Confession #1: I don’t think I understand what the muse is. 

Confession #2: I’m starting to think that’s a good thing.

Next week on www.BabesinBokland.com, we’re discussing our favorite books on writing.  I’ve bought a lot of ‘How To’s’ in my time and some have at least one pearl I can add to my writer’s necklace.  Others have enough pearls of brilliant, concise practical tips, exercises and suggestions to make a double-strand choker all by themselves. 

Before I sold my first book, I devoured How-To’s and learned a lot about making the transition from academic writing to commercial writing.  I also found great books on specific genres. 

Confession #3:  I think I used How-To’s as just one of many reasons why I didn’t start writing Chapter One immediately.

Confession #4:  It’s always easier for me to do what I know (read) than to try what I don’t (writing).  It’s a whole comfort-zone thing.

I’ll save the specific titles of my favorites for the www.Babesinbookland.com blog  (yes, I do want you to go over there beginning on Monday for insights from Cherry Adair, Leanne Banks, Traci Hall and me).

But, one thing that was conspicuous in its absence was deep, penetrating discussions of the infamous Muse.  Most of the books I own don’t even address it.  I’ve donated many of the early How-Tos, mainly because I moved and was forced to cull the research/reference book herd.  Maybe they discussed the elusive Muse and I either didn’t store the information or it didn’t register.

Confession #5:  I find How-To’s academically really interesting and enjoy it when a great one comes along.

Let’s face it, reading a book or books on how to write great characters or how to improve your pacing isn’t a guarantee that you’ll suddenly overcome whatever obstacle stands in the way of you and your goal of publication.  It’s a maybe-may not thing.  Not because the information in any number of How-To’s isn’t spot on, but because you aren’t that person with that writing process. 

Confession #6:  I must have the wrong books, the whole Muse thing is still a little fuzzy.

I went in search of a definition for Muse: the mythical protector of an art or science.  Eureka!  Now I understand why the whole concept of a Muse didn’t stick with me.  I’m not a mythical kinda person.  Writing certainly has magic.  Great writing has it in spades (Janet Evanovich, Tess Gerritsen and Nora Roberts come to mind).  Having said that, I think that magic is the creation of the author and happens on the page.  It isn’t something you can call on, ordering it like a pizza topping.

Confession #7:  I found my kind of Muse, it isn’t mythical and it starts with a dollar sign.

Unimpressed?  Feel free.  If I’m going with the definition that a Muse protects my art, then the thing I need to protect above all else is my career.  I’m a working writer, I need to be paid for my work.  Sound cynical?  It probably is, but think about it – the difference between a working writer and an aspiring writer is payment. 

Confession #8:  There’s no crime in wanting to be paid for your work.

Last time I checked, not being paid for your work was called volunteering.  In the world of writing, I think a better term is interning.  You can be a born storyteller but that isn’t enough.  You have to know the craft, specific needs and requirements of the publishing houses .  Learn the business.  You have to network.  You have to special order a thicker skin and handle rejection professionally rather than personally. 

I’m blessed to have many, many multi-published friends and my career is on par with the goals I set years and years ago.  None of us were guided by a Muse.  Instead, it came down to wanting it badly enough.  We made sacrifices, sometimes we stumbled, sometimes the publishing Gods smote us by closing our targeted lines or our editors moved on and we were orphaned.  But we wanted it, so we kept going.

 

Forget the Muse.  Want it and be willing to work hard to get it.

 

 Rhonda

DON'T tell me that all of the issues in my life and writing cannot be solved by merely reading the correct manual or taking the right class! I have been using self-help books to guide my every move since I read "Your Erroneous Zones" when I was nineteen. Of course I bought it because I thought erroneous zones were something nasty, but that's beside the point.

I'm not into the whole 'muse' thing either, unless it's that I like to be a-musing. When writers talk about the muse failing them or the muse being absent, I scratch my head and narrow my eyes. Nora Roberts talked about it in a recent interview. I'm paraphrasing, but, basically, Nora said that we're the boss and if the "muse" doesn't cooperate, kick the crap out of her and make her work.

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