Hopefully your muse isn’t this terrifying, unless you’re writing horror, then she should scare the bejesus out of you.
What does your muse look like? What does he/she sound like? Do they have a tangible voice? Mine does. You might think me quite mad after this blog post, and I could hardly blame you. But my muse is a young man, he’s a bit earnest sounding, very British, and he talks while I’m trying to write.
It’s a bit annoying, actually.
But he does talk, and so I write it down and get on with it, or nothing would ever get done. It’s only been recently that he developed more of an actual “voice”, around the same time that literary agents began telling me that they loved my voice. The first time I’ve actually HAD a writing voice. Because voice is such a dastardly hard thing to pin down, isn’t it? It develops only when it wants to, and sometimes it seems, quite suddenly. Before that you’re confused, floating around, trying out first this voice and then that, like you’re trying on hats.
And then something clicks, eventually – sometimes years and years later – and you’ve found it. That sweet spot, that “just right” feeling, that place where the words actually flow instead of being jerked out of you painfully, one syllable at a time.
There are some of you who have woken up one day, and to your shock, found your muse fully clothed and substantial, standing at the foot of the bed, tapping her foot impatiently, demanding that you get up and write. Tell me, what does he or she look like? How do they sound?
Have you found him or her yet, or is your muse still a vaguely fuzzy blob that hovers over one shoulder as you try on hats?
I imagine mine looks something like this. And he likes tea and biscuits an awful lot.
If you know what your muse looks like, post a link to the photo in the comments below, or create your own blog post and let me know, I’ll link back to it in the bottom of this one.
photo credit: <a href=”https://www.flickr.com/photos/cedwardbrice/5929443754/”>CEBImagery.com</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/”>cc</a>
E. latimer 
I think I’m a bit to early in the writing game to have developed a voice, although I imagine someone else would have to tell me whether or not I have a voice, because trying to discover what mine sounds like on my own? Ah, no, I don’t think I would be able to. The one thing I receive most praise/feedback on in my writing though, seems to be about my characters. I’ve been told they’re very “Real” and “believable” and that their relationships with other characters were also very real and believable. So perhaps I’m heading in the right direction? Who knows?
PS: I would absolutely love to have tea and biscuits with your voice and just listen to him talk! XD
He doesn’t shut up! haha. I imagine him to be a bit playful, something along the lines of Earnest, in the Importance to being Earnest. And for you, if you haven’t pinned down your voice yet, you will. For years I had lit agents tell me my voice was “uneven” like it was developing but it wasn’t there yet, in the meantime, you do (as you say) develop strengths in other places, like character development and plot (I still struggle with plot in a big way).
I don’t believe I’ve had the luck in forming a voice yet…but then again I don’t think I would even know if I did! It seems the kind of thing someone needs to point out, because reading over my own writing I can’t see if it has a distinctive style or anything, it’s just…what I wrote. If that makes sense 😛
The one thing I’ve received the most praise/feedback on in my writing though, is my characters. I’ve been told they’re very “real” and “believable” and that their relationships with other characters was very real and believable too, so I suppose I’m going in the right direction?
PS: I’d absolutely love to sit down and have a chat with your voice over tea and biscuits, he seems like an exceedingly interesting chap 😉
I’m not sure if I have found him/her yet. Or maybe I have several. Depends on the story I’m in. The characters live in me. Like voices. So one is a dark sexy guy, one is a sultry curvy goddess, one is a alpha hottie, one is a crazy broad who likes to chop up boy bands. So I dont think you’re crazy at all. Me, definitely.
I think I have several. 😉 It changes with how I’m writing or what I’m writing. The characters speak to me. Like a bunch of people live in my head and if I don’t write, out of my mouth. The just showed up one day. Weird. So you are not crazy. You should give him a name.
A name is an excellent idea! I never thought of that! And I love the idea of having several muses that switch out depending on what you’re writing! 😀
Psst it’s just San here, you know, lemonadendsnowflakes on wattpad? Yeah her. I’m all anonymous. Shhh don’t tell.
Apart from that, sadly enough, my muse has retracted into his/her/its gray-hovering-blob form when he/she/it used to be pretty prominent a few years ago. TT^TT Having a muse is like having a friend and now I am so lonelyyyyy. I am so lonelyyyyy. I have nobaaaady. All on my owwwwwn.
I’m a little too early in the game to have a voice, at least a good one. So right now mine is a very pretentious educated man who likes to flaunt his vocabulary a bit too much.