A Musing

One of my favorite things to learn about authors is their writing method.  I love knowing that each has their own style and method to writing.  It lets me know what there is no right way to write.  The most insistent question burning inside me is:  where do you get your inspiration?

The answer to that question, I realize now, is completely subjective.

Everyone is inspired to write in different ways.  Even my own muse has shifted gears on me over the years.  Inspiration comes and goes.  I have had so many people tell me that I should write every day, make it a habit, instead of waiting for inspiration.  If I always waited for my muse to show up and lead me down the word littered paths of my subconscious, there would be nothing in my notebook.  I stalk that impish muse and force compliance!  Sometimes the writing that results is pure rubbish, and other times it starts out with a tiny phrase and spills from my  brain into my fingertips to create a scene that captures raw imagination.  Even if it is only 500 words.  I save these little jaunts and use them later.  They often prove to be useful fodder for a story down the road.

I have gotten to the point now where when I do get inspiration from somewhere or something, it is a delightful surprise.  I often find little things that I make note of and use later as a writing prompt.  A phrase or an image catches my eye and immediately a story pops into my head!  I love when that happens.  I don’t always have time to write at that moment of inspiration.  But that means when I do have time, I have something to write about.  That is never a bad thing.  🙂  So if something pops out at you, write it down on a napkin or scrap of paper and then use it when you find a few moments to write.

So the next time you are sitting, poised to write, waiting for that elusive muse to just drop the words into your head, do yourself a favor and do not procrastinate any longer.  Just sit down and write.  Your muse may come and lend a hand, or she may just leave you stranded.  The point is, you have to be willing to write with or without her.  Go write my fellow story tellers and lovers of words…..your readers await.

I want to know your thoughts.  Do you wait for the muse, or do you just let the words flow?

Finding Time to Write

I’m a mother of two children.  One is just creeping up on 4 years old and the other is lunging towards 6 months.  I can barely find time to gather my sanity to form a coherent sentence in reply to my husband’s simple questions let alone find time to actually write anything of value.  But therein, as the bard would tell us, lies the rub.  I had myself convinced for years that if I was going to write, then I had to produce something magnificent and poetic every time. 

That my dear friends is a LIE.  Writing every day is merely practice of our craft.  Some days it’s good, some days it’s garbage.  I’m uncovering some garbage from my early days of writing poetry that can be polished and sculpted into a truly unique treasure.  As much as it pains me to read my early work, teenage angst and high school crushes make my eyes inadvertently roll into the back of my skull, I am finding things I can’t believe I wrote.  They truly have the potential to be improved upon. 

So, while I wait for the opportune moments to work on some of my more intricate projects, I will satisfy myself to pursue the practice.  I encourage you all to do the same.  Sit, put fingers to keyboard or pen to paper, and let the words pour from your subconscious.  Do it, you’ll be glad you did.  🙂

Writing Page

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