Turning on your muse when it feels you can't squeeze anymore out of it
Some days, my muse for writing just turns completely off. I find sitting in front of the computer screen and wishing something to come just doesn't work. I saw a cartoon where a writer was doing just that. It was funny, but I don't think that cartoon character ever got her idea.
Sometimes when my muse goes off it's because my brain has worked too hard and has fainted. Give it a rest. My brain is constantly going, and even when I sleep it's going nuts, so sleep sometimes doesn't do it for me.
I've picked up cross stitching. Some people find it impossible to do, but it certainly empties my head, and on top of that, I come out with new Christmas ornaments, pictures for decorating, magnets, etc.... It's a productive way of not thinking. I also keep the sampler by my computer or notebook, so when I get stuck, I pick up the cross stitch. My brain is clear and I can focus. By the time I'm done with a row or two, I usually have the answer to my problem.
Another way I empty my brain, but is in no way productive, I play video games. Simple ones though, nothing that requires strategy, puzzles or anything like that, unless I know the game like the back of my hand. No wonder video gamers have low I.Q. But that's beside the point. It serves my tired brain well.
Leave the writing room. Go out for fresh air. Have a nice place you like to go? Go there, and do nothing at all but sight see. If the college student has to drop the books for a day so they can do better at school, so does the writer. Sometimes you just need a serious break. When you come back, you'll have fodder for your muse. You've got a writer's brain, so you'll always pick up fodder like a sponge soaks up water. No work or deliberate thinking involved.
Do something physical. Who cares what it is, as long as it empties your brain and gets your heart pumping. We can't have a bunch of dead writers because they died of heart failure. Death is not a good way to turn off your brain. Exercise puts a glow in your cheeks. Have you seen those pictures of writers in a dark room, pale as ghosts and blood shot eyes? Talk about creepy. We may have creepy stories to tell, but goodness, don't look like you came out of your own horror story.
Typing on the computer makes my brain think a million thoughts a second. You can't sprint all the time and expect never to get tired. Pick up a slower medium of writing. It'll force your brain to slow to a walk. Notebooks are always fun. You take them wherever you go. I don't know about you, but a pretty pen and a crisp notebook spurs my muse to write beautiful things. Ideas come, you take your time to write down something beautiful, and work on your penmanship. Think about it, if doctors worked on their penmanship, we'd all know what's written on that slip of paper you take to the pharmacy.
Sometimes what you write with is just ugly. Can you seriously create in a gray room with no windows and only a computer in front of you? I can't. I can't even keep a journal if the journal cover is ugly. I like pretty things, so if pretty things are what I have to buy or make, I will. Everybody's got a quirk. No shame in hiding it. We're artists that can do wonders with an intangible medium.
So get out there, have some fun, rejuvenate your brain, and come back with presents for your muse. It'll be fantastic.
Sometimes when my muse goes off it's because my brain has worked too hard and has fainted. Give it a rest. My brain is constantly going, and even when I sleep it's going nuts, so sleep sometimes doesn't do it for me.
I've picked up cross stitching. Some people find it impossible to do, but it certainly empties my head, and on top of that, I come out with new Christmas ornaments, pictures for decorating, magnets, etc.... It's a productive way of not thinking. I also keep the sampler by my computer or notebook, so when I get stuck, I pick up the cross stitch. My brain is clear and I can focus. By the time I'm done with a row or two, I usually have the answer to my problem.
Another way I empty my brain, but is in no way productive, I play video games. Simple ones though, nothing that requires strategy, puzzles or anything like that, unless I know the game like the back of my hand. No wonder video gamers have low I.Q. But that's beside the point. It serves my tired brain well.
Leave the writing room. Go out for fresh air. Have a nice place you like to go? Go there, and do nothing at all but sight see. If the college student has to drop the books for a day so they can do better at school, so does the writer. Sometimes you just need a serious break. When you come back, you'll have fodder for your muse. You've got a writer's brain, so you'll always pick up fodder like a sponge soaks up water. No work or deliberate thinking involved.
Do something physical. Who cares what it is, as long as it empties your brain and gets your heart pumping. We can't have a bunch of dead writers because they died of heart failure. Death is not a good way to turn off your brain. Exercise puts a glow in your cheeks. Have you seen those pictures of writers in a dark room, pale as ghosts and blood shot eyes? Talk about creepy. We may have creepy stories to tell, but goodness, don't look like you came out of your own horror story.
Typing on the computer makes my brain think a million thoughts a second. You can't sprint all the time and expect never to get tired. Pick up a slower medium of writing. It'll force your brain to slow to a walk. Notebooks are always fun. You take them wherever you go. I don't know about you, but a pretty pen and a crisp notebook spurs my muse to write beautiful things. Ideas come, you take your time to write down something beautiful, and work on your penmanship. Think about it, if doctors worked on their penmanship, we'd all know what's written on that slip of paper you take to the pharmacy.
Sometimes what you write with is just ugly. Can you seriously create in a gray room with no windows and only a computer in front of you? I can't. I can't even keep a journal if the journal cover is ugly. I like pretty things, so if pretty things are what I have to buy or make, I will. Everybody's got a quirk. No shame in hiding it. We're artists that can do wonders with an intangible medium.
So get out there, have some fun, rejuvenate your brain, and come back with presents for your muse. It'll be fantastic.
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