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Muse-ing
By Tess | May 8, 2008
One friend and fellow blogger has remarked a few times recently that the muse of originality doesn’t always visit these days. I’m sure we all have times (I know I do) when what we write feels turgid and recycled, or when we are unable to write anything at all.
The dictionary has muse as “the source of an artist’s inspiration”. Also “to be absorbed in one’s thoughts; to engage in meditation”.
And of course there are the Muses of Greek mythology. I was interested to read that the three original Muses were called Aoide (Song), Melete (Practice) and Mneme (Memory). Or alternatively Nete, Mese and Hypate, the names of the three chords of the lyre.
Perhaps this gives us a clue that to free ourselves up for inspiration, the various strands of our lives must link together in some way, whether in joy, pain or laughter, for the muse to inspire us.
This fits for me. Inspiration comes easier when I’m fully engaged in life: reading books, blogs, talking to friends, meditating, praying, writing, laughing, getting outdoors, experimenting with visual arts, working, learning. When everything is in balance.
But even then there are often times when that damn muse has packed her bags and gone on a trip and to write anything is a slog!
Which is when we have to unpack one of the most important tools in a writer’s kit: the shitty first draft.
At that phrase many of you will have smiled and breathed the name of the Goddess, Anne Lamott. For the uninitiated, Ms Lamott is a great writer who teaches others to become great writers. In her book Bird by Bird, Some Instructions on Writing and Life, she has an entire chapter called Shitty First Draft. This is part of what she says:
The first draft is the child’s draft, where you let it all pour out and then let it romp all over the place, knowing that no one is going to see it and that you can shape it later… If the kid wants to get into really sentimental, weepy, emotional territory, you let him. Just get it all down on paper, because there may be something great in those six crazy pages that you would never have gotten to by more rational grown-up means. There may be something in the very last line of the very last paragraph on page six that you just love, that is so beautiful or wild that you now know what you’re supposed to be writing about… but there was no way to get to this without first getting through the first five and a half pages.
So it seems the muse can arrive backwards, during the process of writing, discerning, re-writing and polishing.
But for regular and fairly frequent bloggers, going through all those drafts is very time-consuming. We’re not writing novels.
I’d be very interested to hear how others invite the muse to visit their blog writing. How much is technique, how much inspiration, how much bloody hard work?
Photograph by **Maurice**
Topics: Blogging |
May 8th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
Tess,
Great post, thanks. For me, the muse can sometimes “arrive backwards” as you say, and a post or a poem becomes something quite other than what I started to write, something quite surprising and much better than I would have written.
Your noting that we aren’t writing novels got me thinking again about something I’ve pondered before. That is that I wonder sometimes how regular blogging changes and impacts one’s writing in other venues, since this medium really has its own sort of dynamics quite different than the solitary pursuit of poem, novel, short story, etc. Perhaps it might be most akin to a regular opinion column in a newspaper, (Does anybody remember newspapers?
but even that doesn’t quite compare. I wonder sometimes if the unique dynamics of blogging are making me a better writer or a worse one overall. Well, we shall see, I guess….
As to how I invite the muse, well I am really at a loss to answer. I just sort of stumble along and hope that something somewhere will “hit” me in such a way that I want to write about it. I don’t really have a method other than that. Very “inefficient.”
Again, thanks for this excellent post that got me thinking. You know I am always up for that.
Cheers
May 9th, 2008 at 6:51 am
I do as HM does, really - either get a flicker of an idea and write as I go, which I just LOVE doing, or else sit down with no idea of what to write, and something comes out, which I just LOVE doing, or sit down to write and I have some form of writerly constipation and nothing comes out at all. Or sometimes I just don’t sit down and write at all. Or I sit down and write and copious amounts of diarrhea comes out and I get one worthwhile bit worth using. Or like Hudson mentioned, I sit down to write one thing and then another thing comes out - which is either exhilarating or bloody annoying, depending on what mood I’m in.
May 9th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
I find that I write best on the topics that make me want to get on a box and shout! Sometimes I see a press clipping, sometimes I overhear a conversation. Sometimes I sit down and ask for inspiration. Other times, I stop expecting so much of myself and just write about whatever seems simple and true to me at the time.
If I’m not inspired, I don’t write. I couldn’t just write to fill the space - sometimes, though, that feels like exactly what I’m doing!
I guess I don’t know
May 9th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Great post Tess, I agree with much of what has been said. Some days I sit down to write something and the exact thing flows onto the page, other days I sit down and have no idea what I will say, but somehow manage to put some ideas together. I love the process of discovery through writing — those moments when I had no idea where I was going and suddenly I see something in a new way.
As for the muse, she seems most vigorous when I am well-rested, well-nourished, and well-balanced. When I am overtired and not feeling well it is hard for me to feel inspired or to even try and tap into the well. Those days I know I am better off taking a nap.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
so many wonderful comments in response to this great post. i wonder along with hudson as to whether or not blogging makes me a “better writer or a worse one”. one thing it does do is give me the regular venue of putting my words somewhere where others can see them and respond (or not). my blog tag line is “i write to discover what i know” and that continues to hold true for me. usually my posts are inspired by thoughts that have been stirring around in my brain for a few days. often there is some catalyst (perhaps another’s words or maybe ‘the muse’) that sends me to the page where i can see how all the stirrings will come together. most often, i start by writing my morning pages (designed by that other great muse, julia cameron…i love ‘bird by bird’
)and i will see a theme appear and then i put a little more structure to it before i hit “publish.”
i am inspired by the world around me, books, music, conversation, nature, past and present events. for me, seeing or hearing ‘the muse’ involves remaining open to what is right in front of me each moment
May 10th, 2008 at 11:04 am
Green Witch, welcome and thanks for commenting. And thanks to all of you for these thoughtful and interesting comments. I like Hudson’s phrase “stumbling along” and Lucy, yes I’ve always had a fellow feeling for your blog’s tag line.
May 10th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
My blog is something of a spiritual journal and the things that I write usually come from notes I have made in my morning meditation. In that sense, things usually flow. However, there are times when I write in the style that Green Witch talks about - those times when I really want to stand on a soapbox and rant! I try not to write for the sake of it and I also try to write from spirit, not ego.
I’m glad I’ve found your blog - I love it!
May 11th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Andy, good to ‘meet’ you here and I’m glad you commented. Spirit, not ego, hmmm, I think you’ve put your finger on an important distinction there. One I know I have trouble with sometimes! (Often??)
May 13th, 2008 at 2:14 am
I love the post, the PHOTO, the comments. Have read Lamott’s Bird by Bird a couple of times and in the same vein recently enjoyed Annie Dillard’s, The Writing Life. I’ve been visiting your site every day since 5/4 and kept wondering, “where’s Tess?” and today I’m having to catch up with 3 posts - how did I miss that?:)
I’m having a little luck these days with not trying to produce every day and then all of sudden, I have lots to say - so we can blame it on the muse or just blame it on me.
I do agree that reading, writing, music, conversation, and MOVIES, I’ve discovered MOVIES again, are expanding my thoughts a great bit. Nothing profound - it just seems that the act of sort of doing “nothing” in front of the Netflix movie of the week feels refreshing and inspirational.
Again, late comment, but great post! And btw, I’m believing more n more in the s first draft thing:)
xoxox