Those of you who know me well know I name everything. My RV is Wanda. My little Toyota Yaris is Bebe. My computer is Toby. Now, I've named my muse and she is proudly called Shirley.
Okay, I know this is a little wierd for most people. But what can I say? I need to name things to relate to them somehow. A name requires a personality. Shirley is perfect for my muse. She's a bit quirky like Shirley MacLaine and has a lot of spunk. You know anyone named Shirley has to have spunk.
Anyway, one of my favorite movies of all time is The Muse, with Albert Brooks. I confess, I love every movie Albert Brooks is in. He's funny and good-looking in a quirky kind of way (there's that word quirky again)and my God, can that man whine! There's an art to whining - truly there is - and Albert has it down.
In the film, Albert is a screenwriter (been there, done that) and he's horribly blocked. Sharon Stone comes to his rescue and that of several Hollywood personalities, like Rob Reiner and Marty Scorcese, because they all believe she is a muse - one of the seven sisters that were daughters of Zeus in mythology and inspired artists of literary, dance and musical persuasions.
Well, I don't believe I have a muse. I'm absolutely certain of it, because she's come home to roost again. I woke up in the middle of the night, inspired by a new character for my novel and dictated into a tape recorder, too sleepy to get up and type. I transcribed that tape this morning and I had nearly a 1,000 words!
I've struggled to get back into my fiction writing ever since I started into journalism in 2005. Non-fiction is such a different mindset and a writer must suppress the creative side to such a great degree that it's nearly painful. Along with the long hours in Maricopa, finishing the novel I was 309 pages into wasn't going to happen.
But now Shirley's here! I'd like to think it's an alter-ego, but I think the concept of muse has to stay separate from the writer and be acknowledged. Somewhere out in the Universe, I'm sure there's a colony of would-be muses learning their trade and "earning their wings" like Clarence in It's a Wonderful Life. Now that I've convinced you of what you may have suspected all along - that I'm a bit touched in the head - I'll leave you to consider finding your own muse.
In the meantime, tonight I'm setting up my computer so that I can get up and start typing when Shirley returns!
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