A Letter from a Writing Muse

By Larry Muse
Copyright © 2009 by Larry Muse, All Rights Reserved

My alter ego, the writer that does my typing for me, finally agreed to put on paper the rules for anyone that would like me to sit on their shoulder and whisper in their ear.   He was one of those humans that thought that he could sit on his butt in front of the computer and wait for me to arrive and force feed him a story.  Sorry, folks; that is not the way the real Muse works.

I am like a moth attracted to a flame.  I can't resist the sound of keys clicking on a keyboard.  Keep those keys clicking and I will soon arrive and dust you with the magic dust some call inspiration.

It drives me crazy when I drift by a writers' group or flitter past a page on the net and see or hear a person who claims they want to write say something like, "I don't know when I will ever finish a book.  It seems that every time I get a good start the Muse drifts away.  Then it is so long before it comes back and usually with something different.  I guess I'm doomed to never hang onto that slippery little imp long enough to finish anything." 

I don't slip away; you lose interest!  You walk away and leave me alone and then wonder where I went.  I am willing to whisper in your ear until you finish a work as long as War and Peace.  I will stay with you for years, if that's what it takes.  Between the two of us, we can accomplish the impossible.  We can create a thing of lasting wonder and beauty.  We can enthrall and enchant.  Our words, if we work together, may still be around a thousand years from now.

Have you ever read Stephen King's book On Writing?  If you have, you've seen that even my friend Stephen has at times typed junk just to keep the keys tapping.  Sure enough, after a time, like the moth to the flame I had to come.  I can't resist that sound, at least not for long.  You have to admit Stephen has written a lot of books. Some of them may not be stellar achievements, but he kept the keys tapping until I arrived and then he wrote on and on.  You can see that when he finally brings me to his work there are not many writers better.  We have had many hours of fun together and I hope we will have many more.

Do you think that I slipped up using the word 'fun'?  Don't you remember who you are talking to? It's me, the Muse of words.  Yes, fun is what I meant to say.  When I sit and whisper in your ear, sometimes my words tickle. 

Have you ever sped down a slope on skis?  The thrill of that is not any more fun than writing when we work together and we have a flow going.   Flow is mystical.   Writing, when the flow is there, is as much fun as a person can stand.  I can help you get there, but first you have to attract me with the sound of clicking keys.

Don't just sit and wait for inspiration.  Keep the keyboard hot under your fingers.  I will find you and we can create together.  Now that is something to look foreword to.  See you around the keyboard: the real Muse and the guy that types for him.