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Maybe it's the expectations we put on ourselves as writers that turns
the Muse shy. The last thing your really want to do is to power
through and force the Muse to show up. She'll just her run and hide.
After all, how well would even Vladimir Horowitz do if he was
expected to perform unexpectedly at Carnegie Hall and hadn't even had
a chance to do his warm-up scales? And I suspect I don't have
to remind you of the times when your partner wanted to jump into bed
and you were still thinking about the commute home or something
equally romantic.
When playing the piano or having really good sex, you generally don't
want to get right down to business. A few scales or a little
foreplay is definitely required.
One way to warm up and get the words flowing is to explain (on paper)
what the story or scene is about. Unless you're one of those
writers who likes to write by dictating, don't do this (or any
writing warmup) verbally. DO IT ON PAPER. It gets your
hand moving. It gets you WRITING!
Start by writing something like, "So the idea originally was to
do a story about ______" and then go on and explain the story on
paper as if you're writing to a friend or your agent what the whole
thing is about.
You can also do this for scenes. Explain what is supposed to
happen in this scene. Who's in it? Why is it needed?
What's the point of the scene? How is it supposed to
resolve? What are the ramifications of this scene? How
does it affect each of your characters (the ones in the scene, as
well as the ones who don't make an appearance)?
Simply put, explain what is supposed to happen to who, and why.
Write it as if you're trying to explain it to someone like an
agent. After all, you ARE trying to explain it -- to yourself!
On paper.
As you work, bits of dialogue will make an appearance, you'll think
of an action one of the characters should take, and then it will all
start to flow and you will gradually seduce the Muse into returning.
Think of it as scales. Or foreplay. |
