Taming the Muse
For most writers I know, the muse is a loved enemy, a hated friend, an enigma. Just when you need inspiration—say, at the eleventh hour of a deadline— the muse is nowhere near. And when you least need it—say, at the eleventh hour at night— it’s present and shouting. But what if I told you that you can actually train the muse to show up when you need it to? I discovered this out of necessity, and it changed my life.
For a long time, I abided by the philosophy that the muse was the writer’s master. If it showed up, you went to work because you never knew when, or if, it would show up again. Without it, I felt my work was subpar, unenlightened. With it, I was gifted. As a result, my whole confidence as a writer was based on how often I felt inspired. Dry spells were not only dry, they were crippling and spun me into identity crises. I know a lot of writers and artists who follow this philosophy still.
As my business grew, so did my production. I received more assignments, I had more deadlines, and more words needed writing. I couldn’t wait for the muse, I needed the muse to arrive dressed, on time, and ready for work. Eventually, with time and practice, I discovered a few tips that helped me tame the muse.
Show Up. If you don’t show up for the work, why should the muse? Get up, get ready, and get to work.
Cultivate an Inspiring Work Place. For me, this means going Hemingway with a clean, well-lit space and a cup of coffee. I know others who prefer the Harry Potter route with a closet under the stairs and a door that swings closed on distractions. Maybe a change of space is what you need today. Check out a new coffee shop, the library, a shared workplace, or simply take your laptop to a different corner of the building.
Use Your Senses. We humans are very habitual creatures. In this case, utilizing habits that stimulate our senses can help train the muse to show up when needed. For example, I nearly always turn on the same playlist when I sit down to write. I know all the songs backwards and forwards by now but this helps because I’m not distracted by the melodies or words. There are lots of benefits to writing with music, one of them being that listening to songs on repeat can increase focus. But most importantly, the habit of listening to the same playlist calls the muse like Pavlov’s dog; it cues both writer and muse to the fact that it’s time to settle in and get to work.
In a similar fashion, coffee helps me get in the proper mindset. There’s a mindless ritual to making coffee—the filter, the grounds, the water, the cup. And so while my hands are busy, I focus my thoughts on the writing ahead. I start to plan my outline, turn ideas around, and brainstorm angles. By the time I sit at my laptop with my coffee, I usually have an idea of where to start. For some reason, using the same cup is helpful to me. Somehow, I’ve created the idea that the person who uses that cup is a good writer. So pairing the cup with the task allows me to be the writer I envision. (I realize this is superstitious of me but let’s not jinx it.)
Plus, coffee is supposed to help the mind focus… I’m sure a scientist somewhere can tell you whether that’s true or not and why. But pseudo or real, coffee helps. Maybe you have similar tricks. Whether they stray into the superstitious or are grounded in fact, leverage them to work in your favor.
Read. Every writer has an arsenal of go-to words, their well-worn favorites. But if not updated regularly, this can lead to overused and mind-numbing prose. Reading helps me encounter words in new ways, reminds me of words I’ve forgotten, and challenges me to use language more skillfully. Each morning, I aim to read something unrelated to work for ten-thirty minutes before I write. Read widely—a news article, a few pages of fiction, the Bible, or poetry. Reading is the fodder for writing, and it gives the muse something to work with. And before you fret about how to find time to do all this reading, remember Stephen King’s warning, “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”
Start Writing. Postponing your writing until you feel inspired often works against you—you might have to wait longer than you think and even then, you’re still facing a blank page. But sitting down and expecting the muse to show up has much better odds. You might have to get started on your own but as Madeleine L’Engle said, the muse usually saunters in as the writing gets under way. And even if it doesn’t appear, keep writing. Because at least then you will have a few sentences to work with.
The muse is not the writer’s master. It was never meant to be. Rather the writer is the curator of the muse. The more we learn how to encourage and enable it to grow, the better our writing will become. And I have an inkling that in the process, we will learn how to be more generous and more creative writers.
