#finding a muse

creativity is not an equation

but an exchange with salvation;

a gentle persuasion...

admire to inspire; appreciate, create

I think it was the muses glassy stare and tendency to carry around heads that made them so inspiring, in the old days. (Image Source: Ancient.EU.Com)

In ancient Greece, a muse was a goddess who inspired great works of poetry, literature, music, and science. These muses were considered vessels of knowledge that would impart that knowledge to inspire creation. The mythology around a muse continued to be used by artists, such as Shakespeare, who had a whole series of sonnets dedicated to the muses, calling for inspiration, to modern day film makers like Kevin Smith, who had Salma Hayek playing a muse in the film Dogma who lost her ability to inspire because she left heaven to write for herself.

The concept of the muse continues to be part of modern society because writers, artists, and heck, I’m sure even scientist, still like to be inspired when it comes to their work. While I, as well as other writers in this blog, have always been an advocate of writing on a set schedule, doing research to enhance and encourage writing, and not waiting for inspiration as an excuse to write, I do think that having someone who acts as a muse in your life is a great thing that will help improve your writing and drive your desire to write. Finding a muse doesn’t mean that a scheduled, structured form of writing has to stop existing; instead, having a muse helps fuel your writing sessions with new ideas you can’t wait to get down on the page. Now, Melanie and I often talk about this blog and what posts to write, and we have an established (secret) Facebook group where we confer with our writers on posts and their writing. While Melanie and I often feed off of each other’s ideas and collaborate, collaborations ins’t the same as the inspiration that comes from a muse. Collaboration requires all parties involved imputing ideas and creating a concept while a muse just plants a seed that a writer can nurture and help blossom later, through their writing.

For Melanie, other writers and going to writing conferences often inspire her and help motivate her to write. I, too, find that reading interesting books, quotes about writing, or conferring about writing help get me in the mood to write. But, again, these experiences are different than finding a muse. While other writers and conferences can help you improve your craft through thoughtful tips and bits of advice, a muse’s contribution is found within the concept of the work of art, not the structure or crafting of the concept itself.

For me, a muse is someone that challenges you to think. The more I think and dwell on a subject, the more I want to write about it to synthesize my thoughts and feelings into one coherent body of writing. I do it in school, and, as I’ve found recently, I do it when someone I respect and care for challenges me to think in a new way or consider something I may not have considered before.

So go out there and find your own muse, and remember that inspiration comes in many forms. The best way to improve your writing and avoid writer’s block is to have a set schedule where you write every day, but it never hurt to have a little inspiration while writing.