"I have learned that man can live by bread alone, for at least a month."
How do you bribe your Muse?
Submitted by Sonia on Sat, 06/21/2008 - 10:00.
As a fellow storywriter, I know what's it's like to suddenly lose your creativity. And especially when you have an extremely temperamental Muse. Especially when he stomps his little foot and storms off, right in the middle of a chapter I'm working on, leaving me high and dry.
I know this is a very unusual post, but I'm curious. When he/she (your Muse) does a runner, and flatly refuses to co-operate, how do you bribe him/her?
I'm not normally a chocolate lover, but I find a box of expensive, excellent quality chocolates and a tub of ice cream normally does the trick.
He tends to roll over quietly and let his tummy be tickled.
- Login to post comments
Who's online
There are currently 0 users and 0 guests online.
Recent comments
- I love that you're out there
2 years 3 weeks ago - If anyone is interessed, I
2 years 13 weeks ago - Tainted as it's been by the
3 years 16 weeks ago - So, so sorry to hear that.
3 years 16 weeks ago - To readers of this story I
3 years 19 weeks ago - It had something to do with
3 years 39 weeks ago - That sounds so fun,
3 years 39 weeks ago - Well, I did made the top
3 years 40 weeks ago - Hello Lothere,
Maybe you
3 years 40 weeks ago - Oh, man, I forgot about the
4 years 26 weeks ago
Who's new
- Stephanie
- Lady Dora
- Finn
Usually what I do is to
Submitted by PenelopetheFox on Sat, 06/21/2008 - 13:06.Usually what I do is to back-track in the story. Is there anything that can be changed/manipulated into bringing about a different result? Consider the story from even the most seemingly ridiculous angles- you may come across something.
Reading is also a really good way to spark ideas. I read a lot of poetry for that reason. Something that provides you with image after image and the possibility of multiple readings.
Some people find it useful to go away and think about other things until something finally hits them.
And Verity wrote in another post that she is influenced by music.
Hope that helps!
I walk. I walk 2 miles to
Submitted by Lothere on Sat, 06/21/2008 - 17:09.I walk. I walk 2 miles to work every morning and 2 miles back, for the last year now, and I have had so many of my recent big ideas that way. When the weekend comes I sometimes even get panicky, wondering how I am going to come up with the next chapter if I don't get my morning walk again till Monday.
Taking a shower and cooking/washing dishes also do it for me. If I get stuck on a chapter in the evening, that's usually the cue to make dinner.
Often before I get started on a new chapter, I will go back and reread some chapters featuring those characters to get me in the mood. Sometimes that's enough.
And if I really can't think of an idea, a lot of times I will read poetry. Sometimes I will find an image or idea I like and will try to work it into the chapter. Often by challenging myself like that, trying to think of a way to work it in, the chapter grows up around it kind of as a side effect. Even though sometimes the original image I was trying to work in doesn't make it at all.
In fact, I will add that as a final idea. Before I started writing this story, I used to do writing challenges with a friend. We would take turns proposing writing assignments which were totally arbitrary and weird, but forcing yourself to do it somehow gets the creativity going. Like "Write a short story in which the names of at least five of the months appear." Or "Write a short story that involves a lost key". Something very open-ended but very specific. It works even better with a writing friend but you can do it yourself. It won't necessarily help you with the particular thing you are trying to write, but sometimes that's all it takes to get back on track.
BTW I find bribery doesn't work AT ALL. Indulging myself usually has the opposite effect. Sometimes it takes cold, hard discipline... just sit yourself down and write! Even if it sucks! Which it probably won't, once you get going. And once I've written a chapter I'm so satisfied with myself I don't even need the ice cream.
Good answers and very good
Submitted by Sonia on Sat, 06/21/2008 - 22:34.Good answers and very good tips.
Well, basically, my inspiration had been taking some cold hard knocks recently. What with working practically every day for three months solid. That exhausted me mentally and physically,
Also, having someone to chat to about my story doesn't work either, because it always ends up with the tables being turned and I end up helping her with her story, which defeats the object really.
Our computer is situated in the bedroom, (the only place we could fit it), and with hubby working nights, I'm limited to what I can do, and writing isn't one of them. No good getting pen and paper either as I find that I type ideas faster than I can write them.
Having an unsupportive hubby doesn't help either. As soon as I switch on the computer, he's always demanding attention.
I was really getting going with a beautiful little story called Raven on a Sims forum. But it got caught in a major battle between the site manager and admin. In the end, I left that site and took my unfinished story with me. Only to never touch it again. The ideas are there, but it had been through so much that I guess fear of it getting involved in another feud prevented me from finishing it.
I know these are a long string of excuses, but sometimes you just can't help some events. After a recent health scare, I was forced to take rest and that's when I finally found my inspiration again.
And trust me on the bribery issue. With my puny wages, my muse isn't getting fat off expensive chocolates all the time.
I have to say that usually
Submitted by Verity on Sun, 06/22/2008 - 08:55.I have to say that usually when I get stuck, I get really stuck. If it is a chapter I'm just not that excited about but I know has to be done to get across some information I just can't do it. And for me the only thing that works then is time. I have to just leave my muse alone for a while (it is funny, I never actually thought about it as a muse until I was talking to Sonia the other day... more as my brain and it won't work for peanuts). I find it is the same with my PhD. If I am trying to force my brain to do something, it don't wanna. I get stuck all the time on things and if I can't get anywhere with it I just leave it for a while. Somehow that always unsticks it. I think even when you aren't thinking about something, some subconscious part of your brain is still working away at it (how great is that!) and after a while all of a sudden blam! inspiration!
When I am writing my story and stuck it always happens like this. I leave it for a while, a few days, a week and then suddenly I get some cool idea that will make writing the chapter I was stuck on really fun.
I have to admit a lot of my ideas come in the 10 minutes or so before I go to sleep. My way of getting to sleep now is running through all the characters and thinking about where their storylines are going. Also the walk to work, but it is only 10 minutes so it is not that great. It is more helpful for describing nature in the story. On Lothere's advice I am trying to be more observant of what is going on around me and I think about how I would describe things I see.
But I guess random ideas pop up all the time. I am thinking about this my story on and off for a lot of the day. And reading books and listening to music sometimes helps too. In particular recently reading Steven Eiriksson has really helped me. I am still iffy as to whether I really like his books, they are amazingly written but still I can't quite decide if I like what he is going for in the huge treatises of the world he has invented. It annoys me that he always introduces these cool concepts but doesn't really flesh them out. Anyway, enough rambling, how they helped me is that this guy DESCRIBES. I mean, he just describes every little detail in elaborate, beautiful ways. And after reading two of his books I realised that I don't describe things enough. So I have stared trying to do that more, not as much as he does but a lot more than I did before. So I think reading his books has improved my writing.
Anyways... all this rambling is making me hungry. Need dinner. Bye.
Maybe you could discuss your
Submitted by Lisa on Thu, 06/26/2008 - 07:38.Maybe you could discuss your story with someone who isn't a writer.
I'm sorry I can't suggest anything else that hasn't already been said here because I'm not a writer. My muse was stillborn.