Me and Calliope...We Go Way Back

Life got away from a bit the past week or so. Drama, sickness...you know, that life crap we're always dealing with.

I stepped away from a couple projects I'd been working on and when I came back, I imagined I'd face that dreaded beast. You know, that lull you feel when you come back from an extended absence from you work...that sort of disconnect from the muse?

For once, though, I didn't feel it. I jumped back into that unfinished sentence and picked up where I left off. And then I wondered what on EARTH had just happened. How was that possible? That never happens to me. I hem and haw and carry on and cry and complain until I give up and decide to start fresh.

Well, I think its a couple of things. First, I think I have a pretty fantastic muse. No, really. Normally, I hate the way creative people bitch and moan about that elusive muse. I don't really think the muse is ellusive, I think the discipline is. I thought "muse" was pretty cliche and overused. But then I found a book about Greek mythology and I thought the idea of them was pretty fascinating. Sure, they're probably figments of our imagination, but if it's a figment that gets me to finish another 5,000 words in under a day, I'm all about honoring her.

After reading up on them, I chose Calliope. Epic poetry...blah blah blah. The girl was all about getting people to tell good stories is the way I see it. So I have a couple pictures of her taped to my computer and it's almost like she's waiting for me whenever I sit down. Hard to feel abandoned by your muse when she's Scotch-taped to your monitor.

The second reason the writing returned so easily has a lot to do with the work I've done on the front side of these projects. In previous years, I was a total pantser. Big time. I'd write when I felt like it and most of the time, I lost those "amazing" ideas that would hit me in the line at the car wash.

The past few months I've really taken two rituals and ran with them. The first is the brainstorm/storyboard doodles I do. I take sheets of yellow legal pad paper (this is very, very important. legal pad paper just looks like it needs to be destroyed and messy and full of squiggles and scratches...it looks weird without it. normal computer paper looks like it should be neat and orderly and that just won't work). So, anyway, I take those sheets and on each one, I write a name, a time, a place, or a theme. For this steampunk I'm working on, I have one for the heroine, the hero, the year (1862), the villain(s), one for technology (it's a steampunk, afterall) and a few for some important secondaries.

From there I draw lines and bubbles and thoughts and connect them all. And because in a former life, in a galaxy far, far away, I liked to draw...sometimes I'll even sketch what I think they might look like on there. (They are rough...but it helps bring you right back into that moment when it is time to return to your story). When I'm as done as I think I am compiling details on each of these sheets that I want to keep and not lose, I staple them together and they these papers go EVERYWHERE with me. I am constantly adding a note about characterization or a detail of the world I'm building so I don't lose it.

In the midst of the writing (as I go), I constantly work on chapter summaries. For the most part each chapter of mine is broken down into one or two scenes (from each POV). I try to work out four or five chapters ahead in summaries so I know what I am building towards while I'm writing the current chapter. And ohmyholygoodgracious, it's helped tremendously.

So, to recap: muse + doodles+anal summarizing = easier writing.

Nice. Did you see that math right there? You should be proud.

Happy writing.

h.