Inspiration

It's a funny thing, inspiration. Or the Muse. Or whatever you want to call her. Okay, mine's a her. Someone else's might be a him. That doesn't matter. What matters is that she can be fickle and irritating, my best friend and my worst enemy. What fun the Muse can be!

There is almost nothing more wonderful than that initial feeling when inspiration hits. It's a warm, fuzzy feeling that reminds me of why I wanted to be a writer in the first place. I'm lucky, though. I'm one of those people who doesn't necessarily have to write down that idea the minute it strikes. Sometimes I do (and sometimes I wish I had), but for the most part - when an idea that I like strikes, I can keep it in the forefront of my mind until I can get to the computer. Which is a good thing, because if I kept paper and pens in my purse, by the time I dug them out, I'd probably forget what that idea was because I'd be too busy perusing all the crap in my purse (oh, look, sparkly purple marble! Ooohh... ahhh... wonder where it came from? Hey! There's that earring I thought I lost! And I've had this ticket stub in here for six months, really need to clean this out... now.... what was I looking for again???) Sigh.

For me, the ability to write part of the story in my head, and hold it there until I can get to the computer, is a skill I'm thankful to have, for inspiration is a fickle, fickle thing. I may not go anywhere with the idea, it might just sputter and die once it's on the hard drive. But it's there. Just in case.

Because for all of the times the Muse shows up, she calls in sick twice as often. And I don't think she's really sick. I think she's taking mental health days. And that's the worst. When I want to write, but every idea I struggle to come up with just. Sucks.

i know it's temporary. I know she'll give up and come crawling back. And that's when that hard drive gets scoured. Sometimes I find something that causes an "AHA!" moment. Sometimes I don't. But, when I hit that "AHA!" moment, guess who always comes crawling back?

Yep. That fickle, fickle Muse.

If I didn't love her, I'd probably kill her. Just because. =)