There’s No Such Thing as a Muse. (Did ya know?)
Established writers tell newbies that all talk of “muses” must cease and desist, for by relying on “our muse” we handicap ourselves. We risk forgetting the muse is really our own subconscious, our very own selves. Likewise we must take care not to form rituals, for these may cripple our agility as writers.
And so I am here to tell you today that my muse:
* does not need coffee
* certainly does not need more coffee
* does not need air conditioning
* does not need music
* does not need solitude
* most certainly is not sparked powerfully in the lovely, rumbling, rollicking subways of New York City
HOWEVER, full disclaimer alert:
My muse subconscious does greedily appreciate attempts to bribe her. She is truly unprincipled that way, much in contrast with her conscious self. *cough*
Subway Strike (of inspiration)
This afternoon, after leaving work, feet aching from hours standing and being “on” since 11:30, I got on the A train only to find no seats were available. I was drained, and felt like there wasn’t a word ready to be wrung out of me in my tiny writing window this afternoon/evening. Of course, I still planned on writing, regardless.
I leaned against the pole and turned on my iPod. The train began to move, shaking to and fro, and the pole between my shoulder blades banged painfully against me. I adjusted my position, relaxing into the bar, hooking one foot around it for stability, and then closed my eyes and got into my song. I’ve lived here long enough. I know how to hold my bag so I know it’s safe. I can sense when my stop’s far from close, and when I ought reawaken. I let myself move with the train’s jostle and stretched into it, enjoying my music.
And I thought, why the hell am I setting my book in Somewhereistan, USA (not the real location name), when New York is what I know and love? When New York is the city I feel like a character in my life? Where I know what it’s like at 2am and 2 pm and at 5am and 5pm, and exactly what’s true and not true about the mythos that the city never sleeps?
But that’s not all. Remember how I’ve been complaining about how I can’t grasp my heroes properly yet? How I’m all over my antagonists, how I love them and feel them viscerally, but my accursed heroes are just. not. there?
No longer. S is here. I found him in the subway. Rumble, brumble, tumble, said the train, and I suddenly got it. I understood S. I’d given him the wrong family. The wrong financial situation. The wrong reasons to be who he is. No wonder I couldn’t grab him later in the book.
Now it all works. Inner tension, character relationships, the stakes. Yay!
Who needs a muse, when I’ve got the NYC subway system? :)
*she hurriedly fed her muse adoring eyes and promises of iced coffee, not that it mattered in the least*
Random Courtyard, Old Tbilisi
There’s something I love about Old Town, Tbilisi…
Stumble It!
What’s muse? Is it of any use?
Okay, a Muse is one of the mythological nine Greek goddesses who control and symbolize the Arts. According to Wikipedia.
But a “muse” as writers or artists refer to it, is a sort of spiritual understanding of what one is doing/writing/sculpting/etc. Like inspiration or vision.
Some people speak of being visited by their muse, which means that they find themselves suddenly able to write freely or paint beautifully, etc. But the fact is, the muse only strikes if you’re already working. Many people use their lack of feeling inspired (being visited by their muse) as an excuse to not work on their craft, but if we all only wrote when we felt inspired, we’d none of us finish a book.
I’m sure it’s uber useful, and we all get inspired from time to time, and sometimes are even able to actualize our goals in our writing. But that takes work, and not mere inspiration.
That was lovely Sputnista, it was wonderfully informative and clear. I loved your explanation of muse. In fact I knew what muse was, we call her by another name in this land, Saraswathi (the Goddess of art, intellect and poetry of the vedas).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saraswati
Was I too mischievous with that question of mine? I was delighted with your work and thought of leaving a comment. It was intended as a harmless and amusing rhyme (‘muse’ and ‘use’) to please really. I should have added a smiley at the end to make it clear. My mistake. Anyway that made me rich with information too; I hadn’t looked deeply into the Greek mythology for the meaning of muse. I only knew that it was used to mean artistic inspiration in English as well as in other European languages.
The muse work with me as something tangible to my mind, as thoughts, words and images (not that I am any great shakes when I write in English). All artists get such help. In fact any one deeply engaged in any field would get such help from the muse or the subtler realms of thought and feeling.
May be you are right; the subconscious could be the true muse. But to me the unconscious is the real basis for all our deeper insights and artistic inspirations. It acts as the receptive mechanism too. That is how art happens, bypassing the conscious and even subconscious and touching the vast realm of human unconscious, that which was called by Jung as the universal unconscious. That’s the common factor in all of us, or at least to my mind that’s how artistic communication occurs.
Matisse paintings could be outwardly aped by any one, even a slightly talented child. But the meaning created with those brush strokes was not limited to the tools of the art. It goes beyond paints and brushes and canvasses and color combinations. This happens within the artist and gets transferred to the mind of the viewer. I firmly believe that such transference is only possible with the unconscious working in the background as a sort of universal canvass.
Glad to know you Sputnista. The word means traveler I gather, beautiful name aren’t we all travelers in the world. Come to my blog and blast me. http://sweiv.wordpress.com/
Sorry I spelled the name wrong sputnitsa. My apologies.
Hey Samronsilva!
You’re too modest; I visited your blog and your writing is VERY powerful!
I especially love the post about your woodcutter friend.
I hear what you’re saying about Matisse. My favorite painter is Dao Hai Phong, and if I ever have a work of his in my home, I really want it to be an original, so the magic of his art is present, not just an imitation of the picture.
I have to dash to get work, but more on the universal unconscious when I get back to the computer.
Thanks again for coming by, and no worries on the name! Yes, Sputnitsa is the feminine form of the word more familiar to many: Sputnik. Traveler. And yep, we’re all travelers!
Sputnitsa,
Those were very nice things that you said about me. Thank you so very much.
The wood cutter yarn was a little lack luster in its original, no such undertones at all. But I wanted to overlay the image of a superman on him and contrast it to the senselessness of his death. It required a serious use of color. The superman monopolizes will and views the rest as his vassals.
I mentioned Matisse because I like Fauvism and its philosophy, though it was only short lived. It was the riot of the unconscious.
And now about Dao Hai Phong, I saw those mighty paintings in your blog. What stunning use of color! I find them intensely spiritual, meditative and withdrawn. Never saw such landscapes before. Vangogh comes to mind. He painted mindscapes rather than landscapes. Phong seems to paint spiritual landscapes.
It’s true that one should see them in flesh and not in prints or on internet. You are lucky in that sense. I envy you.
I do want you to become the proud owner of a Dao Hai Phong painting. Best wishes on that.
Thank you. It’s very rare I want to own something in particular, so it’s an odd thing for me. We shall see.
Are you also a painter? How long have you been writing?
How long have I been writing (in English)? Well it began with this blog (*laugh*)! Of course I did write a bit in my own tongue before I got hooked by the internet (Jeffery Deaver aptly calls it “the blue nowhere”) and started a blog.
Now to whether I paint? Not at all, but at one time I had wanted( like many others in my land) to bring literature closer to other art forms, painting in particular and use visual imagery to convey ideas. That’s why Matisse , Vangogh etc comes to my mind often. Now through you I have come to love Dao Hai Phong.
You have a beautiful heart sputnitsa. It comes through what you write.:)
How interesting. You really see yourself within the nexus of the various streams of art of your country. I find that contextualized self-awareness very interesting.
I’m so glad you’ve found and enjoy Dao Hai Phong now.
And thanks so much for your kind words.