Friday, May 3, 2013

My Muse is MIA

My muse has suddenly decided to disappear from my life. The evil creature has packed his bags and done the disappearing act now when I am writing book one of my Middle Grade Paranormal Fantasy Trilogy: Zespirit Chronicles.
              
At the best of times, my muse is pretty troublesome, many times he throws tantrums and sulks, but this has been such a letdown. Honestly, it’s at this time I needed him the most. I thought that while writing the first draft of book one, I would also make rough outlines of books two and three. But, the muse is at its uncooperative best.

He showed up at regular intervals for the first half of April. I wrote back stories for all the characters, made detailed character sketches and was generally happy with what I had accomplished. I was sure I would complete the first draft on schedule. Things were going pretty well.

But by the third week of April, my muse disappeared.  In the last two weeks of April, I wrote just a few scenes. It’s got me worried, as I had set a tentative deadline for the completion of the first draft of the first book for April end.

Though I wrote many features for the newspapers, and jotted down notes for more features, I have not worked on my manuscript much. I am even seriously considering shelving the trilogy for the moment and working on something else.

Nowadays, every time I switch on my laptop, the blank sheet frustrates me. I even switched to writing long hand, but it’s like my brain is in a shutdown mode. And as the days are passing, my worries are getting the better of me. I have decided I need to do something about this scenario soon. There are so many other things on my mind clashing with each other that it is driving me crazy.

I know that I should be patient and keep writing but somehow worries are getting the better of me.

How do you all tackle an errant muse? Do you all work on something else, or keep writing in the hope that the muse revisits? What would you all advice me? Shall I wait for the muse to come back? Shall I continue writing even though I know that I will delete all the scenes I write in this phase? How do you all tackle writing slumps?

P.S. The features I am writing for the newspapers are making my readers super happy. Their fan mail lightens up my bad mood and it’s the only bright spot in my life at the moment.


              

25 comments:

  1. As I write at random have not faced a issue like this so far:)

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  2. Sometimes I don't wait for my muse and I power my way through the hump. Not easy times, but my muse always comes back...eventually.

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  3. I read some amazing advice on this the other day: The cure to impatience is doing something else while you're waiting. I think this can be applied to this case, as well.

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  4. I start looking for inspiration elsewhere, like in music or movies. Eventually it returns.
    Glad you have happy fans from your newspaper articles!

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  5. Congrats on the newspaper articles!

    Perhaps it's the outlining that's getting you down. My muse went away when I tried it. So I just planned the major plot points and started writing. Try that or read more and watch movies for inspiration. Breaks can be good sometimes.

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  6. Actually, when I'm in your place, I don't do anything writing-related. The closest I come is reading someone else's work.

    Do you have another artistic activity you like? Go do it. Your brain is actually asking to rest.

    That's what I think, anyway. :-)

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  7. First, thanks for coming by my blog and leaving a comment. So nice to "meet" you.
    I've been here, where you are, before and can relate. Have you tried music? Sometimes listening to music can spark a scene, or a feeling, or a dialog I hadn't thought of before. I know you won't lose hope in yourself and your abilities because you are still writing and getting great feedback on that writing. I hope you won't lose faith in your muse. Sometimes she gets tired too! Music has often saved me from throwing it all away, and, when that scene or feeling or dialog comes, your muse will kick right into hyper drive, so look out and be careful what you ask for!! Good luck Rachna!

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  8. That sounds awful...what can I do to help? Let me know Rachna:) I'm sure we can lure your muse back ASAP! :)

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  9. Which paper are you writing for Rachna? Do send me the link.

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  10. Sometimes I have to just wait around for inspiration. Be patient, it'll come back.

    www.modernworld4.blogspot.com

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  11. I tend to try working on something unrelated to writing for a while. Even if it's menial like cleaning, it can help with recharging.

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  12. Wow! Didn't know you write in papers... Great work dear.. Keep going :-)

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  13. I write something. If I waited for my muse, I'd never write anything. She's totally unpredictable.

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  14. I've spent the better part of two months doodling, freewriting, clustering, visualizing, writing letters from my characters, and taking deep breaths. And just yesterday some of the missing pieces in my WIP seemed to fall into place! So please don't get discouraged. There are stories in you just waiting to come out. You just have to find what works for you...

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  15. I look for inspiration in movies or books. Music also helps me sometimes. Amazingly enough, there is one thing that never fails to catch my muse. The treadmill.

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  16. I've been going through this for quite a while now. I have no answer.

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  17. I think most people experience this,but I don't think anyone has a guaranteed answer to it. Mostly a matter for waiting for the feeling to pass, I think.

    mood
    Moody Writing

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  18. Hi friends..thanks for your advice. I am listening to each and every one of you and am trying to read, listen to music and catch up with other things. This weekend I will try and not stress about my trilogy. I am sure that this separation from my muse is temporary and he will be back in action soon :)

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  19. When that happens I switch to another project and let the first one rest for a while, or I read a lot. Sometimes, inspiring books help me to find an answer. While I read those books, my mind plays with the idea of the project I am stuck with. It is a very enigmatic process, but it works.

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  20. It's tough when the muse takes a vacation. She'll be back, though!

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  21. I am sure your muse will return. You are a writer, after all, and it is never far away. It simply cannot be. :)

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  22. It sounds like your muse either needs a break or something isn't working in the trilogy, and your muse is trying to tell you that. Take a deep breath. It'll come back. :)

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  23. I found fly paper and Lucky Charms works wonders for getting your muse to come back and stay.

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  24. That's fantastic about the fan mail. that also brightens my day.

    Your muse will come back to you.

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  25. Oh Rachna, I know just what you mean! I've been dealing with the same problem. I find that taking babe steps helps. Giving myself a small goal for each day moves me through that problem phase. For example, I might tell myself that I'm not going to write a whole chapter or even a page. I'm just going to write paragraph. That way, when I do write that paragraph I feel like I accomplished something, and then inevitably the next paragraph is in my mind and it goes on until I naturally stop.

    Jai

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