The Creative Muse | Eve Goodnight

Eve Goodnight / The Creative Muse

From Eve Goodnight:

I wrote this article on Writing Habits to help people like you make progress in the quest to start freelance writing or improve their

writing. You are welcome to share it with anyone you think it would benefit. Please don't change it any way.

For more writing tips you can visit EveGoodnight.com or join my free newsletter.

http://EveGoodnight.com/creative-muse

http://EveGoodnight.com/newsletter


The Writer's Muse, Mythical Creature or Elusive Creative

Ally?

The origin of the Muses is a little fuzzy. Who are they? How many of

them are there? There are no clear answers and many interpretations.

In Greek mythology, The Muses are the goddesses of the inspiration of

literature, science and the arts. No, literally. The Greeks believed that

an artist was merely a skilled laborer who successfully channeled their

Muse spirit. They believed that it was the Muse who supplied the

"genius" in the work, or not. While modern, analytical scientists have

abandoned their muse, writers and artists have not entirely forsaken

her.



"Just Do Your Job."

There is no shortage of writers complaining about lack of inspiration.

But to be fair, writing, and other creative endeavors, is not like a lot of

other jobs. When I was a waitress, in my younger years (ahem), I might

have shown up on Saturday morning for work feeling the effects of a

late Friday night out. I could muscle through and get my job done,

despite my pounding head. My writing muscle is not so easily coerced

into submission. While I am now a little wiser and don't often suffer

from youthful overindulge, there are plenty of complaints to keep from

optimal writing form. It’s amazing how productive I can be at

housework or gardening while looking for inspiration for a writing

project.



“Don’t be daunted. Just do your job. Continue to show up for

your piece of it, whatever that might be. If your job is to

dance, do your dance. If the divine, cockeyed genius

assigned to your case decides to let some sort of

wonderment be glimpsed, for just one moment through your

efforts, then ‘Ole!’ And if not, do your dance anyhow. And

‘Ole!’ to you, nonetheless. I believe this and I feel that we

must teach it. ‘Ole!’ to you, nonetheless,just for having the

sheer human love and stubbornness to keep showing up.”

- Elizabeth Gilbert, TedTalk


http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius


I have a special connection to Elizabeth Gilbert. She doesn’t know it,

but our paths crossed at two important times in my life. The first time

neither of us knew about it until after the fact. I was in Rome at the

same time that Gilbert was in Rome while writing her famous book,

“Eat, Pray, Love.” I wasn’t running away from heartache like she was, I

was there for work. But I was feeding my soul with the beauty, people

and food of this amazing city, just like she was. Later, I was given her

book while on strict bed rest in the hospital trying desperately not to

let my daughter be born prematurely. It was an incredibly scary time

and I was far away from family and friends, very much alone. Gilbert’s

book was the only one I was actually able to focus on enough to

comprehend. “Eat, Pray, Love,” and meditation were the only things

that kept me sane. So when she gave this TED talk, I listened.



My Muse is called Clarence

When I'm really desperate and struggling with a project, I think of

Gilbert's interpretation of the Muse and Clarence. You remember

Clarence, right? In the opening scene in "It's a Wonderful Life" Joseph

and Clarence are watching poor George Bailey, at the end of his rope,

ready to throw away his life. Clarence the Angel gets assigned to the

case to help George. In the end George still does all the work, but

Clarence facilitates the "miracle" in this story that never fails to make

me cry. I like to think of my Muse like this. I show everyday and I write.

At some point, invariably the doubts and fears set in. I hit a wall. I'm

flailing. I know, at this point, if I keep at it, Clarence will eventually

show up and point me in the right direction. But only if I’m doing my

job, putting words on electronic paper, can Clarence do his job and

help me.



Don’t be so Hard on Yourself

As Elizabeth Gilbert also points out, it’s also nice to be able to

give myself a break when my writing is not it’s best. Clarence

was busy and didn’t come that day the only adjective I could think

of was "good." It doesn’t necessarily mean I’m a failure and will

never write anything "good" again.



Muse On Demand

But what if there was a way we could by showing up and writing,

inspire The Muse to visit, on demand? In a recent podcast, Tim

Ferriss interviewed Josh Waitzkin. In case you don't know, he's

the subject of "Looking for Bobby Fischer." Josh was a young

chess prodigy who definitely channeled his muse. But he didn't

stop there, he applied his way of learning, thinking and being to

martial arts and has been very successful there, as well.



“If you can really train people to get systematic

about nurturing their creative process, it’s

unbelievable what can happen. Most of that

work relates to getting out of your own way at a

very high level. It’s unlearning, it’s the constant

practice of subtraction, reducing friction.” –

Josh Waitzkin



He wrote about his creative process in" The Art

of Learning." You can design your environment

and tweak your routines and habits to release

your creativity and coax The Muse to visit

regularly.



Beyond Just Showing Up

I've recently adapted my morning routine to begin with

30 minutes of writing. I wrote about that process here. I write

upon waking without any external input. No email, no Facebook

and no conversations. It's quickly becoming my most authentic

and personal writing.


http://EveGoodnight.com/writing-habits


ConclusionThrough mindfulness we can become aware of our routines and

modify them to do our best work when we are at our natural

mental peaks, like after a break. A break can be waking in the

morning or after lunch. Most people go straight to the email or

social media at these times. This puts you in a reactive mode.

Answering emails is not conducive to creativity nor is it a

welcome mat for The Muse. Set yourself up for a visit from The

Muse by showing up and writing when she is most likely to visit.

You still have to do the work, write the words, but you may find

that getting the distractions and nurturing your creativity will

yield astonishing results.



The Weekly Newsletter (It’s Free!)

You’ll get helpful strategies to improve

your writing process and results.

Sign up now and you’ll learn how to:

Use freelance writing to earn money

while becoming a better writer in Write

Your Own Check: Part One

Make space in your life for writing

Build on your freelancing success with

your own projects

Be more prolific than you ever thought

possible

Plus I’ll share my indie publishing

experiences and lessons with you.

No spam, ever. I email once per week,

occasionally twice. I’ll never share your

email with anyone and you can

unsubscribe at anytime.


http://EveGoodnight.com/newsletter

The Creative Muse | Eve Goodnight

Self Improvement

Transcript of The Creative Muse | Eve Goodnight