Play Nice with your Muse: SLOW DOWN

A while back a WIP had me stymied. I loved my characters, was intrigued by the premise, and had a pre-draft synopsis to give me direction. So why was I not making any progress?

I sent out an SOS to a NY pubbed friend asking about her process. How does she start a new project? I thought I might get a tip or two that would propel my muse and me in a new direction. I got that and more! Wow! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!!

Her example and comments simmered for a few days and my muse took notes. When the muse was ready, I experimented with a few new tools.

Believe it or not, the main tool I played with was pen and paper.

"Oooo," you say with a sarcastic tone. "You actually set your computer aside and wrote with a pen? How...radical!"

For me, it was radical. I hate to write by hand. I have a nervous condition that causes my hands to shake. Writing by hand neatly (which is strangely important to me) requires a lot of energy. BUT my friend had commented that writing by hand in the early stages slowed her down, forced her to inhabit the characters longer, to get to know them on a deeper basis.

Considering that writing by hand is irritating and hard work for me, I avoid it like the plague, but something in her words struck a chord. I decided to play with that particular tool, reasoning that if I was uncomfortable, I might actually discover why my character was uncomfortable. A very good thing for me to know considering I tend to want everyone to be happy, and happy characters don't provide the tension needed for good reads.

The experiment went well. I discovered things about my characters in those hand written notes that had never occurred to me before. I learned that my hero's motivations were nearly 180 degrees off of the standard ones I'd assigned him in earlier character studies, and...wait for it!...my muse revealed that I had the wrong character being killed and refusing the Light in order to save the world from an unexpected evil.

No wonder I hadn't been making progress. My muse needed to stall me until she could tell me I had everything backwards! Since we're still learning to play well together, it took slowing down with the hated pen and paper to allow her to speak.

Note to self: Slow down at the keyboard. Relax. Don't be so focused on where you think you're supposed to go that you drown your muse's voice.

Note to muse (who is also myself!): Learn to shout!!

---Debbie

To learn more about Debbie, visit her at her Flights of Fantasy site.

Play Nice with your Muse: SLOW DOWN