Missing Muse

/ September 5, 2017

Missing Musemissing muse

My writing muse has been missing in action for a while. My fanciful friend, Muse Brad, seems to have left the premises. I persist in writing because I’m a stubborn cuss, but my writing feels flat and forced.

Or maybe I have a new muse that is all about writing schedules ala D. Wallace’s Muse for Hire.  Personally, I’d much rather have a muse like Greg from Almost Iowa. His muse is playful, whiny, loves ice cream, and no slave to time or schedules. Maybe we can share muses to spread the pain and pleasure! 🙂

There seems to be a life lesson here. Our muses and our writing need a delicate mix of discipline and allowing. Too much allowing and nothing gets done. Too much discipline and we kill our muse’s spirit. Like a good teacher or parent, we must learn how to use the right tools at the right time.

~ Curtain Call/ News Flash

My missing muse was recently seen manically mangling merry members of the muse menagerie. He’s had a muse meltdown of epic proportions. Muse Brad is now wanted in connection with the scandalous disappearance of the sexy, sleeps-all-day muse.

Apparently, I’ve been a slave driver and withheld love and ice cream far too long and now I have a strike on my hands. Muse Brad was last seen leaving the premises with miss diva muse from Almost Iowa. It seems mister hot-and-bothered discipline-muse has been replaced with my fanciful, flighty muse. I hope they have fun and get it out of their system so we can get back to writing!

Meanwhile, I’ll struggle along on my own or hire some help from the scab team of muses. I understand Freaky Fred, Manic Mary, Loving Lucy, and Babbling Bard are all available and ready with crayons and sketch paper. If I get lucky, maybe I’ll find Miss Moka Chino from Allie’s muse adventures!

To be continued…

Cast of Characters

Muse Brad- master of mischief, mystery, and mayhem

Detective Dan- finder of lost muses and souls

Rex Randy- slayer of women’s hearts

Sexy Sally- muse to the stars

~

PS- The inspiration for this post came from D. Wallace at Myths of the Mirror, Greg at Almost Iowa, and Allie at Allie Potts Writes. Thank you for the delightfully creative and humorous inspiration to find and revive my missing muse.

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44 thoughts on “Missing Muse”

  1. While I am happy to hear Miss Diva may have found love once more, I am somewhat she’s putting her heart out there only for it to be broken again.

    Also, be careful what you wish for. One second she’s steaming hot, then next icy cold. She’s absolutely delightful when she wants to be, but her taste is oh, so expensive to maintain. Also, when Moka looks at you with those big saucer eyes of hers your willpower drips away.

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  2. Speaking as a certified muse-whisperer and from what I read here, it appears your muse is healthy and in fine spirits. Sure, there are times when our writing feel flat, forced and uninspired….and who do we blame during those rough patches of writing?

    Why, our muse, of course.

    Well….maybe….just maybe the problem is muse abuse (a growing national problem). Muses hate working on the same old stuff, day-in and day-out. Sometimes they like to stretch their wings with a little poetry or humor. Sometimes they like to be courted with flights of fancy…..and sometimes, all they need is chocolate chip ice cream.

    And yes, admittedly, sometimes they just slough off. 🙂

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    • Wise and humorous insights Greg. You’re spot on. Your humor was the perfect flavor to inspire my muse and writing. Thank you. I’m sure all the muses will talk and report me to the National Muse Abuse Hotline- NMAH! I guess I better keep the number for the scab team handy. 🙂

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  4. This is a wonderful post. It made me laugh, but also it has a very strong message….I do hope that Muse Brad is eating ice cream and up to all sorts of mischief…..It’s all about the balance….which can sometimes seem like such a boring concept, however, ultimately a little bit of discipline and a equal measure of allowing do seem to work best. Thank you so much for this. Hummingbird Hugs…janet x

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  10. Cute, Brad! I like your playful side 🙂 I have always been amazed at your discipline. But I also get that “trying” to adhere to a schedule can be a little cramping to the muse. I must confess…I adhere to the “I write when inspiration strikes” mentality…much to the suffering of any kind of consistency on my blog and other projects. I’ve been trying to add a little more structure…we will see how that goes. Anyway…not much help…but a whole lot of support!!! Good luck…lots of creative energy being sent your way! ❤

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  14. Brad, love this Muse post! My Charming Charlotte has a way with words. She’s always there. We’ve been doing heavy research for our book, so I give her time off frequently. She likes the beach and shopping! She also likes tea breaks and movies. I hear her chatter with ideas for scenes. Doubt she’d join a Muse uprising or union. She’s part of the family since I was 9-years old. She was a librarian & a savvy book lover! 🌷 Christine

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  18. Hi Brad. I’m sure you’ve already come up with ways to break through your writing blocks already, but I figured I’d suggest trying to mix up your creative endeavors and seeing if that helps. I love to arrange Chillstep in Logic Pro. When I have to do something creative that’s not writing, that’s what I run to. I’d be curious to know what you normally do when your muse runs off.

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    • Thanks for the tips and welcome. I’ve never heard of Chillstep. My writing process is pretty casual. I tend to write when I have the time and inspiration, moderated by the time I must write to keep to my publishing schedule. So a mix of compassion, inspiration, and discipline. 🙂

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