Writers Block: A Dialogue With My Muse
My monthly newsletter includes updates on my various projects, a list of agents and publishers who have recently opened as well as a Dialogue With My Muse, in which a (fictional) version of me writes while struggling with the voices in his head. It's a fun way to teach lessons in creative writing while avoiding a dry lecture.
Here is a sample dialogue.
Open on me sitting on my ugly yellow sofa staring at my laptop.
My muse lays face-down on the floor, unconscious (or possibly dead).
ME: Come on!
MUSE: *Snores*
ME: Give me something.
MUSE: *Snores again*
ME: A short story…. half a flash fiction…. Some vague concept.
MUSE: *Kicks in their sleep like a dog chasing rabbits.*
ME: What? What is that? What're you trying to tell me?
MUSE: *Stops kicking.*
ME: *Pokes Muse with stick* Come on!
MUSE: *No response*
ME: *Clashes Symbols* Wake up!
MUSE: *Dead as a log*
ME: Just give me a sentence! *Sets off a nuclear explosion that desolates continents and shifts the earth off its axis*
MUSE: *Rolls over and sighs like a fat lazy cat.*
ME: Fine! If that's the way you're going to be I'll just go wash the dishes. *Puts laptop away, heads toward the kitchen.*
MUSE: *Whispers something in their sleep*
ME: *Runs back to couch and opens laptop.* What was that?
MUSE: *Dead again.*
ME: If you're going to be an ass just keep on sleeping. I don't need you.
*Closes laptop, walks into kitchen and starts doing dishes.*
MUSE (sits up): WHAT IF IN CHAPTER TWELVE YOU REVEAL THE NARRATOR HAS BEEN POSSESSED BY THE GHOST OF HIS GRANDMOTHER THE WHOLE TIME?
ME: (Runs back and starts typing): That's great! Fantastic! Thank you! Thank you! Now how do the others find out he's possessed?
MUSE: *Collapses….Snores*
In Short
If you're struggling with writer's block just walk away, do a mindless task like washing the dishes, folding laundry or going for a walk. The more you try to force it the more your ideas will avoid you.