Learning to Find the Muse, by Caris Roane

I’ve set for myself some goals this year that are tougher than any goals I’ve ever set for myself. Not only will I be creating a new trilogy for St. Martin’s Press, separate from my Guardians of Ascension series, but I’ll also be self-publishing two separate novella series.

At least, these are my hopes, plans, and ambitions.

One of the novella series will be a continuation of BRINK OF ETERNITY. The other is a new vampire-based novella series in which nine hunky vampire warriors struggle to keep each of their 'realms' from falling to the enemy.

All that adds up to a lot of writing!

As the year progresses, I’ll definitely let you know how the various projects are going but let me just say: so far so good. But as always, knock on wood!

I know you’re probably thinking I’m crazy because this is a truly heavy writing schedule. But it’s also something I’ve wanted to do for years and something I found I couldn’t do while raising my kids. Believe it or not, they actually needed my attention while they were growing up. Imagine that!

So, as I embarked on this year’s shift in focus (more words), I wondered exactly how I was going to find the inspiration to support yes, so many words!

Well, besides the usual sources of inspiration: music, books, movies, TV, beautiful art, and my first grandbaby, I began to wonder if it was possible to tap into the muse more easily, more readily, and with perhaps a greater degree of faith than I’d previously experienced.

What has come to me in these first four weeks of writing my tush off, is that the most important thing for me, when it comes to finding the muse, is to just relax. I mean really relax.

I was telling my daughter recently that when I was a new mom, I learned pretty early that one of the best things I could do for myself and for my newborn was to get into as relaxed a space as I could, that all good things would flow from there.

So I wondered, could the muse be found in such a way, by really letting go, easing the tension out of my shoulders, allowing myself to take breaths that were deeper than the first two inches of my lungs? Could I find the muse this way?

I have to say that having done this for a couple of weeks now, I’m encouraged. The words are flowing better than ever, the ideas are developing in ways that make me happy, and I’m not nearly so tense. The muse and I can actually be in the same room together now without getting into a big hair-pulling fight, lol!

What do you do to find the muse, to find that blessed place of inspiration when you sit down to write? Do you have a ritual that puts you in the right frame of mind? Do you take deep cleansing breaths? Do you light incense and pray?

I’d love to know.

Please share your thoughts with me. As writers we’re all in this together and I’ll bet there’s something you do right now that can be a huge blessing to another writer out there in the blogosphere, so share away!

Many Blessings,

Caris

www.carisroane.com and carisroane@gmail.com