Every once in a while I invite a fellow writer to share what it’s like, writing with his or her muse. Today’s guest poster is Gail Sattler, whose most recent release, The Narrow Path, is now available as I mentioned in the previous post. With no further ado, heeeeeeere’s Gail!
Writing with My Muse
When I first read that, I had to think, what exactly is a muse? Do I have one? I have a dog who likes to be with me, especially when it’s snack time, but does Miss/Mrs/Mr Muse also like popcorn, or does he/she/it prefer chocolate, which is very bad for dogs? Actually, chocolate probably isn’t that good for me, either…
Therefore, I had to think, if there is a muse out there, how do I attract him/her/it? What is a muse like? Is he/she/it am-musing? And since I need Miss/Mrs/Mr muse to help me with my writing, I had better think of some way to write in a partnership with him/her/it.
I hear from other writers that many muses like music when it’s writing time.
Mine wouldn’t. As a musician, I find music distracting when I’m writing because I start analyzing the chord progressions and sitting there in awe of the phrases that work, and cringing those that could have worked better, when I should have been writing.
Some writers have a muse that likes snacks.
Mine shouldn’t have snacks. The best snacks, like popcorn with butter and cheese and ranch seasoning, are sticky, and can’t be eaten when there is typing to do with both hands. I don’t type well with one finger, so therefore my muse had better not like popcorn.
Many muses like quiet when writing. I do, too, but there often isn’t much quiet time at my house. Teenagers, husband, dogs… But my lizard is quiet. I think most muses would like my lizard, even if their writers wouldn’t.
Some muses are bounding with ideas. I kind of like to have one idea and run with it, because I like my writing to flow from A to B without all sorts of pit-stops that have nothing to do with anything except getting distracted.
I think the muse that writes with me makes up for all my inconsistencies. I am not organized, but when I write, I need to outline, and have my story fully outlined before I write the first word. That works for me, and I’ve got a number of published books behind me that proves it works for me. I also get distracted easily, but when I write, I have a nice quiet room all to myself, and I actually sit and write without playing Spider Solitaire (much). I also am a social person, but when I’m writing, I don’t even like my husband to be in the same room, unless we’re working on the same project, because I need to focus on the hero of my current novel, not the hero sitting beside me.
I’m still not entirely sure who or what my muse likes, but I do know that when we’re together in my writing corner, good things happen.
Gail Sattler lives in Vancouver BC, where you don’t have to shovel rain, with her husband, sons, dogs, lizard, and bass guitar. When she’s not writing, Gail plays bass with her worship team (loud) and she also plays jazz bass for a local jazz band, and that’s loud, too.
Gail is the author of approximately 30 novels, novellas, and other writing projects (does a cookbook count as a book?). Visit Gail’s website here.
