[foxxu ❋]

I wasn't exactly sure where this would go so if it's in the wrong section sorry! Also if someone already asked this, you can delete this one. c:

I have been wondering this for awhile. I don't really believe in muse anymore since several people explained how you can always write. You will never lose writing skills. It's more of a matter of not being lazy or whatever your true reasons are why you won't post.

For me, it is being motivated and not stressed (or stressed). I stress write a lot more than I should. I try avoid using the word 'muse' now and just say the reason why I won't post. If I go without writing for more than five weeks. I force out a post. Even if it's terrible; I force myself to write until I get something down and usually that helps me get back into the game of writing.

So what is muse to you? How do you get your muse back to write a post, a character, or for a site?

[eggy azoozoo]

I'm pretty ambivalent about "muse". I have characters where writing for them always seems very natural and spontaneous; no matter how tired I am, and how "stuck" or unfocused I might feel at that point, I will always be able to write for them. But I think that's more a point of being super attuned to that character's personality than anything else. How well I can picture something, how emotionally attuned I am to the thread situation determines how well I can write a reply, so I do believe in the value of listening to music that reminds you of a thread. I mean.. I literally keep an entire BRSW muse Tumblr for the purpose of having reference and inspirational pictures to kickstart my imagination.

I know that for myself, I can't wait for "muse" to strike to post, I pretty much need to sit my ass down and tell myself that I'm going to do this post, right now, or it's never going to get done. Inspiration and enthusiasm for the thread usually isn't an issue because they're kept pretty high, discipline is really where I am lacking in, so I don't give myself the excuse of having no muse or w/e for not posting, it's just straight up "I'm being a lazy scummy fuck right now who'd rather hate-browse Tumblr for the next 3 hours than post because of who I am as a person".

I do feel that a lot of people put issues of stress and feeling guilty or obligated to post while having 32480923 other things to do in real life under the umbrella of "having low muse" because other people might be more willing to accept that as an excuse and not be butthurt about getting replies. Which in itself is more a reflection of... RP culture and how comfortable and open you feel with your RP partners.

Tbh a friend once put it to me this way: people who write for a general fun hobby can have flighty muses, but writers trying to hone a craft will write no matter what because they're interested in training themselves. That might be the difference for who really cares all that much about muse or no muse. Ofc, obligatory disclaimer that neither person makes a better or worse RP partner, blah blah, it's not a bad thing if you just write for stress relief blah blah blah.

[SEADRA]

flighty rp'er reporting for duty

to me, muse is that spark or inspiration i get to write for a character combined with motivation. a post someone writes before my turn will strike up muse, or if i really like the wacky personality of the character, or the person i'm rping with themselves can give me muse. if you're a fun person, you're likely to have fun characters and reactions to things and i enjoy that. like, i hate to admit this but a lot of the times i'll base characters off of characters from shows, movies, television, or personalities i've seen, the reason for that is that i sort of know how they would react and i have confirmation that that's how they'd react.

not blatantly, like, i didn't create an exact replica of hermione granger but you can take aspects and quirks from certain characters and twist it into your own. and when i'm down on muse i can watch, read, or look up things having to do with that character and usually i'll get more inspiration. it's like marathoning all of atla and getting a burst of ' I NEED TO RP THIS SETTING / PLOT NOWWW ' but with characters.

usually i'll reply within 2 days if i'm low on muse. if i've got a lot of muse i can crank out a good, solid, lengthy post in probably 5-10 minutes. minnie and i used to race back when we actually rp'd with each other bby come back - and it's not like the quality was shit either, like those were some pretty spankin' posts. but even that little bit of motivation to reply super-speedster-style helped keep up the plot and thread. it's been so long since i've actually finished a thread and that makes me sad. but yeh! tips & tricks on what i personally do lol

EDIT: honestly, it's the perfectionist in me that makes me only really able to write when i have inspiration or muse or w/e (with art + writing muse = inspiration imo). like, if i don't like it then there is a 2/10 chance i will post it (unless it's been an ungodly amount of time since a post has been made). i can't stand it when it isn't up to my own personal standards, of course this changes on who i am with and honestly i will almost always apologize when i make posts in general 'sorry this is literally so bad' because in all honesty, it probably is. to me, roleplaying is not entirely synonymous with writing. writing is only a portion of roleplaying, because it is interactive. there's a lot more than simply writing that goes into it - there's social, community, creative, quirky, witty, and so many more aspects of rp that is hard to get anywhere else.

yes, i understand that you are technically writing but it's not if you understand what i'm trying to get at. i rp for the fact that i don't have to be the world's best writer or take it seriously or treat it like a job, as if i were an actual writer. i can sit back, relax, and enjoy the wacky weirdness of it, as well as the social part where i can make actual friendships and just kind of escape from what's going on around me. idk. food for thought.

