Ancient Maestro

I am currently finishing an article on being a writing apprentice, and my fingers found themselves rambling about muses and their role in the writing process.

Writers develop an inner voice or understanding and commonly refer to the term ‘muse’. A muse is a mental pet named after the Greek muses who symbolise nine types of art. Many muses have names, for example, I call mine Ancient. Charles Dickens called his Bos. Ancient is a vile, rancid gardener who lurks in my mind, feeding ideas to me like I am the one who is inorganically caged.

The muse conducts my fingers to write novels. I never plan what I am going to write. It doesn’t work that way, but as I write more the muse develops, just as my own habits do. The apprentice finds himself able to conduct his writing more efficiently, despite the raw material spewing out of the mental underground. I have found in my new novel that the writing is sharper and much more cohesive in first draft.

The role of my muse has changed, but in a good way. My muse is becoming a conductor of art. The muse is turning into a maestro.

Anything that feeds, grows.