Friday, January 25, 2008
"Putting My Muse to Bed"
I wonder how many hours a night Jack Sparrow sleeps. Pirates do some of their best pillaging at night, but since a pirate doesn’t punch a time clock I assume they have the next day to sleep off the excess from the night before. I may be a pirate, but I don’t share the same luxuries. I have a real life that demands me to serve many roles. It’s impossible to be a mother, a nurse, a wife, and a writer and indulge in too much of the pillage.
I am proud to say that I have started my WIP. With some brainstorming, and creative process I’ve finally developed a story that I feel can fly. It took me a long time to reach this point. In order to embrace a storyline, I have to believe in the conflict as well as the resolution. I have never attempted to write a story that I’ve felt in my gut that it’s the one-not until now.
I’ve reached one of the pinnacles of a writer’s journey. I should be happy, and I am, until its 3 a.m. and I can’t turn off the dialog and character scenes drifting through my mind. My muse is spending her nights as a pillaging pirate, and she’s not demonstrating a desire to stop anytime soon. I require at least four to five hours of sleep a night in order to function. I haven’t slept five hours since the weekend.
Don’t get me wrong- I love my hero whispering what he wants to do to my heroine in my ear, but can’t he tell me before I go to bed?
I’m not complaining, because I know at some point I’m going to hit a brick wall and my muse is going to be some where in the West Indies with Jack. I ’m glad that I’m so ate up with this WIP. It’s exciting; I brainstorm in the shower, on the way to work, and at work. I carry a notebook and I’m continually writing down my thoughts, and listening to the flight of ideas in my head. In the past week, I’ve written the opening scene, and somewhere along the way, I’ve managed to fall in love with one of my heroes.
It’s just a shame that I have a real job that requires me to be up at 5:30 a.m. bright- eyed and bushy- tailed. This week it hasn’t happened. I’ve been functioning at near zombie status, and I wake up when it’s time to go home and start writing again. When bedtime rolls around, I’m still having conversations with my hero. I finally say enough is enough; I save my WIP, and shut down my computer. I turn on the electric blanket, kick off my Hello Kitty slippers, and crawl into bed. It sounds like a cocoon of happiness, but when I roll over my hero is smiling at me in the dark. If he wasn’t a fictional character this wouldn’t be a bad thing- can you say eye candy? My heroine is a lucky woman, and the things he wants to do to her is enough to set the sheets on fire.
Tonight when he starts whispering sweet nothings about her in my ear, I’m using the line on him that always works with my DH. “Not tonight honey, I have a date with a pillow.” I just hope he takes no for an answer…zzzzzzzzz.
Do you experience muse overload? Have you ever fell in love with one of your heroes?
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25 comments:
Shh. Don't tell anyone. A couple of times I've had to call in sick to stay home and write. What's that you say? My boss can google, find this out and fire me? Damn. I was sick, really I was. Highly contagious.
Oh Maggie! I've not done that--if we have a sick day, we have to bring in a doctors note...lol!
I have gone into work a zombie from writing too late. But sometimes your characters don't stop pestering until their story is on paper (or in word).
I adore all my heroes. And if they were real... well we won't go there! LOL
But overall, I love it when the muse won't shut up. The busier I am with writing and work the happier [read--less bitchy] I am...
Maggie I have to admit I've contemplated calling off work this week:) *cough* *sniffle*
I agree Tiff-I am my happiest when I'm writing, but I wish my muse had a shut off valve so I could turn it off and on at will.
I'm glad to see someone else adores their heroes!
I'm so with you on this one. Except my muse shuts up all the time. The only time she seems to wake up at all is when I'm trying to sleep. Annoying as hell.
I've had to get out of bed around midnightish and write stuff down. Especially if a new story shows up out of nowhere.
I do love my heroes but I love them for my heroines. I don't really lust after them but then I don't write those incredibly hot, uber-Alphas y'all do. Believe me, I can totally see the lusting there. LOL!
