Meeting Your Muse Halfway

I hear it a lot while I've been on a quest of constant self-improvement: where do you find your muse?  Or where has mine gone?  Now anyone who attempts to tell you that there's a way to summon it back is selling something, but there are exercises you can do to at least send up the signal for that muse to possibly come back.

1. Oversimplify.  A lot of what keeps people starting a blank cursor is the fear that it won't be some complex and beautiful masterpiece.  They're not wrong.  It won't be.  Like most things that require talent, it's accumulated.  Go ahead and start with a Dick and Jane story. See Dick run.  Jane goes too. Go, Jane, go!  Every masterpiece starts with the most skeletal ideas.  Build a solid framework and it can give you the confidence to go back and elaborate.  Why is he running?  What made Jane want to follow?  Why are we encouraging her?  When you ask these questions, suddenly Dick is being chased by a lion and Jane is learning to be a lion tamer. 
2. Do and don't write for an audience.  You're going to have people that want the lion to eat them both, but if you want the heroes to save the day, remember that there are other people that want that too.  Those people are your audience.  It's great to do a little strategizing on your audience, but in the beginning, I always advise writing for yourself when your muse is playing hooky.  Your muse may have a bit of stage fright and need you to act on passion rather than logic. Sure, if you're letting people read your drafts and decide to take a different direction, that's fine, but don't build a fanbase off of work that doesn't do it for you.  You are your first audience.  Consider others lightly, but follow your own instincts.
3. Exercise and you might find your marathon. My friend Liz made an entire series based off of an old creative writing exercise-- describe an object on Earth as if you are an alien seeing it for the first time.  While I was reading the beginning of her series (very sci-fi fantasy) it kept feeling familiar and, lo and behold, that was why.  I can recall learning about that exercise over a decade ago.  Yes, the beginning was a little confusing, but she did use those moments of confusion to help you understand what that character was going through and eventually you do have aha moments that link it together.  It's funny what practice can lead to.
4. Pick a card, any card.  I recently signed up to do a fantasy author anthology for next year and the challenge is a short story with the theme 'magic wand.'  I think the two words started to blend and my eyes crossed a bit, but I started to shed my brain's experience-- the obvious series like Harry Potter, of course, wasn't going to help me here.  One thing I do challenge myself to avoid is something that I know has been done before.  This is where you brainstorm.  What do wands resemble?  Chair legs, walking sticks, bed posts, you start to think of similar shapes and you'd be surprised how those one or two-word themes start to take shape.  There are plenty of pages on the internet that can help you make theme flash cards that might spark something.  Poetry magnets might even help.
5. Mind mapping. In a character design class I took, this was an exercise I found leads from #4.  Pick a theme, find similar objects, but mind maps are free-flowing things that don't just have to be words but can incorporate quick doodles, even if it's just stick-figures.  It's not important that you can draw here.  This isn't an exercise in confidence, it's about letting one idea lead to another.  When you see all of your impressions laid out, your eyes may start to dart around and you'll start to add branches to ideas from there.  You'll abandon some of those ideas, you might get stuck.  Still, it can be something you need to warm up to just that one idea that launches a creative tidal wave.
6. Step away. I know this isn't the ideal step, but if you find attempts are frustrating you, find something you enjoy.  Make coffee or tea, read an article on writing, play a game on your phone (maybe even a word game).  Writing your first draft is supposed to be fun and a little chaotic.  One point of advice I read along the way is that even when you realize you've made a factual error, resist the urge to go back and change it right away if your forward flow is still on fire.  Switching into a critical editing mode when you're in creative mode can make it really difficult to pick up again.

I've picked up a lot of great tips along the way that can help you focus on the task once your muse shows up too.  I'm always afraid she'll jump ship if I'm not diligent.  And yes, that can happen, but it's not likely unless your brain's caught on some unknown obstacle.  You might need to do a writing exercise or start rambling on a blog to find the steam to return to a bigger project.

If you're on FaceBook, add Ditrie Marie Bowie's Page.  She's a talented writer that often links helpful articles for aspiring writers.  They've helped me tremendously and they might do the same for you.

There's no one way to do it.  The only 'wrong' way is to succumb to failure.  From the time that you want to start writing, always give yourself real time to learn how to pursue it.  Despite the staggering amount of book releases out there, it's NOT easy.  Even bestselling authors struggle with confidence and obstacles.  Just remember that anything worth doing is going to be difficult.  Doubt always manages to cripple me when it comes to starting new things. I plunge in, make a mess of things, then there's this feeling that erases the petty parts and just lets me enjoy the process.  You'll know you're there when people try to interrupt you and you mumble unintelligibly or your eyes pull away with all the speed of old taffy.  You're going to have doubts but aim for that slow slide into creative hypnotism.