[★SIRIUS]

i believe in muse. sure, we can always write, but can we always write well? some days i wake up so inspired and fly through 20 posts with the force of a thousand suns, whipping out poetic adjectives and tantalizing plot twists like shakespeare. other days i stare at my screen with zombie eyes and awkwardly peck at the keys with no direction, tapping out words that are as bland as cheerios. then again, to me muse just = creative levels. which can be sparked and compromised depending on what life feels like throwing at me. when i'm stressed out my creativity withers like a flower without sunlight.

however i always keep writing, every day. having no inspiration doesn't mean it's ok to stop trying, in anything in life. because it's when i give myself the excuse to stop and wallow that it's easy to fall into stale slumps. the only way to keep muse is by nurturing it. i think that things like stress and depression can smother creativity in anyone, but procrastinating by watching cat videos on youtube, drooling over hot anime guys on zerochan, or refreshing tumblr a hundred times = laziness. not muselessness. just be honest lol.

to get muse on days where my creativity is low i try to get into my character's mindset. rl can be distracting sometimes, but with the right music aka my nerdy character playlists and re-reading old threads with said character, i can fall back into it. yeah, it takes some effort, but i like to think that i control my muse rather than my muse controlling me. it's my muse after all. gotta show it who's boss B)

[Starry Neko]

I can’t remember where I read it- but it was something I live by. “Writing isn’t about having muse or inspiration, it’s about continuing writing when you don’t.”

I don’t really believe in ‘muse’- at least for me. If I need to write, then I write. If I need to do something, I do it. I don’t really give a crap if I’m not feeling well, I know what I need to do. There are some days that I can’t, and I communicate with my partners telling them so. Whether my interest in the thread has generally dropped, or the fact that I’m having a health problem one day and can’t even see straight to make sure I’m not making a bazillion typos. I don’t really have the relief of blaming my ‘inspiration’ because to me, that’s just an excuse. I can’t say I ‘don’t have inspiration’ to go to the doctor or do schoolwork, I do it and it gets done. That’s how I was raised, that’s how I work. I want to be a writer, but even if I don’t reach that dream I do what I can to work with it. It's my writing, I'm going to write it.

This ISN’T to say that other people have this type of personality or writing style. Some people are doing this for fun and don’t want to be writers. They don’t have the same drive and they need constant hooks up to the muse-morphine to do anything. My own boyfriend is this way- and while it drives me crazy thread wise- I do my best to understand it and as long as he communicates with me, I never really do too much about it- only simply try to encourage him with characters and thread ideas as much as possible. My best friend for years doesn’t have confidence in her writing and goes through spurts to really feel confident in doing so. There’s many more people who I’ve known who have similar problems.

I believe it’s a personality type that can push through the idea of ‘only posting when one has inspiration’. There’s nothing wrong with being either one as long as you communicate your own ideas/problems with your partners. If you don’t communicate this without being pissy at your partners- then it’s really just going to cause more problems.

[foxxu ❋]

Ahh I love everyone's answers. They are more or less similar to each other.

Apr 28, 2015 12:00:08 GMT -8 SEADRA said:

yes, i understand that you are technically writing but it's not if you understand what i'm trying to get at. i rp for the fact that i don't have to be the world's best writer or take it seriously or treat it like a job, as if i were an actual writer. i can sit back, relax, and enjoy the wacky weirdness of it, as well as the social part where i can make actual friendships and just kind of escape from what's going on around me. idk. food for thought.

You made a very interesting point. I also write to relax and I like writing in general. I love talking about writing and people characters, making new friends. Connecting with people. Finding similar interests. I think that is a really important part in people's motivation because there were times where if I felt like no one really liked me or no one liked my characters. People kept dropping threads on me, etc. I, myself find it difficult it to have the motivation to push forward and write posts or threads on said site.

I mean, I think anyone is a writer and you do not have to be publishing books or write every single day. I don't really think there is no "actual writer" or an "official writer". If you love to write, oh deer golly you are a writer. Anyone who is creative or has their imagination still can be a writer whether it is a slow pacing writer to a non-stop crazy idea writer.

