9 Modern Writing Muses Every Writer Needs
Writers Write is your favourite writing resource. This post is about the nine modern muses writers need to make them write.
Fellow writer, Mia Botha’s blog, The Writing Muse I Really Need, got me thinking about what motivates me to write. Right now, it’s a crippling deadline I’m trying to avoid.
According to those old Greeks, there are nine muses. What modern muse would light a fire under your bum? Here are the nine I came up with.
The Nine Writing Muses
1. #TheOprahMoment
Daydreaming about being Oprah’s Book of the Month may get you writing the latest novel or self-help book that ties into the zeitgeist of the day.
2. #BenAffleck&MeAtThePremiere
The chance of your book being turned into a Major Motion Picture with a Hollywood star playing your hero. What will you wear to the red carpet event?
3. #TheImpossibleLover
Remember the unrequited crush in high school, or the impossibly handsome guy who doesn’t give you the time of day at the water cooler or bar. He’ll have to notice you when you’re on the Forbes list for highest earning author.
4. #ShadesOfIllusion
This is a good one. Thinking about how much money EL James has made from her three torrid tomes of erotica. Just think BDSM could mean Bentley, Daimler, Sebring, Maserati. Or Bags, Diamonds, Shoes, Money. (Lots of it).
5. #Booker-ishMoments
Imagine yourself in tweed jackets with leather elbow patches or understated pearls being interviewed for The Guardian. Because you’ve just won the Booker Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, or the Commonwealth Prize.
6. #PyjamaGames
Writing is the only job you can do in your pyjamas in your bed with a cup of coffee and a box of Black Magic chocolates. No traffic. No boss. No team building golf days or paintball sessions. You could be the next Marian Keyes.
7. #DinnerPartyFavours
‘So what do you do?’ says the lady on your left. ‘Oh,’ you say breezily, ‘I’m a writer.’ Somehow people think writers make great dinner companions – there’s always a story to tell. Tell them good stories. They don’t have to be true. Just good.
8. #MoneyMoneyMoney
I know I’ve said this one before, but at the risk of sounding like an ABBA song, financial freedom to pursue your writing dreams is an awesome motivator. I don’t think it’s the wrong reason. It’s certainly the most honest.
9. #YourNameInPrint.
Nothing beats seeing your name on a story or up on the credit crawl at the end of a movie. Just being able to see tangible evidence of your creativity is a pretty heady feeling. It’s a feeling surpassed only by someone saying they like your story.
Do any of these sound familiar? What is your Muse? Why do you write? Please add yours in the comments section.
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Top Tip: Find out more about our workbooks and online courses in our shop.
0 thoughts on “9 Modern Writing Muses Every Writer Needs”
10. #IWillInspireThatDevotion: When I read fandom pages gushing about their favorite characters, pulling out quotes from the story, sighing over the hero…I’m going to write that hero.
Thank you for brightening up my day.
Enjoyed your post. Here are a few of my own:
11. #SharingMyObsession: A voracious reader, I want to write stories that will inspire others to become the same–of my writing.
12. #2SilenceTheVox: Only putting them on paper can silence the jabbering of characters who want equal time.