So for this Monday I want to discuss the Muse. Muses are those people, things, actions that inspire our story. This picture above is of Gossip Girl star, Blake Lively. For those of you that have never seen Gossip Girl or don't know who Blake Lively is, well we can discuss that later. When I imagined my main character for MY PAPER HEART it was Blake that I would imagine as Libby, which in turn actually made it easier for me to describe Libby's actions. My "research" required me to watch hours of Gossip Girl...okay no I did that on my own. But just by watching that show, it sparked more ideas for my story and actually propelled Libby into her own well-rounded character.
On the other hand, Blaine Crabtree was completely in my head. He's just some guy that I created and there isn't a celebrity, nor a model that matches the Blaine in my head. Thus it took me a little longer to figure out how to portray Blaine on paper, so how did I do that? Sometimes it was just little excercises. I would do a character map of Blaine's physical attibutes or his favorite things. Sometimes I would even do little short stories (which some day I may share) and just see how Blaine reacts to certain things (sometimes even he surprised me!)
There of course was also music and pictures that would inspire me and propel the story foreward. My love of New Orleans made me want to look back at my pictures from when I worked down there for Habitat and served to help with the "stairway to nowhere" scene.
But today I want to leave people with their own uses and think about what inspires them and how that helps to inspire. If you'd like to share, I would love it!
On a side note...the contest ends the 20th and may be the last one that I do. I haven't gotten much of a response for it (I'm not sure why, they are pretty awesome prizes), but the second contest I had planned is definitely on hold.
Second side note: I'm looking for a critique partner (Lynsey I may be looking at you!) I need another person to read my work (You have to like Chick-Lit, YA, and contemporary) and in-turn I would like to critique others becaue I believe it really does help your own work.
Most often my muse comes in music or from people I know in real life and my own experiences. But sometimes I think I really know my characters and then when I'm writing they surprise me! Usually that's the fun part--those spontaneous moments. I'm not sure how much of a critiquer I am but if you need a fresh pair of eyes you can hit me up :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat post. When writing I usually have music as my inspiration but that isn't always the case. Now I'm doing a Monday's Muse every week at my blog (itsinthebookde.blogspot.com) to show my sources of inspiration. I think next week I'll talk about the Muse in general. Great idea!
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