Chasing the Muse

WildOne via Pixabay

 I read an interesting blog post over the weekend about clothing and characters. The writer shared several ways that clothes (and shoes) really do make the man, especially when the man (or woman) is a fictional character. I thought immediately of Marita and her leopard print camisole and Angel, demure in pink. It also made me think about my new characters and the time I've spent on Pinterest choosing their wardrobes as a means of creating clearer pictures of them in my mind. 

This morning, I heard a song on the way to work that I hadn't heard before. The first few lines pulled me in: 

He's a phone call to his parents
He's a Bible by the bed
He's the t-shirt that I'm wearin'
He's the song stuck in my head.

I loved the way the singer created the image of him. Those first two lines say so much, and I wasn't at all surprised when, in the chorus, she described him as "one of the good ones."

This afternoon, I was I found a newsletter from The Writer in my inbox. The subject line pulled me in ("Wanna write every day in February?") so I opened it and found a 28-day word challenge with a single word as a prompt for each day in February -- a word a day to spark daily writing, starting tomorrow. I took a picture of it and sent it to a writer friend. I'm also going to print it out dig in, aiming for 28 days in a row of writing.

Sometimes writers sit down in front of their manuscripts and write lovely, flowing sentences which turn into paragraphs which turn into scenes. Other times, we stare at a blank screen, or find a million things to do instead of sitting down to face the day's challenges. On other occasions, we try to trick the muse, using clothing, song lyrics and prompts to build characters, warm up, or do whatever it takes to write something.

Most writers I know at least think about writing every day. Even on blank screen days. Some days, the muse joins us. Other days, she plays hide-and-seek or laughs in our faces. 

To quote one of my favorite children's books, "Some days are like that. Even in Australia."

Some days have been a lot like that around here lately. But, as long as I'm reading articles and analyzing song lyrics and taking pictures of writing prompt calendars, I know the spirit is willing, even if the muse is sticking her tongue out at me. 

As Scarlett would say, "Tomorrow is another day" and, tomorrow, I'm planning to write, whether the muse shows up or not.

Anything's better than a blank page.