"why i write" blogfest

Today is “Why I Write” blog day with Kayeleen at Kayeleen's Creation Corner http://kayeleenscreations.blogspot.com. Harking back to the post I just wrote, I blame my muse. I write because she has some serious oppositional-defiant tendencies...and, I discovered, she is in cahoots with the “boys in the basement”--something I never expected of her.

This week is a perfect example. I’m busy preparing a talk for a retreat next week, I’m working on a submission for my critique group, and I just learned that, in two weeks, I’ll be leaving for Spur Tree, Jamaica where I’ll spend a week working at Our Lady of Hope Children’s Home (proof that prayers are sometimes answered)…meaning that I have a lot to get ready. So I decided to ask for a day off. One day! And do you know what she told me?

“…not happening.”

And then, to prove her point, she marched me into the kitchen, sat me down, and proceeded to spell out the first 5,000 words of a story I’ve been wanting to tell for over ten years.

Somehow this doesn’t seem fair to me. I mean, my muse can take off for weeks at a time. She can disappear just when I need her most, leaving me to struggle on my own…but she won’t give me a single day off when I really need it. Then, when I have other things on my mind, she’s back…serving up inspiration like manna in the desert. What’s a writer to do?

Not only that, but “the boys” got in on the act this week,too. They sent up some pretty decent dialogue…so I know they’re also in on this. I’ll have to remember to send down some nachos and wings with the next six-pack.

My muse’s motto is, “Sit. Stay. Write. Come hell or high water." We don’t always see eye to eye on this issue, but I know she has my best interests in mind because she was looking pretty smug about herself when my critique group greeted this week’s work with unequivocal praise.

I wonder when she'll be back...and what she’ll come up with next.

jan