Muses

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Do you believe in/have a Muse/Muses

Yes
6
46%
No
7
54%
 
Total votes: 13

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gali
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Re: Muses

Post by gali »

moderntimes wrote:I don't have that luxury, as my editor sends me a box of books per month and aside from their all being mysteries, I've got no real control on their merits ahead of time. But of course, not just good books need a review -- anything that's published should get a couple of reads and reviews, so that others might better judge whether to buy.
As I said above, I get to choose the books for reviews and I like it that way. :)
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Post by jrmoore081 »

I don't have a muse but know several writers who do. If I were able to find someone who sparked creative energy for me, I would definitely be open to having one :-)
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Post by moderntimes »

gali wrote:
moderntimes wrote:I don't have that luxury, as my editor sends me a box of books per month and aside from their all being mysteries, I've got no real control on their merits ahead of time. But of course, not just good books need a review -- anything that's published should get a couple of reads and reviews, so that others might better judge whether to buy.
As I said above, I get to choose the books for reviews and I like it that way. :)
I do in fact get partial choice, as my editor emails me and other reviewers on her "staff" a list of books and we can choose which ones to review. But other than the author's name, title, and 10-word synopsis, I'm in the dark regarding the merits of the book. So I'd say that it's about 70% "assigned" and 30% my choice.

I can of course refuse to do the review, and did so last month for the first time. I myself write modern American private detective novels, they're adult oriented, and therefore my books may have some strong scenes of crime violence, a couple of sexual encounters, and rough language, but I also try to make this flow properly and not put in stuff that's egregious, things that are for shock value only.

But the book I received was, in my estimation, trash. It seemed to deliberately use graphic and dark situations that were absolutely egregious and it turned my normally very hard-edged stomach. So I emailed my editor, told her I was tossing the book into the garbage, literally, which I did. She said that was just fine and has never pressured me to read a book that I didn't want to. Nor has she ever edited or refused any of my reviews.

But occasionally, trash bubbles up and I poked it down into the cesspool where it belonged.
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Post by Gravy »

It seems to me that creative minds are more open to the extraordinary than non-creative minds.
I think having a talent to believe is pretty much a prerequisite for the abilty to write.
If you can't convince yourself how can you convince anyone else?
This is why I choose to believe in Muses.
Or if you'd rather...Musae...
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Post by ALynnPowers »

Graverobber wrote:It seems to me that creative minds are more open to the extraordinary than non-creative minds.
I think having a talent to believe is pretty much a prerequisite for the ability to write.
If you can't convince yourself how can you convince anyone else?
This is why I choose to believe in Muses.
Or if you'd rather...Musae...
Thanks! I thought we had gotten off topic on this thread and I wasn't quite sure how to steer us back. Was trying not to make myself sound like a jerkface. 8)

And you're definitely right. Non-creative minds probably wouldn't be as open to the possibility of a muse. WAIT! Does that mean I am not creative?!?! Oh, wait, I knew that already! Different thread!

Jk :roll:
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Post by Gravy »

Has it ever occured to anyone else that a persons muse could be an unmanifested tulpa?
The idea holds water if you think about it...
And have an open mind

But what would happen if your muse/tulpa got out of control...?
You know...like an evil imaginary friend but with more power...?
In other words...what if your muse was a jerkface? :shock:
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Grief is just love with no place to go.
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Post by ALynnPowers »

Graverobber wrote:Has it ever occured to anyone else that a persons muse could be an unmanifested tulpa?
The idea holds water if you think about it...
And have an open mind

But what would happen if your muse/tulpa got out of control...?
You know...like an evil imaginary friend but with more power...?
In other words...what if your muse was a jerkface? :shock:

That sounds like the start of a story you should be writing! You just mused yourself. And somehow I must used the word "muse" as a verb? Is that allowed?
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Post by LivreAmour217 »

Graverobber wrote:
Has it ever occured to anyone else that a persons muse could be an unmanifested tulpa?
The idea holds water if you think about it...
And have an open mind

But what would happen if your muse/tulpa got out of control...?
You know...like an evil imaginary friend but with more power...?
In other words...what if your muse was a jerkface?

If I do have a muse, then mine is a total jerkface because he/she is ignoring me!!!
"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." - Albert Einstein
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Post by moderntimes »

According to what I found, a tulpa is a supernatural type entity that you yourself create via psychic energy or something similar. Like your own personal poltergeist, ha ha.

Although I don't believe in supernatural creatures at all, I do believe that in our complex minds we often "create" various entities and personalities with which we can have dialogues, most being subconscious. Believing in an ACTUAL muse is likely promulgated by such internal mental churning, and quite understandable in creative minds.
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Post by Gravy »

ALynnPowers wrote:That sounds like the start of a story you should be writing! You just mused yourself. And somehow I must used the word "muse" as a verb? Is that allowed?
Or maybe mused somebody else! :shock:
Yeah...totally should...
LivreAmour217 wrote:If I do have a muse, then mine is a total jerkface because he/she is ignoring me!!!
Stupid, jerkface, muses :wink:

I think it would be a fun experiment to try to create a muse...
Take a little while each day to just imagine what your muse would be like.
Would it be male? Female? Would it even be human-like?
It could be anything. You could have a wolf muse or a black panther.
Or any mythical being you can think of. Gorgons, gryffons, a unicorn for crying out loud!
How would it speak? What would it sound like?
Would it be like you? Or the opposite? Somewhere in between?
I could get lost in this subject...
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What is grief, if not love persevering?

Grief is just love with no place to go.
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Post by Carla Hurst-Chandler »

LOL! My muse is a photograph I found in an antique shop while poking around years ago. She must be in her late eighties in the photograph with a stern look on her face. Just one of those The Relative shots that gets tossed or ends up in a rummage shop after you die. When I saw her amidst all the other Relative shots I knew she was the one. I put her in a gilt frame to sit by my keyboard...my humourless overseer, reminding me to get back at it. :D
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Post by RussetDivinity »

I'm not sure I have a muse as some kind of being outside myself that tells me how to write, but I do think that my characters serve as my muses. Whenever my mind wanders to a story, or even just when I'm playing around with ideas, it feels like my characters are trying to give me hints about what to do.
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Post by ALynnPowers »

LivreAmour217 wrote:
Graverobber wrote:
Has it ever occured to anyone else that a persons muse could be an unmanifested tulpa?
The idea holds water if you think about it...
And have an open mind

But what would happen if your muse/tulpa got out of control...?
You know...like an evil imaginary friend but with more power...?
In other words...what if your muse was a jerkface?

If I do have a muse, then mine is a total jerkface because he/she is ignoring me!!!
This made me LOL so hard! I thought I was the only one in the world who used the word "jerkface" yet somehow I have spread it to multiple people!

-- 03 Nov 2014, 18:46 --

And characters as muses sounds like a good idea!
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Post by SharisseEM »

Muse? That's a toughie. But I guess the characters for my stories become my muse. They guide my stories and as nutty as this could sound, I listen to them. When my sister says she can't understand what goes on in my head, I tell her that she probably doesn't want to know because there are way too many voices and accents in my head.
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Post by pretzelsnow »

I like to think that I have a muse :P
When all think alike, no one is thinking very much.
— Walter Lippmann
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