February 6, 2013

• I Hear Voices!

  

  Well, it’s only one voice really.  It’s the voice of my Muse.

  Sometimes, she speaks softly and sometimes, she shouts.  She speaks to me during the early morning hours, she interrupts my day, and then sometimes she’ll whisper to me as I start to fall asleep.  And I listen.  And I write.

  Muses inspire us.  They are in all of us and we just have to learn to listen to them.  We have to put our worries, insecurities and doubts aside and hear what our Muse has to say.  And, they tell us a lot!

  Have you ever sat watching television and suddenly a new idea for a story just pops in your head?  That was your Muse handing you a blessing.  Have you ever been in the grocery store and encountered someone with a unique way of speaking and found that this is what the hero in your novel should sound like?  That was your Muse guiding you.  Did looking at an old family photo trigger a touching memory.  That is your Muse calling to you.

  Muses have always been considered the source of some of the greatest works.  Homer called on them, Chaucer immortalized them, and Dante wrote about them.  So, who are we to ignore these goddesses of the arts?

  Perhaps you don’t hear the Muse in your mind.  Muses speak to us from many other places.  They can be found in books, beautiful sunsets or a haunting melody.  They can exist in the words of an innocent child or on a thought-provoking poster that you pass on the street.  They are everywhere and if you want to be a writer, you will listen and you will write.

  So, when you get a new idea for a story, write it down.  If you wake up in the middle of the night and find that you have discovered the way to end your novel; jump up and work on it.  While you’re having a coffee and a memory pops into your mind, capture it by writing about it.  We cannot ignore our muses or delay their messages.  They will get discouraged and grow silent.

   

  Don’t be afraid when your Muse speaks to you.  Listen to her.  You’ll be a writer and your Muse will be pleased.

   

   

   

  • 4:43 am
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