Meet My Muse…Symbolically

Reflections of a building in the waters of Lake Conroe, Texas. Copyright by WyoJones. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

I was digging around in the hub’s photo stream, looking for some blog inspiration and found the above photo.  Visually it is pretty cool, IMHO, but beyond that I was like, wow, that reminds me of how stories come to me. I’m a pantster, an into-the-mist, have-no-clue-what-is-going-to-happen-next novelist. So this image is kind of like a peek into my Muse’s brain.

I had thought about looking for something to represent MY brain, but yeah, that might scare you. Or me. Not that my brain doesn’t scare me right now, but no reason to boost the scare factor. It’s like the monster in the closet. If I don’t make eye contact, it’s not there, right?

When I first embarked on the grand adventure of becoming a writer, then an author, I had no idea what my Muse was like. I read a lot of books that told me what those authors’ Muses were like, but the fit was not perfect. Their lure-the-Muse techniques did not always work for me. It was kind of like, when my kids asked me to help them with their math and so I did and then they’d tell me, “That’s not how you do it, Mom.” And then they’d help me with their math.

Blink. Blink.

Anyway, ahem, writing. Sometimes reading a lot of how other people do stuff only teaches you how not to do something (not that the gurus are wrong, but they can be wrong for you if you’re not yet confident or haven’t learned your own process and Muse requirements). It took me a while to learn the pattern and language of my Muse.

That’s not to say we (the Muse and I—hmmm, future reality show?) don’t have our issues when we’re starting a new project. Which is why that photo really spoke to me. Writing a novel is a lot like building a house or something. But unlike a house, a story comes to me in bits of pieces. Sometimes I can’t see one element because another element is too bright or too there. And the image puts a pretty face on what is actually a very messy process.

And the other upside is that now I know my process, I kind of know where I am in that process and (mostly) have the patience to wade through it to where it all becomes clear. How is this for putting a good spin on something that regularly kicks my tush?

Do you have a creative process? Are you in search of one? For only a mere million dollars, I can help you with that. Okay, all I’ll really do is enter your comment into my monthly drawing for an AnaBanana gift basket ($25 value). Winner will be announced in the first blog post of the new month.

Perilously yours,

“Ms. Jones’ writing reads like poetry. Never a dull moment, GIRL GONE NOVA is replete with action and wit. A must read for all lovers of Sci Fi romance!” Single Title Reviews

Can she do the impossible one more time?

You can buy Girl Gone Nova (Project Enterprise)
right now at Amazon in digital or audio.

Prime members can borrow for free (limited time).

Girl Gone Nova will go into wider, online distribution in February!