Member-only story
Noticing Your Muse
Pay attention to the quiet voice of inspiration
This post is based on an excerpt from The Writer’s Process Workbook-an interactive guide to exploring and optimizing your personal writing process. This comes from the section on learning to welcome (and support) the Muse in your writing.
Creativity isn’t a gift from the gods—it’s a product of our minds. And by learning to make room for it in busy days, we can enrich our writing and our lives.
Let’s refer to the creative systems within us as the Muse. The Muse embodies the mental processes that help you find the perfect analogy, a fascinating story, or an unusual approach to your topic.
The Muse is the seat of creativity and combines many processes, including:
- Associative thinking
- Intuition
- Empathy
- Brainstorming
- Contemplation/mind-wandering
It may seem like the Muse lives outside of our direct control.
We cannot force creative insights to happen, but we can invite the Muse into our lives. And the first step is to pay attention to the Muse when it shows up, and to welcome it with open arms.
