Sunday, August 29, 2010

Motivation and Muse

Have you ever noticed that your muse tends to pop up at interesting times? By interesting I mean those times when there's so much else going on in life that little time remains to write?

I'm having one of those moments. I am not a writer who can write on demand. In some ways I work well with a deadline instead of an open stretch of time before me, but even a deadline can't force the words to come. I think it has more to do with motivation than an actual time frame. If I'm motivated and the muse is flowing, I tend to get a lot done. If there's no motivation and no muse, everything grinds to a standstill. Sometimes for days. Sometimes for weeks.

I'll be honest. I haven't touched my WIP in weeks. I've taken out my laptop and looked at it. Maybe tweaked a few things here and there. But I haven't really accomplished anything in a moving forward kind of way. So yesterday I made myself take a look at it again. The scene I'm on is being a real stickler. But then, an idea came to mind for a scene a little further on in the story. So I skipped ahead. And now the ideas are flowing. That finicky little muse has made itself heard.

Trouble is I have a busy day today. I can't be at my computer all day. And I've started working again, so the long leisurely weekdays of summer, when I could sit on the porch and write to my heart's content all day long, are gone. The week ahead is busy. But I'll sneak some writing in somehow. I'll carry a notebook with me and scribble if I have even five minutes to spare in the midst of real life. And hopefully my muse won't disappear.

I have the muse. I have the motivation. Now if only I had the time. And on that note, I'll be signing off. My muse is calling.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

5 comments:

N. R. Williams said...

I too posted about the muse this week. My muse changes to match whatever character I am currently working on and yes, motivation is the key. I have learned that others expecting me to produce something for them to read is one of the best motivating factors out there.
Nancy
N. R. Williams, fantasy author

Debra St. John said...

Hi Nancy, Yes, being accountable to someone else sure can be a motivating factor.

Deb Larson said...

I'm glad you found your muse. I too have been over-booked with real life issues that keep interfering with writing time.
I'm trying to squeeze moments here and there as well.
So is the life of a writer!! I still love it ~
DL Larson

Morgan Mandel said...

Time has a way of threatening a muse.

Morgan Mandel
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com

Franklin Beaumont said...

For some reason my muse always seems to appear when I'm nowhere near a computer, and I've left my notepad at home. Sometimes I think it doesn't want to be caught.