. death, destruction and mortality), and my muse wouldn't let me sleep a wink, waking me up five separate times until I finally gave up.

But this time his voice was a deep, calming and comforting, like the classic television news anchor from the 1950s (USA), who's detailing the latest riot with a rich, solemn voice you sense you can trust. Cranked out a full chapter, titled the next two and looked up 4 separate epigraphs.

That just shows, once you give life to your muse, they go crazy, becoming a little power mad! ;)