I sat down to write my letter M post about margins– or media–or menus …
Umm, no.
The letter M is well represented around here by the Muse, so I guess I should just relent and talk about him!
His name is Morpheus, as in Prince of Dreams, although I often simply refer to him as ‘M’. He looks a bit like Neil Gaiman‘s ‘Dream‘ character in The Sandman and usually comes stomping across my pages wearing his black rock and roll boots, smelling of rain, wildflowers and weed, all the while chuckling at my stubborn determination to get some writing done.
He’s got unruly black hair, a pierced tongue, and wears too much eyeliner. And he’s got wings.
Sometimes he rearranges things while I’m away from my stories, and when I come back, it all fits together better than I had imagined. How do I know he was there, and that it wasn’t just me in a flurry of inspiration?
I find feathers.
If you stick around here, you’re bound to catch him giving me a hard time and helping me come to terms with this stuff they call fiction writing.
Do you have a muse? If so, does your muse talk to you? Or am I just nuts?
(Here’s your link back to the A to Z Challenge Sign Up list.)
I’ve never thought about my muse as a person. And if I found a feather, I’d go looking for a duck.
A duck! You are the practical sort, aren’t you? 🙂
You are one lucky lady.
No, strike that. Morpheus is one lucky muse 🙂
Heh, I think we’re both lucky to have found a way to express ourselves through writing. 🙂
If my muse talked to your muse THAT would be nuts! (There’s a story idea in there somewhere.) Seriously, it’s a wise writer who listens when a muse speaks:)
My Muse is in awe of Juan- a real traveler from outer space. I think he’d be speechless if they ever met, but you never know, it could work!
There might need to be alcoholic beverages involved to ease the tension … 😉
I suspect M would be sulking in a dark corner somewhere if you had chosen to do your M post on anything else! My Muse revealed itself to me last summer as a dragonfly. I thought it was appropriate, since a dragonfly is hard to catch until it decides to land on you.
*had* chosen. (Note to self: Proofread before clicking “post”!)
No problem, all fixed. 🙂
You’re absolutely right though, he would sulk, and probably throw bad story ideas at me.
Dragonflies are fascinating, and amazingly hard to catch! I can relate. 🙂
Yay for M, as in your muse, Morpheus. The more I hear about him, the more jealous I am. He is awesome. Glad you have such a cool muse. Maybe you can make a craft out of the feathers 🙂
Right now, I tape the feathers into my writing notebook next to the ideas. Maybe someday I can make one of those dreamcatchers out of them …
Your muse sounds pretty hard core! I love it. I don’t really have a picture of mine so much as a character’s voice who can be relentless.
Elsie
AJ’s wHooligan in the A-Z Challenge
Hi Elsie,
It’s funny, your comment made me realize that he wasn’t always as much of a tough guy, but the more I share my work, the more hardcore he’s become. Interesting.
It’s cool that your characters bug you like that. 🙂 My Muse started out as a character in my first story, then morphed into who he is now.
Welcome to A Scenic Route!
I like your muse’s name! He sounds like a great muse to have. 🙂
As for me, if I do have a muse, I’ve never gotten a clear image of one, even when I did Holly Lisle’s exercise. That’s fine, because I tend to believe more in a collective unconscious anyway, or perhaps in the spirits of ancestors who told stories looking over my shoulder and saying, “Hey, you know what you should put in there?” It’s never felt like one person/thing to me. I find that comforting.
The fun thing about Holly’s exercise was seeing how other writers’ muses manifested. Many of them (maybe half, in fact) were less tangible, if indeed an imaginary character can be considered tangible. 😉
But you hear the words and the ideas! Isn’t that just the coolest thing? I love the idea of an ancestral storytelling spirit.
My muse comes to me in different guises, no you’re not nuts – a friend’s muse is a French young woman in a red beret. One of the posts here on this challenge is about a muse – hysterical – don’t know why the writer doesn’t have more followers. And the one with the french muse had his muse meet a friend’s muse who was totally different. Muses are like characters sometimes
Muses are definitely like characters–but without their own story to live in. I love hearing about other writers’ muses!
I like your muse better than mine, lol!
Hi Jamie!
I can ask him if he wants to visit you sometime. He seems to have plenty of time on his hands with this A to Z challenge going on … 😉
I am still hopeful that a more corporeal muse will emerge for me in time. As it is, I just envy the strong relationship you have with yours 😉
Give your muse time. 🙂 It took a while to draw mine out– in fact he gets clearer and clearer the more I write!
Yes, my muse talks to me, wakes me up at night, or slaps me awake from daydreaming with some idea. At bit nervy of such muse, I must say. 🙂
Enjoyed reading this after having found your blog on Sammy’s post.
Isn’t it great to have a Muse intrude on an otherwise ordinary day though? I’m glad you enjoyed the post (and so is Morpheus who is grinning wickedly as I write this) !