Do Writers Still Have Muses?

 

"O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend

The brightest heaven of invention."

 

William Shakespeare

 

 

The reason I chose to lead my book of quotations on writing and the literary life with Will Shakespeare (I call him Will as we're old friends) is that his plays and poems broke the mold in his era in history.

 

Also, I appreciate the invocation.

 

Rx: Repeat each morning thrice with full-throated zeal before striking one's finger upon the keys of one's computer. Then, commence.

 

No writer faces the blank page without wondering what comes next. Will it be wonderful? Will it be awful? Is it going to flow smoothly? Or splutter and stall? While there is nothing like the "heaven of invention," there's also nothing like the hell of sameness and banality, for that matter.

 

To become a self-mastered wordsmith or master craftsperson (to be distinguished from a masturbatory wordsperson), one must learn how to incubate the Muse of one's own invention.

 

Good luck to you, my friend, in your writing today!

 

See The Writer's Book of Inspiration: Quotes on Writing & the Literary Life page 7.