Terrio~I highly recommend including an alpha male in your WIP:)
My muse will shut up when I need her the most, I have faith in her.
Ah, my boys are alpha when they have to be. Bryan is a weight lifting chef for goodness sake and though Max is young, he's very good at giving *commands* in a verra sexy way.
Mine just aren't UBER guys. LOL! And I can't write those guys because they would just piss me off. I'm too Alpha myself to put up with them. *g*
I fall in love with my heroes all the time. Well, at least two of them. The really naughty ones.
Broderick was rather amusing too...and he was much more Beta.
I put earplugs in when I go to bed at night, so I can tune out my muse pretty fast. If not, I just start writing long hand and my muse gets so frustrated with this method, that after a page or two of writing this way she lets me go back to bed. She and I aren't really talking a lot right now.
I wish I could call into work. Even when I go on vacation I'm on call. I take work with me. This is what you get when you've got everything memorized.
But I want to. I wanted to call in today. I finally got the first chapter right in my WIP and wrote like the wind last night before I went to bed (midnight) and was back up at 5. I need to find a way to be rich. Quick.
I'm like Tiff, I love when the muse won't shut up but they mostly don't shut up about stuff that happens later on. It's never the beginning *sigh* Yesterday, all day, it was my heroine and her younger sister arguing. My heroine in a high speed car chase. My heroine doing anything else but starting off the beginning of this story. LOL
And I love my heroes. I'm just torn who I love more. Now I can see why JE has a hard time if she likes them both.
Great blog honey!
Terrio~I understand the dislike of uber alpha males. At times they piss me off too, but I like the fact that they don't take any crap from anyone. I like the pairing of a strong minded heroine and an alpha male-the spark factor is over the top.
Cap'n~I'll have to try the earplugs, and longhand...Cutter behaved last night, he must have felt my pain.
*LOL* That's so true. The muse has so much to say about crap that goes on eons later in the story.
Heroine in a car chase. *ha!*
It was a very intense scene. Here I am trying to write about the twin, and Sadie is screaming at Ash on her cell phone to help her, that she's got her younger sister's daughter in the car.
But she was also listening to Pantera. *shaking head* She's SO not the good influence type. LOL
Great Blog, Lis!
My muse is pretty closed mouth. She is more like that coworker who, while brainstorming a project, doesn't give any new ideas but murmurs, "oh, that's good...." as if that is good enough input.
LOL A stubborn muse! Mine gets like that in the spring. It's all that nice weather. Makes her want to move to Bermuda.
Lisa - it's sort of like historicals for me. I LOVE reading them. Started with them and still adore them. But the thought of writing one makes me ill. LOL! Same goes for Alphas. I'll read about them all day. Just don't make me write one. *g*
Sin I agree, I totally understand Janet's demise. How do you pick between two heroes, it's not easy.But we both know who she should pick:)
I'm glad you wrote like the wind last night. Good for you!
*hugs*
I thought about what you said last night. I should just go for it. *hug*
Terrio~I am with you about historicals. I adore them, but thinking about writing one gives me hives.
Sin~Go for it, and make it good:)
Marnee~ I know my muse is just teasing me right now. Soon she will be in her bikini,sipping Cosmopolitans on a beach somewhere. When I try to channel her, she'll say who the hell are you?
Frisky muses. What a job, huh? Wow, who needs a story idea? How about a heroine who's a muse. :)
LOL. Now that would make a great paranormal. I've thought about writing one just so I can wring her neck. LOL
That's been done actually. Though in the one I read it wasn't done well. *g*
Really? I must not get out much. LOL
The muse heroine was done. Not sure about the neck wringing part. LOL!
But the muse as a secondary in a chick lit/para where she constantly lets the freelance-writing heroine down would be so funny.
I just want to wring her neck. I'm not funny though. It would be too hard for me to write without wanting to pull my hair out. I'm too sarcastic for a chick lit/paranormal.
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