Starry Neko I never really thought about it as being like something to get it done no matter what. Although I feel like it is different from school work or going to the doctors? Because school work and doctors is a responsibility than a creative skill/thought? I'm also confused what you mean personality type? Do you mean a certain creativity? I feel like I am bit off topic though so you don't have to answer if ya don't want to.  (*๑´╰╯`๑)

[Starry Neko]

@foxxu ❋

It's fine. <3

Pretty much, summarizing what I meant. When it's hard to write, such as stress, just not wanting to, or whatever, I have a responsibility in my head to get it done. I don't ask this of other people of course, but I do ask it of myself. If I keep running away from the post, it'll never get done. To me, it then becomes a task to overcome. Like dealing with my health defects or getting up and doing laundry. It's not exactly pleasant, but it'll be over when I get my butt moving. I am in charge, whatever in my way is going to get mowed down.

As personality type, I'm not sure how to describe it. My grandmother and I were very, 'go and do the stuff you have to do' and did it with such efficiency, even if it burned us to actually breathe that day. I could say that we were stubborn mules of women? I'm not exactly sure how to put it forward. Pretty much, if I make a thread/character/site, it's a responsibility of me to put my heart and soul into it. Even if there are some tasks I generally don't like, I push forward. I'm told this is weird by friends and fellow writers because it's 'just a hobby'. Well to me it's a task to be done. Just like schoolwork, eating, sleeping, etc. What makes it more enjoyable is the fact that I well...enjoy it. But in the end, it's a task to be done. I'm just going to go as stubborn old hag type of personality. Cause...well I'm not too far off of it.

[foxxu ❋]

Starry Neko So what I am getting at is your "muse" is more of determination rather than a motivation? Okay okay! I can understand that on some levels. Well thanks for clearing that up! Glad I asked ~

[SIFR]

My muse directly relates to my stress.

The more stressed I am, the more coding and moderation I do.

The less stressed I am, the more posting I do.

[Elena]

Apr 28, 2015 10:35:00 GMT -8 eggy azoozoo said:

I know that for myself, I can't wait for "muse" to strike to post, I pretty much need to sit my ass down and tell myself that I'm going to do this post, right now, or it's never going to get done. Inspiration and enthusiasm for the thread usually isn't an issue because they're kept pretty high, discipline is really where I am lacking in, so I don't give myself the excuse of having no muse or w/e for not posting, it's just straight up "I'm being a lazy scummy fuck right now who'd rather hate-browse Tumblr for the next 3 hours than post because of who I am as a person".

Tbh a friend once put it to me this way: people who write for a general fun hobby can have flighty muses, but writers trying to hone a craft will write no matter what because they're interested in training themselves.

I wholly agree with this. I believe in writing discipline and in powering through any writer's block. Besices "powering through", the only other (complementary) remedies are researching and brainstorming with writing partners.

Apr 28, 2015 21:37:22 GMT -8 Starry Neko said:

Pretty much, summarizing what I meant. When it's hard to write, such as stress, just not wanting to, or whatever, I have a responsibility in my head to get it done. I don't ask this of other people of course, but I do ask it of myself. If I keep running away from the post, it'll never get done. To me, it then becomes a task to overcome. Like dealing with my health defects or getting up and doing laundry. It's not exactly pleasant, but it'll be over when I get my butt moving. I am in charge, whatever in my way is going to get mowed down.

As personality type, I'm not sure how to describe it. My grandmother and I were very, 'go and do the stuff you have to do' and did it with such efficiency, even if it burned us to actually breathe that day. I could say that we were stubborn mules of women? I'm not exactly sure how to put it forward. Pretty much, if I make a thread/character/site, it's a responsibility of me to put my heart and soul into it. Even if there are some tasks I generally don't like, I push forward. I'm told this is weird by friends and fellow writers because it's 'just a hobby'. Well to me it's a task to be done. Just like schoolwork, eating, sleeping, etc. What makes it more enjoyable is the fact that I well...enjoy it. But in the end, it's a task to be done. I'm just going to go as stubborn old hag type of personality. Cause...well I'm not too far off of it.

I guess you and I have a lot in common... Yes, we have the same personality type and stubborness <3

[SEADRA]

Apr 29, 2015 5:40:08 GMT -8 SIFR said:

My muse directly relates to my stress.

The more stressed I am, the more coding and moderation I do.

The less stressed I am, the more posting I do.

accurate
when i'm stressed is when i skin / code best
why i've been posting so many templates lmaoooo