Engaging the writer’s mind and hearing the Muse’s voice.
A few months ago, I took what I thought was going to be a small break, and it turned into a long one.
A spiritual practice is something each of us must live, not in theory, but actually in practice. Sometimes, that practice involves giving to a broader community with practices like writing on Substack, and sometimes that practice involves giving to individuals and those close to you.
Ideally, one would like to find a balance where there is time for all activities, but life doesn’t always afford that luxury. I went through one of those times.
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I recently had to change my living situation, sell a house, and complete the renovation of two other houses to fully prepare. That kind of work is something with which I am familiar, but it’s also quite demanding on one’s time and mental resources if you do it yourself and sweat the details.
The Muse’s Voice
I have been writing almost daily for the better part of two decades. I am a stream-of-consciousness writer, which means you largely read exactly what goes through my mind. I edit for style, clarity, and brevity, but when I hear the Muse’s voice clearly, it takes very little editing to get it right.
Some call it Writer’s Voice, but by whatever terms you use to describe it, over time, a distinct and consistent voice arises inside the mind of every productive writer. The voice has it’s own unique combination of personality, style, tone, vocabulary, syntax, and experiences that comes through in writing. The more one tune’s their ear to hear this voice, the more brainpower it takes over.
The brain is a thinking machine, simultaneously thinking countless thoughts simultaneously all the time. Most of these thoughts are below the level of consciousness, but they are there, churning in the background all the time.
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As one develops a Writer’s Mind, more and more of these thoughts become dominated by the voice of your Muse—and that’s a good thing.
Your Muse will start to direct your internal research, make connections between thoughts, concepts, and your personal experiences, which provides depth, uniqueness, and quality to your work. Whenever a writer puts out their best work, it usually comes after a period of intense focus where the Muse has taken over so much of a writer’s mental faculties, that nearly all of one’s resources are devoted to the task.
It’s like magic.
Real magic.
Rekindling the Muse’s voice
If you want to make a roaring fire, you first need kindling get the sparks to turn into a flame. Similarly, if you want to hear the Muse’s voice, you first need the thoughts, feelings, and desires of the Muse to take root in your mind.
I wrote daily for a very popular real estate blog for 10 years. I wrote over 2,500 posts. I drew on my background in land development, real estate law and finance, brokerage, and other training and experience to supplement my writer’s voice. Fortunately, the Muse had much to draw from. Having background knowledge in your subject matter is essential to having a strong writer’s voice.
My current Muse is Polyhymnia.
I’ve only recently became able to hear Polyhymnia. I studied and practiced Buddhism for many years gaining the background knowledge and experience necessary to channel her voice, but it’s only been in the last few years that my mind has quieted down enough to hear her.
Polyhymnia’s voice is quiet, easily drowned out by the more insistent voices of the selfish ego. She makes no effort to compete with the ego, and if you ignore her, she simply vanishes and refuses to speak to you at all.
The key to hearing the voice of your writer’s voice is the create the proper circumstances where you can devote more and more of your mental resources to the writing. This is why my writer’s voice went silent when I had to start thinking about construction schedules and material delivery and things completely unrelated to my writing.
Reading the Muse’s work
Since this post is about restarting and rekindling your writer’s voice, it presupposes you’ve heard the voice before. By far the best thing you can do to start hearing that voice again is to go back and reread the previous work the Muse produced.
Reading your old work as two advantages: First, you hear the voice fresh, with a beginner’s mind. If your work as good, you will find it inspiring. Second, when you go through your old writings, you will discover topics you didn’t fully explore, connections you didn’t make for your readers, and it engages the mind to generate new material based on the old work.
One of the most powerful aspects of blogging is the ability to easily link to old material. You can make connections for readers, and if they want more depth on a topic, they can follow your links to your other work where you took a deeper dive. I employ this technique often, and I find tunneling down those rabbit holes extremely helpful when reengaging the Muse.
Recommit to Making the Effort
Nothing of value in life comes easily or without effort (except perhaps breathing!). In Buddhism, once a practicioner embarks on the path, they are taught the six perfections.
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One of these perfections is Diligence or Effort. It involves making an enthusiastic effort in spiritual practice. Practitioners are urged to fully commit to their spiritual journey, overcoming laziness and procrastination. If you aren’t willing to make the effort, you will never hear the Muse’s voice.
Finding Fun and Enjoyment in the Writing
Writing well can be immensely satisfying, but not all things that bring satisfaction are also fun and enjoyable. Professional golfer Nick Faldo once said he found the game satisfying when he played well, but he didn’t have any fun on the golf course. Olympic gold medalist Mark Spitz one 7 gold medals in swimming, but he hated every moment in the pool. While these accomplishments are laudable and represent the success earned by tremendous effort, writing should never be that much of a drag.
Like any writer, I’ve had periods where I’ve struggled to find enthusiasm for the activity, and it felt like drudgery. And I’ve followed the conventional advice to merely push through it. And part of that is important to let your mind know that you are serious about the commitment. However, if you don’t find the activity fun and enjoyable, it will be very difficult to sustain in the long term. And why would you want to?
Even if you write purely for the joy of it and don’t put the work out for public consumption, find a way to make writing fun. Try writing by hand if you’re blocked. Writing by hand activates the heart and opens the mind to joy.
When writing is fun, enthusiasm for the activity naturally follows. Like a snowball rolling down hill, the enthusiasm leads to more writing, more fun, more writing, and better, more satisfying work.