I sat down to write the other day and...

I sat down to write the other day and realized my muse had deserted me. “Oh dear,” I hear you say. “A writer without her muse? How absolutely scandalous!”

I think I must be psychic, ‘cause I heard those comments before you even thought them yourself. So...I struck out on my own, forged a path through the wilderness, and went in search of that elusive being.

It’s funny, but we hear people talking about their muse all the time. “The muse is strong in me,” “I write when my muse takes me,” “I can’t find my muse.” But we rarely stop to wonder what exactly a muse is.

Is it a little gray being that looks vaguely like an elephant, and is twice as clunky as it runs up and down the stairs? Is it a little faerie-like creature that hates taking a bath but loves to eat Mars Bars (and won’t actually appear until you bribe the little sucker with two or three of those delectable chocolate-y treats)? Or is it more like a purple and orange-striped bumblebee, which zooms around playing quidditch with the marbles you lost years ago?

Oh, some people say that their muse is another person, but for me that isn’t the case at all. And, I’d have to say, at times my muse can resemble any one of the above. Or various other different beings, many of which are rather zany, and some of which would get me locked up quick smart if I even admitted to their presence. “What, you see little pencil-like objects dancing around on the coffee table? Umm...wait right there while I call someone to come and take you away...”

But, you know what? I love having so many different things that inspire me. And while I might be exaggerating (a little bit) about seeing all those fantastical beings, I’m not telling porkies when I say you need to find the thing that inspires you to write, grab a tight hold of it, and go along for the ride.

You never know where you’ll find yourself. And your writing will be so much the richer for it.

(You’ll never guess what happened yesterday. My muse came back lickety-spit when I found a half-eaten Mars Bar tucked away in the back of my cupboard! Guess it’s that little faerie-thingy after all. Until it decides to change into something else...)

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For those of you wondering at the randomness of the above post, I’ve written this piece for my First Crusader Challenge (check it out here). Hope you enjoyed what I wrote. And I hope it inspires you to find your muse as well!