Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related How would you describe your muse?

Yes, red food exists. But it doesn't mean I have to eat it .

- Laura

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

She's a he. And homeless.

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.

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

I remember that show. There are times when I wonder if my muse didn't get knocked on the head by the baby dinosaur.

Shhh, Laura, every time someone says that, somewhere a muse dies!

Julie

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

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

Nope. I don't even know what your all talking about. What is a muse? a mouse?

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

I guess if that is the case them I might say that my muse is probablyMelpomene.

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.)

Lazy and easily distracted.

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

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!

It comes out of the blue, whispers a line or two then leaves me to write the rest.

Urggh!