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Top Banana
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Top Banana
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Huh? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've always thought the existence of red foods was a matter of cold, hard fact rather than a matter of faith. Yes, red food exists. But it doesn't mean I have to eat it . - Laura
Laura "The Yellow Dart" U. (Alicia U. on the archive)
"A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles." -- Christopher Reeve
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Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
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Well, I've made this post before, but hey, why not?
I don't have a muse per se. I have a little kid. His name is Timmy, and he lives in the attic of my mind. I try to give him better quarters, but he likes his attic.
Timmy's a curious little guy who tends to get into trouble but, in some cartoonish manner, come out intact. You may know him from the old beloved TV show "Dinosaurs," where he appeared as Mr. Lizard's ill-fated lab assisstant. "<boom!> ... We're going to need another Timmy!" I think he's a lot happier with his new job.
So, he goes out wandering in the vast wilderness outside the attic. There, random ideas, being mischeveous as random ideas are wont to be, will sneak up on him and bonk him on the head. He'll sort through them, find the ones he likes, and take them home. Then, he'll work on some, leave others to collect dust in a darkened corner of the attic, and set others free.
When he feels like it, he'll show it to me. Sometimes, rarely, we'll work together. Mostly, he'll just take it back to his attic. He'll add to it and, when it hits critical mass, he'll let me know. Then (assuming this is an idea for a story and not some random invention or something) it's my job to get to the keyboard as soon as I can. Timmy takes over at that point. He writes everything he's got in one session. When he's done, I wake up, look at the screen, and go "cool!"
Fortunately, most of what he writes can be done in one session. The longer ones tend to get stuck. The problem with curious active children is that it's hard to keep their attention in one place. Writing one part at a time, with reader participation helped. That turned a couple of longer fics into a series of short ones, and kept him interested. Other stuff... Well, I've got a folder full of notes files for things he's come across, started on, but never finished. I'm hoping his latest project won't end up there, too.
Unfortunately, Timmy hasn't been feeling too well lately. I hear from him sporadically, sometimes not for months at a time. Lately, I've been even more tired than usual. Inexplicably so this week. I seem to barely be able to read story parts (sorry I'm getting behind again...). I'm worried poor little Timmy may be comatose again.
Hopefully, things will get better again soon. I'm working on my sleep, and we're investigating a new medical possibility to maybe get my brain working again. Some metaphorical sunlight and more space to play just might be what Timmy needs to get going. We'll see...
So, anyway, that's my "muse." Timmy, the curious adventurous little boy who lives in the attic of my mind with a typically unpredictable (but generally short) attention span. He does what he feels like, and there's pretty much nothing anyone can really do about it.
Paul
When in doubt, think about penguins. It probably won't help, but at least it'll be fun.
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Features Writer
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Features Writer
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She's a he. And homeless.
"I'm red-eyed, tired and drunk" Teri Hatcher "Fun will now commence" 7of9
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Features Writer
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Features Writer
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She is a Hyper Active multi-task muse who likes to kick me whenever I am sleeping or just woke up and who likes to drive BRs insane.
"Work while you have the light. You are responsible for the talent that has been entrusted to you."
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Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
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My muse seems to be rather shy, these days. Doesn't want to speak up over the din of my everyday life... I suspect she's lost hope. But I can still get her to come out and play, once in a while... She's what I think of as the inspiration for things, the little voice that whispers in my ear "what if...?" and then skips off. The nuts & bolts of writing, she leaves to me. There for a while, I was pretty good at sitting down, for an hour a day, and producing several pages. Most days. Whether the muse wanted to play or not (I find that if I play without her, sooner or later, she gets piqued and comes out to add her two cents). But then, my daughter quit napping, and my husband began working at home. My muse is a gentle creature and runs away at loud noises. Still, I've been trying to coax her back lately, and she's obliged me with a few insights. I think she'll give me a good story out of it -- but only if I do my share of the work. PJ
"You told me you weren't like other men," she said, shaking her head at him when the storm of laughter had passed. He grinned at her - a goofy, Clark Kent kind of a grin. "I have a gift for understatement." "You can say that again," she told him. "I have a...." "Oh, shut up."
--Stardust, Caroline K
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Columnist
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Columnist
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Posts: 652 |
Timmy's a curious little guy who tends to get into trouble but, in some cartoonish manner, come out intact. You may know him from the old beloved TV show "Dinosaurs," where he appeared as Mr. Lizard's ill-fated lab assisstant. "<boom!> ... We're going to need another Timmy!" I think he's a lot happier with his new job. I remember that show. There are times when I wonder if my muse didn't get knocked on the head by the baby dinosaur.
I believe there's a hero in all of us that keeps us honest, gives us strength, makes us noble, and finally allows us to die with pride, even though sometimes we have to be steady and give up the thing we want the most. Even our dreams. -- Aunt May, Spider-Man 2
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Top Banana
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Top Banana
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I can't believe there is a little mythical being telling me what to write and making my fingers type. Shhh, Laura, every time someone says that, somewhere a muse dies! Julie
Mulder: Imagine if you could come back and take out five people who had caused you to suffer. Who would they be? Scully: I only get five? Mulder: I remembered your birthday this year, didn't I, Scully?
