Comments on: Instinct and the Muse http://cathschaffstump.com/archives/2010/02/23/instinct-and-the-muse/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=instinct-and-the-muse I'd Rather Be at a Book Signing Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:36:54 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Catherine Schaff-Stump http://cathschaffstump.com/archives/2010/02/23/instinct-and-the-muse/comment-page-1/#comment-1245 Catherine Schaff-Stump Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:13:57 +0000 http://cathschaffstump.com/?p=2501#comment-1245 And thank you, Sandy. I'll be happy to link to your post as well in the efforts of continuing my ongoing muse article collection. Catherine And thank you, Sandy. I'll be happy to link to your post as well in the efforts of continuing my ongoing muse article collection.

Catherine

]]> By: Strangling My Muse http://cathschaffstump.com/archives/2010/02/23/instinct-and-the-muse/comment-page-1/#comment-1243 Strangling My Muse Wed, 03 Mar 2010 07:53:26 +0000 http://cathschaffstump.com/?p=2501#comment-1243 Hi Catherine, I just came across this post about your muse and enjoyed reading it! I wrote a somewhat tongue-in-cheek post about my muse last year: <a href="http://stranglingmymuse.wordpress.com/2009/05/29/my-muse-strangles-me/">My Muse Strangles Me</a>. I agree it's important to feed your muse with regular creativity. And I can certainly relate to your discussion about the interaction between Professional!Cath and Artist!Cath. I find incorporating bursts of creativity throughout my days to be the best way to take care of my creative self and keep the writing flowing. These bursts include my own writing, spending time in nature, reading things that inspire me, and doing just about anything else that makes me feel fully alive. Thanks for the thought-provoking post. ~Sandy Ackers Hi Catherine, I just came across this post about your muse and enjoyed reading it! I wrote a somewhat tongue-in-cheek post about my muse last year: My Muse Strangles Me.

I agree it's important to feed your muse with regular creativity. And I can certainly relate to your discussion about the interaction between Professional!Cath and Artist!Cath. I find incorporating bursts of creativity throughout my days to be the best way to take care of my creative self and keep the writing flowing. These bursts include my own writing, spending time in nature, reading things that inspire me, and doing just about anything else that makes me feel fully alive. Thanks for the thought-provoking post.

~Sandy Ackers

]]> By: Catherine Schaff-Stump http://cathschaffstump.com/archives/2010/02/23/instinct-and-the-muse/comment-page-1/#comment-1214 Catherine Schaff-Stump Wed, 24 Feb 2010 16:40:22 +0000 http://cathschaffstump.com/?p=2501#comment-1214 Thanks, Tessa. I love the idea of the muse as Odin. I can see you composing with two ravens perched on your shoulders. Thanks, Tessa.

I love the idea of the muse as Odin. I can see you composing with two ravens perched on your shoulders.

]]> By: Tessa Gratton http://cathschaffstump.com/archives/2010/02/23/instinct-and-the-muse/comment-page-1/#comment-1213 Tessa Gratton Wed, 24 Feb 2010 16:33:43 +0000 http://cathschaffstump.com/?p=2501#comment-1213 Like I said on Twitter, my muse is a part of me: I think of it as the part of my creative process that I don't quite understand. I sometimes refer to my muse as Odin, the norse god of poetry, magic, and death (because it feels appropriate). He doesn't give me ideas, but thinking about my process as a metaphor like that gives me the distance I sometimes need to find the problem I'm having - to fight off the block. I think of it as a relationship: I have to feed my muse by reading amazing books, by putting myself in situations to experience beauty. Because the feeling of beauty (that stab of longing when when I'm standing at the ocean or watching the sun rise) is the same feeling I get when I am doing something right with my writing. Also practice. Habit. My muse is as much of a habitual creature as I am, so although occasionally one or the other of us is tempermental, there's still the butt-in-chair aspect of opening up to him. Like I said on Twitter, my muse is a part of me: I think of it as the part of my creative process that I don't quite understand. I sometimes refer to my muse as Odin, the norse god of poetry, magic, and death (because it feels appropriate). He doesn't give me ideas, but thinking about my process as a metaphor like that gives me the distance I sometimes need to find the problem I'm having - to fight off the block.

I think of it as a relationship: I have to feed my muse by reading amazing books, by putting myself in situations to experience beauty. Because the feeling of beauty (that stab of longing when when I'm standing at the ocean or watching the sun rise) is the same feeling I get when I am doing something right with my writing.

Also practice. Habit. My muse is as much of a habitual creature as I am, so although occasionally one or the other of us is tempermental, there's still the butt-in-chair aspect of opening up to him.

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