Imagine for a moment that someone offers you the job that you’ve always dreamed of. But there’s a catch – you’ll have to work closely with someone else in the role. In fact, you’ll be job-sharing with this person. You start asking around about this other person, and discover that she doesn’t show up for meetings, but pops […]
Muse
Managing the Muse
I wake for some unknown reason in the early, still-dark morning. A quick glance at the clock reveals that it’s 5am, so I settle back into bed, willing myself to sleep. I want and need those next two hours of slumber. As I try to resume where I left off, an idea for a blog post pops into […]
Battling Distraction When Writing
Remember the talking dogs in the Pixar movie “Up?” If you haven’t seen it, the dogs are outfitted with a device that translates their thoughts and barks into human language so we can hear what’s going on in their heads, to great comic effect. One running joke is that whenever a squirrel is nearby, every other thought vanishes. All of […]
Where Do You Go for Inspiration?
Tracking Your Muse’s Favorite Hangouts What are you doing when the ideas start flowing in your brain? Where do new insights strike? When you sit down and the writing is fluid and productive, where have you been in the hours and days preceding? Those are the places that your Muse thrives. The Muse is a short-hand label for those […]
What Inspires Your Writing?
Getting To Know Your Muse Inspiration may appear in dreams. New ideas or complete phrases might pop into your head when you’re doing the dishes. Or, you’ll be in the shower when you suddenly think of a wonderful approach for something you’re writing. Our best ideas seem to come from places beyond our intentional control. That’s probably why the Greeks personified inspiration in the […]