Creative Writing with BJ

I’m toying around with the idea of “Jevvy”. I think “BJ” is a good short form…

Here I am introducing a series of entries to explain my creative process and how I technically craft my writing. It can be used to craft your own writing, or it can be used as entertainment and Fun Facts. I’ll be posting different kinds of entries periodically, right now is:

 

HOW TO WRITE WITH A MUSE

Writing with a muse is essentially casting aside plot and writing solely for the character.  Sometimes you get a story out of it, and sometimes you end up with only a page of nicely put together words, but either way, it’s not a waste, because it’s all good to exercise the writing mind. This is not to say that this method is hit or miss in the creation of stories, however, and can be used in conjunction with a more academic layout, or on its own to build a story around a character’s life.

INTRODUCTION: 

 

 - Writing with a muse is essentially casting aside any sort of organization or structure of a plot and concentrating only on the character. 

 

-       Usually a story comes out of it, sometimes it doesn’t, but in most cases the story is about the events of the muse’s (character’s) life.

 

-       But this method can also be used in conjunction with a well organized plot structure.

 

-       I’ve always been writing this way.  When I was introduced the different ways of organization of plot, I actually found it very difficult to follow.  I think this is a viable way of writing because it’s completely abstract, so it keeps the creative mind working all the time.

 

DEFFINITIONS

 

Muse: Traditionally, the muse is anything that inspires writing or creativity.  In this case, I’m talking about the muse being the main character that is speaking through us when we are writing with them.

 

Plot Driven Storyline: The plot is organized first, all elements are put in order, and there is a clear path all the events follow to create a story with a beginning, middle, and ending. Example: Full Metal Alchemist

 

Character Driven Storyline: The story is based on how the character develops and grows through the story.  It’s often used in the telling of a character’s life, where there is little action in the plot.  Example: Spiderman, Batman

 

-       You need a combination of the two to make a full story with a complete plot, but one is always stronger in every story.

 

-       Writing with a muse is obviously very character driven.

 

 

HOW TO WRITE WITH A MUSE

All that needs to happen is good communication, like any relationship.

 

-       You are a vessel for the muse.

-       The muse finds you, and talks to you on its own terms.

-       You write what the muse tells you, in the voice and tone that it tells you.

-       You do not try to overpower the muse.

-       Because of this, the development of a plot may become useless.  If the muse doesn’t fit with the plot, or something is out of character for the muse, you have to change it to fit the muse, not change the muse to fit the plot.

 

VOICE AND TONE

 

The muse’s voice and tone is the way that it speaks using sentence structure, vocabulary, and diction. 

 

VOICE AND TONE SAMPLE

SAMPLE 1

We were the breed who a corner of Heaven had been reserved for. Where lust still existed, and the angels were wet. And if we lived through this life alone, we passed the test.  But this life was cruel and meaningless, and wasted through the years we spent in spite and indecency.  How we lived was chained upon us to our deaths, and death was as sweet as those lecherous angels.

SAMPLE 2

There were voices of reason to convince me.  Go to the dark room.  Make prints.  Do better.  They could whisper all they wanted, and my mind wouldn’t cease to recover all the times I had been walking alone down the hill, shadowbox under my arm, my feet aching, and still I had determination to walk.  As if walking would take pictures.  As if I walked far enough, my name would dissolve, I would find a new one like a spider web around me, and there would only be a picture left to identify the man I was running from.

 

PROS AND CONS

 

-       No writer’s block.  You’re dependant on the muse to tell you the story, however there are ways to jog the muse, so you don’t have to stop writing completely even if it’s not in the story. 

-       Whereas with a plot, you have to stop writing to think about it, because the plot isn’t going to talk to you.

 

-       You get to know the character a lot better.

-       Leads to more emotion going into the story, because you’re completely inside the character’s head, so you know how it feels about everything.  Makes a more believable story.

 

No two muses are created equally. A muse like Seishin completely co-exists with me, but Ren on the other hand shows up when he wants to talk and leaves when he doesn’t.

 

HOW I WRITE WITH SEISHIN

Seishin’s biography is up right now in the Characters page. You might want to reference it at your liesure.

 

 

-       Academically we’ve always been told to write to form a picture in someone’s mind.

 

-       Writing with the muse is the other way around.  The muse gives you the picture in your mind and you describe what you see.

 

-       You’re completely integrated with that character, and when you write with them it’s like roll playing.  You become that character.

 

-       It works for any point of view. First, second, or third person perspective.  I most often write in first person, because I most often write about the character’s life and mental state.

 

-       If Seishin doesn’t know something, I don’t know it.  If he doesn’t know where a certain person came from, then he understands it as that person just appeared.  I’m not going to fill in the blanks, because if he doesn’t know, I don’t get told where that person came from.

 

-       At each point in his story, I would be able to see Seishin acting out every event, and see exactly how he lived it. 

 

-       If it was him cutting his hair with his katana out of grief, then I would understand how deeply he felt about being devastated in that instant.

 

WRITING EXERCISES

 

I mentioned before about ways to jog the muse if it’s not talking as much as you need it to.  There are about a billion writing exercises you can do to keep the creative mind working, and keep the muse talking.

 

You can do them AS the muse, roll playing that you are the character.  Or you can do them WITH the muse, acting as if the character is another person sitting right beside you 

 

Sometimes you just have to find out what they like.  I could get Ren to talk until I found out that he likes to go for walks.  I was out walking on day thinking about him, and then all of a sudden, he wouldn’t shut up.  So when I need him to talk and he’s quiet, I take him for a walk.

 

 

-       Journal Entry as The Muse:  Write a journal as the muse, about their every day life.

-       If they’re in a war, don’t talk about the war just talk about brushing their teeth while the battle is going on around them.

 

 

-       Reach out to Another Lonely Soul:  Play the part of your character, and express to someone your character’s life (can be someone they DO know or someone they WANT to know).  Begin with “This is how I felt when…”

-       It doesn’t have to be good writing, it can be completely conversational.

 

Next time on Creative Writing with BJ:  the psychology of the creative process.

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