Diary of a Mad Editor

The idea that we have a personal muse that inspires the creation of “art” one of those old/new agey concepts that is the bread and butter of the whole self-help/writing guru/creativity coach business.

Of course, most people who think of their Muse in a contemporary sense of the word don’t really have any knowledge of the word’s origin. Most people who talk about their “muse”, for example, are clueless about Greek mythology. In the classical myths, there were originally three muses: Aoid?, which means “voice” or “song”, Melet?, which means “practice”, and Mn?m?, which means “memory”. These three goddesses were worshipped as the creative force behind all artistic creation. although the names, and number of these muses changed over time as did their origin story, the idea of a muse has persisted to this day.

I suppose to the extent that all writers have a personal motivation which drives their writing, the term “muse” is as good a name to call it as any. I generally personify that voice in my head as a cross between Frank Castle (The Punisher) and Jon Lovitz. A big, bruising, violent, wise-cracking son-of-a-bitch who comes armed with a big hangun named “Annie” and a bunch of wise-cracking bullshit. A tattooed, hard-drinking guttermouth poet who smokes White Owl cigars and comes out swinging every now and again when I get too lazy. Needless to say, I consider it a personal failure if I have to wait for my muse to swat me one across the jaw to get me to write.

I’m not real big on pushing the idea of a muse — mainly because I don’t encourage anything that can too easily become a crutch. Inspiration is not something you wait around for or something you summon. It’s something you willfully tap into. The creative process is an active process, not a passive one. As such, I have little respect for writers who wait around for their muse to inspire them. On the contrary, our muses are waiting for us to inspire them . To reach down into that creative fire with two hands and grab that fucker by the short and curlies and drag him into the light of day rather than waiting for him to wake up.