(The X-Files)
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Top Banana
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Top Banana
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Shhh, Laura, every time someone says that, somewhere a muse dies! ROTFL, Julie! Or no, actually, now that I think about it, that's not funny! I'd been wondering why I don't have a muse, and now I think I know the answer! Someone, somewhere expressed their doubts, and it was my unfortunate muse who suffered the consequences. Actually, it was more a case of miscarriage, since my poor muse died before being born. How sad it that? - Vicki
"Hold on, my friends, to the Constitution and to the Republic for which it stands. Miracles do not cluster and what has happened once in 6,000 years, may not happen again. Hold on to the Constitution" - Daniel Webster
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Beat Reporter
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Beat Reporter
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 383 |
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Top Banana
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Top Banana
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Kitty,
If you're confused about the question, I can't really help. If you're confused about my answer, I just meant I don't have a muse - never had one. I wish I did.
- Vicki
"Hold on, my friends, to the Constitution and to the Republic for which it stands. Miracles do not cluster and what has happened once in 6,000 years, may not happen again. Hold on to the Constitution" - Daniel Webster
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Beat Reporter
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Beat Reporter
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Posts: 383 |
Nope. I don't even know what your all talking about. What is a muse? a mouse?
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Posts: 1,384
Top Banana
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Top Banana
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 1,384 |
Kitty, From Muses - Daughters of Wit and Song : The Muses or Mousai are the nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (sister of Hyperion and Rheia)... The specific attributes of each goddess: Kleio, history Euterpe, flute playing Thaleia, comedy Melpomene, tragedy Terpsichore, dance Erato, love poems Polymnia, sacred music Ourania, astrology Kalliope, epic poetry (she holds the highest rank of the Muses) The Muses can bestow the gift of talent and insight but they can also, viciously, revoke their blessings. ================= Mary (and the others) are using the word to personify the source of inspiration for their stories. If they get a creative streak, they say their muse is active. If they get writer's block, they blame it on their muse and say he/she is being uncooperative. And me, I blame my total lack of writing skills on the fact that my muse died before I was born. - Vicki
"Hold on, my friends, to the Constitution and to the Republic for which it stands. Miracles do not cluster and what has happened once in 6,000 years, may not happen again. Hold on to the Constitution" - Daniel Webster
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Beat Reporter
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Beat Reporter
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Posts: 383 |
I guess if that is the case them I might say that my muse is probablyMelpomene.
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Top Banana
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Top Banana
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I have a couple of muses if you go by the Greek version of them (Kleio, Terpsichore and Erato). If you're strictly talking about fan fiction I tend to break my muse into "voices" or specific characterizations. For example, I will often have LnC!Lois and LnC!Clark interacting in my head. Sometimes, I'll only get an idea of what one of the two characters is saying but not the other (which is why I "break up" my muse into characters.)
CLARK: No. I'm just worried I'm a jinx. JONATHAN: A jinx? CLARK: Yeah. Let's face it, ever since she's known me, Lois's been kidnapped, frozen, pushed off buildings, almost stabbed, poisoned, buried alive and who knows what else, and it's all because of me. -"Contact" (You're not her jinx, you're her blessing.)
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Kerth
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Kerth
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Lazy and easily distracted.
Marcus L. Rowland Forgotten Futures, The Scientific Romance Role Playing Game
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Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
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Most of the time, I just use the phrase 'my muse' as a light-hearted personification or shorthand way of saying that a piece of fiction is (or, more often, is not) coming easily to me, but in my story With Apologies to Female Hawk , I fleshed her out a bit. And despite her protests in the story, I tend to think of her as Talia now. Joy, Lynn
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Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 3,145 Likes: 3 |
I have two, Polly and Trope (full names Polyskitsodia and Psychotriopia). They're not among the original nine muses, and I think that makes them a little - edgy. And sometimes that edginess works well. Other times it gets me in deep doo-doo. I can't tell you how many ideas they've given me that I've tossed out, and now that I've finally sent "The End Of The Road" out for beta review, they're flooding me with ideas for four other stories I've had on the back burner for many months. And I just got reminded of another drama where I have the treatment written but haven't started the actual story. I'd offer to loan one or both of them to anyone who might want to work with them, but you'll need to read When Muses Go Bad first. You have been warned!
Life isn't a support system for writing. It's the other way around.
- Stephen King, from On Writing
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Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
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Posts: 3,665 Likes: 10 |
It comes out of the blue, whispers a line or two then leaves me to write the rest. Urggh!
Morgana
A writer's job is to think of new plots and create characters who stay with you long after the final page has been read. If that mission is accomplished than we have done what we set out to do, which is to entertain and hopefully educate.
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