MUSES

When I hear the word muse, I think of painters with naked models spread before them. But what about writers, can we have muses? Damn straight! Without them, we would struggle with that next chapter, or getting our characters to reveal their deepest darkest secrets.

Some writers use music to unlock their creative juices or a special writing space, while others need a special author’s work: poetry or a favorite story. Others need all of those things and more.

I used to snub my nose at writing for less than two hours at a time. I needed time to create, but it turned out to be a poor excuse. With practice, I learned to write in fifteen and thirty minutes before  rushing to work. Below are muses I use to get my creativity flowing before I sit down to write so I'm off and running when my fingers hit the keyboard: 

Music: It drowns out the non-writing thoughts that try to invade my writing time and creates a mind mood for the scenes I’m writing.

Characters: I get them talking before I writing their next scene.

Story: I brainstorm the scene I plan to write or the story as a whole, whether it’s flushing out a scene I’ve written or one that I’m struggling with. I ask what if’s and why’s before I start to write.

There are many muses, the trick is to find what will help you get past your writer’s block, get a closed mouth character to spill their guts or help you find the solution to the problems in your story.

So ladies, what muses help you get past those humps in your work, other than photos of half naked men? (Although those helps too).